Valencia is perfect for budget travellers - most of the best sights and most impressive buildings are free to poke around, so you can conduct your own architectural tour, with plenty left over for some paella!

Start at Valencia Cathedral, a mix of Romanesque and Gothic styles (with the 'Holy Grail' tucked inside!), and then head to the Palau de la Generalitat, a Gothic palace used by the local government, with elaborately tiled floors and frescoed walls.

Other must-see sights include La Lonja, a grand Late Gothic hall filled with grisly gargoyles and other grotesqueries, and the Colegio del Patriarca, a 16th century seminary adorned with religious frescoes.

Valencia Cathedral, Plaza de la Reina,
Palau de la Generalitat, www.gencat.cat/generalitat/eng/guia/palau/index.htm
La Lonja, Plaza de la Virgen, Valencia
Colegio del Patriarca, Nave 1, Valencia 46002

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Forget forking out for the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, this cathedral is free to visit and is just as much of an architectural jumble.

Work started on the cathedral in 1262, resulting in a building that ranges from Romanesque to Gothic, so it's a fascinating place to wander around. Take a trip up the Miguelete Bell Tower, a city landmark, or check out the a cup believed to be the Holy Grail.

www.catedraldevalencia.es/en/index.php

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The Ceramics museum is housed in the Palacio de Marques de Dos Aguas. The exterior is covered with ornate marble decoration and the huge carved alabaster entrance was designed by Hipólito Rovira and alludes to the two rivers (Turia and Júcar) of the Marques' title. There's even a painted-gilt Cinderella coach to greet you in the entrance and the marble decoration continues inside as you walk up the stairs.
On the first floor of the Palacio you pass through room after room smothered with colourful plasterwork and marble decoration with enormous chandeliers sparkling in the gilded mirrors. The Palacio dates back to the 15th century but the exterior was remodelled in the 1740s and and the interiors redecorated in the rococco style in the 1850s. When you've progressed through the many delightful rooms and admired the beautiful paintings and decorations, you reach the ceramics collections themselves. The highlights for me were the colourful painted Spanish tiles and ceramics, including the replica of a tiled Spanish kitchen on the top floor, and there are also some plates decorated by Picasso.

The museum is free on Saturday morning and Sunday but otherwise it costs €2.40
You can see my review and photos on my blog;
heatheronhertravels.blogspot.com/2008/04/palacio-de-marques-de-dos-aguas-in.html

Palacio de Marques de Dos Aguas, Poeta Querol, 2, 46002 - Valencia
mnceramica.mcu.es/

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What makes Valencia unique is its river, or rather the lack of it. After a disastrous flood in 1957, the Túria was diverted to the edge of the city, leaving an empty riverbed that now forms a green ribbon twisting 9km through the city, with a lagoon, trees, gardens, playing fields and cycle paths. At the park’s heart is the breathtakingly ambitious City of Arts and Sciences designed by local architect Santiago Calatrava. You'll need to hire a bike to see it all.

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The stunning 15th-century silk exchange, with its elegant stone columns carved to resemble twisted bolts of silk, is a gothic classic and the most beautiful building in Valencia. Truly uplifting, in more ways than one.

Plaza del Mercado

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Everyone raves about Barcelona’s famous La Boqueria market but Valencia’s is both bigger and better. The modernista building of stained glass and wrought iron is stunning, but it’s the array of produce, especially the wealth of fresh glistening seafood, that steals the show. If you’re staying in a hotel you’ll regret it if you visit Central - you'll want to take the lot home for dinner.

Open until 2.30pm, Plaza del Mercado.

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In the heart of the old city, a truly beautiful cathedral. Pay 3 euros for the audio tour, and see a Goya, the putrified arm of some long-dead martyr... and would you believe it: the Holy Grail. Yes it's here, located at the end of the tour, in a dark, simple stone chapel, in the corner of the cathedral. Sit at the back and let the sun - passing through a high round stained glass window, decorated with the grail - land on your face. Incredible.

Plaza del la Reina

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Russafa is the atmospheric, unspoilt old neighbourhood where Valencia conceals its Moorish roots. Slightly off the beaten track and hence a less-explored spot, the tiny barrio is tucked away behind the Gran Via Marqués del Turia, to the east of the station. Historically a Moorish district, today it still has a much more ethnic feel than the rest of the city.

Its sights include Moroccan teterías (tea shops) on Calle Buenos Aires, a mini-Mercado - less hectic but almost as well-stocked as the central market - some great tapas bars (try the seafood at Puerta del Sol, Calle Cádiz, 42) and several alternative bars with a laid-back approach. Try Pachamama on Calle Carlos Cervera. If you visit during Fallas, don’t, whatever you do, miss the award-winning lights display on Calle Sueca, where the whole street blazes with a tunnel of illuminations stretching into the distance.

Buses: 14, 15, 35

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Finally getting wise to Valencia’s burgeoning tourist potential, the city council has recently imposed charges on all of the formerly free monuments in the town centre. However, there are still no charges on Sundays. Take advantage of this and take your pick from IVAM (the modern art museum), the Botanical Gardens, the cathedral and more. But my favourite is the Torres de Serranos (Serrano Towers). Formerly a prison for noblemen, these squat, crenellated towers form one of the gates in the old city walls (the only other surviving portal is the Torres de Quart) and are one of Valencia’s most emblematic symbols. A short climb to the top of the battlements gives refreshing views of the snaking green river park in one direction, and the rooftops, tiled domes and spires of the old town in the other.

Calle Serranos / Calle Conde de Trenor

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