My Valencia Christmas Route

Take this route around the Valencia old city at Christmas time!

Honestly Valencia doesn’t do a biiiiiig Christmas display but you can’t deny the urge to go out and walk among the pretty lights. Valencia, already so stunning, doesn’t need a lot to make it more beautiful but the decorations transform it into a fairy tale, twinkling across the old city squares that make up the centre.

We start at the infamous

Torres de Serrano. A monumental entrance into the old city that has been made all the more spectacular with a huge shooting star, making the perfect arch to walk under before entering through the North gates of Valencia, built just before the turn of the 15th century. I was a little disappointed that there were no Christmas lights on the towers themselves but we didn’t have to walk too long before we found the next twinkly square.

Plaza de Manises is made up of extremely old, monumental buildings all used by the provincial council of the Valencia Community. The Palacio de Generalitat, which is a 13th century building, glistened with lights that lead to its beautiful orange and lemon tree garden at the front. The gardens looked like a fabulous Christmas card: life size figures of Santa and his sleigh, tree branches strangled with as many tiny bulbs as possible and perfectly trimmed bushes outlining a mini Christmas maze.

Plaza de la Virgen, one of the main squares, held one of the largest Christmas trees in the city, but the decoration on this one was extremely poignant. After the disastrous floods in October, killing over 220 people and leaving 60+ towns completely destroyed, Valencia decided to put baubles on the tree with the name of each town as a tribute. This ended up being a running theme with all of the Christmas trees acting as a monument in remembrance of the people lost and livelihoods in ruins.

We continued around the Cathedral and arrived at

La Plaza de la Reina, where the main Christmas Market always is. Now allow me for a second to be a little bit British…the Christmas markets that I’m used to are a little more…padded out than the Valencian version. Meaning, it’s not filled with aromas of cheese and mulled wine with dozens of stalls of crafts, Christmas present ideas and people snuggled up in coats, hats and scarves bobbing around to festive jingles. This version is more humble, with about 10 stalls draped in glowing lights selling various artisanal and handmade items, book-ended by a big nativity scene at the top and another big Christmas tree at the bottom. Still beautiful and festive but not the most Christmassy for a European city for sure.

After a whirl around the stalls we made our way down to Calle San Vincent Martir which leads to the iconic

La Plaza del Ayuntamiento, the town hall square! On the way down we stumbled upon a mini bar which is probably my new favourite feature in Valencia city centre. The bar is dedicated to the cocktail of the city Agua de Valencia (which I will talk about in other blogs) but the innovative idea was too much for me to resist and of course I grabbed one for the onward journey. In the Plaza del Ayuntamiento we were welcomed by an even bigger Christmas tree, music and huge stars floating above us. This was definitely the busiest square because there was a big ice skating rink in the middle too, and although the weather wasn’t too chilly, who doesn’t love a little ice skating sesh to get you in the spirit!

Aaaaand we continue! Yes, I was dragging my family along with me and of course, they were loving it.

So, next I wanted to dip behind the ayuntamiento to a secret one, Plaza de Rodrigo Botet, where one of my fantasy hotels lies, the Only You hotel. A five star marvel that didn’t disappoint with a warm entrance of giant shiny gold and dusty rose baubles which was contrasted with its neighbouring local, and probably one of the most Christmassy facades in the whole city, the Nederland 1814. This bar is all set up with a sleigh and reindeer guiding you to a cosy, low ceiling pub that surely has all the good stuff to make your cheeks rosy.

We are coming to the end of our route now and one of the most sparkly streets, and a personal all year round fave of mine,

Calle de la paz. They’ve done well with this one: long dangly vines decked in festive shaped confetti in between the fairy lights. This brings such a joyous, Christmas movie feel to the street, that is littered with a mix of vintage shops and well known franchises, most of them inhabiting ancient and intricate architecture, so look out for the facades!

Finishing with one of the hot spots of Valencia centre and honestly the best Christmas tree I’ve seen so far,

el Mercado de Colón! A very sleek and glamorous tree with another loving tribute to those affected by the floods with the addition of a table of muddy boots and spades representing the volunteers who helped to clean up the towns. Colón market is primarily a gastronomical market but during the autumn and winter seasons the ‘Mediterranean market’ arrives, where independent artists sell their jewellry, glasses, artwork, clothes, furniture. It is stunning and there are always so many things I want to buy, so you have to take a look there for sure.

So, that’s that. My Christmas route around Valencia city! It may not be as extravagant as what we see online or in the movies, however, I hope I have given you an idea of where to go and what to expect in December around here. Please check out our Instagram to see a full video with all the points on the route.

*Bonus, the last couple of years they have set up a much larger Christmas market with food and gifts underneath the Umbracle in the city of arts and sciences so there is always more to see!