VALENCIA – A PERFECT DESTINATION TO DISCOVER BY BICYCLE
The city offers the perfect combination of beautiful weather and beaches, great historic sites and modern architecture, diverse shopping opportunities and a fantastic array of restaurants and bars for fine dining or dancing the night away. It is also the birthplace of paella and therefore the best place to enjoy Spain’s most international dish.
"Just cycling through this park is an experience in itself"
Whether it is ingredients from the freshwater lagoon of the Albufera Natural Park, just south of the city, products from the Huerta, or goodies from the sea everywhere you can feast on them. From both local tapas restaurants to Michelin-starred restaurants, all are supplied with the fresh produce from the surrounding areas and the sea. And those juicy oranges you see growing everywhere are used to make the popular local cocktail, Agua de Valencia.
Flat cycling or making many altimeters, take your pick!
There are 150 kilometers of bike paths in the city, and with the old Turia Riverbed completely created as a park, you can cycle in a 9-km-long garden that crosses the city. Just cycling through this park while enjoying the fantastic climate is an experience in itself.
But there are even nearby natural areas where the bicycle is your perfect companion. The city’s beaches located 5 km from the center and the unspoiled nature south of Valencia are the goal of the avid cyclist. The natural park of La Albufera is a large lagoon where rice is grown. The national park (since 1988) is located about 20 kilometers south of Valencia. A long row of dunes separates the freshwater lake from the Mediterranean Sea. Here you should take a boat ride at nightfall and you are guaranteed to experience the most beautiful sunset you have ever seen.
To the north, you’ll find the Huerta. Valencian Kitchen Garden, provides a unique picture. From the municipal boundaries, a landscape dominated by rice and almond crops, by orange groves and vegetable plantations, by eggplants and artichokes, vines and olive trees, emerges on the horizon. Between the fields run streams and farmhouses are scattered. The irrigation system is an heirloom of Arab tradition. The Huerta is responsible for making the Valencian product a quality brand at the international level.
But do we just forget for a moment that we are going to Valencia for cycling? We have enough flat roads here in Belgium, don’t we? Flat…. Nothing could be further from the truth. Those who want to get away from the easy course, ride inland. Mountains/hills enough where olive trees and vineyards can be found. Rest assured altimeters enough to make!
www.welcomebike.com offers a selection of routes designed to offer the cyclist a wide range of possibilities, from sea level training to long distance routes with very challenging inclines.
So the fact that you can also combine the exceptional gastronomy here with the tourist attractions and beautiful bike rides has long been understood by the attentive reader.
Valencia…
Where oranges grow in the blazing hot sun….
Valencia….
Where red roses bloom at the edge of your balcony….
Valencia…
here we come!
Foto © Starbike Valencia
