Hola readers,
Are you ready to discover some of the most beautiful Valencia secret corners with us?
We’re quite sure you already know the famous and important spots of the city, since it’s not that hard to find a book, a guide, blog posts that tell you how to best explore Valencia. But today we want to reveal, to share with you some of our favourite hidden corners.
During the stay in your accommodation in here, you should get out the touristic comfort zone and push you and your flatmates to discover the little-known corners of the city. So far, we found some spots, from narrow buildings, to charming courtyards and incredible street-art. It might sound unbelievable, but many of them are unknown even to locals!
Well, here is our getting around suggestion for your secret spots route
1- The House of Cats
Along Carrer del Museu 11, barrio del Carmen, in the northern part of the Old Town, you can find a cute little facade of a tiny house embedded in a blue wall. Completely decorated with roof, balcony, windows, doorway, fountain and a plant for the garden, this is a miniature representation of a traditional Valencian house. It’s inspired to the Four Cats Legend, which tells the story of El Cid (the famous Valencian ruler) who ordered to make all the cats of the city disappear, as they were thought to be diabolical.
According to the locals, this miniature house was created for the stray cats that used to wander around there by a woman who lived in the building.
2- Silk Museum Courtyard
We have already wrote about the beautiful Silk Museum in one of our last posts. As World Heritage place, this museum is one of the best non-religious gothic architectures in Europe. Once used as a silk exchange (around 15th century), it has an amazing interior and walking down the lane alongside it you can find an arched wooden doorway, looking like it opens to a magical space! What’s beyond there is a suggestive and peaceful courtyard where to chill and relax, and there’s also a - not that cheap - GastroBar café.
3- La Estrecha
Located in the middle of Valencia city center, right in Plaza Lope de Vega, there’s La Estrecha, the 107 cm wide building, considered by many the Europe’s narrowest building (actually some people argue about this, affirming that the narrowest one is located in Amsterdam).
4- Cross-stitched street art
As you may have seen, we have a post about the amazing street art in Valencia with a quick graffiti tour. Cause, yes, exploring street art is one of the best and unusual things to do in this city. In some spots of Valencia, we found a different style of street art by the talented Raquel Rodrigo, who decorate houses and stores with a large-scale floral embroidery.
Here you can spot the locations where to find some of her art in Valencia.
5- Casa Judía
Located in Calle Castellon 20, you can spot, alongside the normal looking houses, a mesmerizing art deco one. Built in 1930 for a Jewish man (that’s why it’s called “The Jewish House”), this building has a completely captivating architecture and a triumph of unique colors that make it such an incredible work of art.
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Now that we have provided you with some clues, you can explore Valencia off the beaten paths! Just put your backpack on, take a camera, get out your flat and enjoy these hidden gems.
Are you ready?
See you soon,
Your helpValencia explorer team