How do I get there? Count the ways. Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) flies from Stansted; EasyJet (www.easyjet.com) from Stansted, Gatwick and Bristol; British Airways (0870 850 9850, www.ba.com) from Heathrow and Gatwick; and Thomsonfly (0870 190 0737, www.thomsonfly.com) from Coventry. Jet2 (0871 226 1737, www.jet2.com) starts services from Manchester in May.

Why should I go? Because it’s genuinely Spanish. Unlike cosmopolitan Madrid, or the Disney Catalan of Barcelona up the coast, this is El Real McCoy — a proper, big, historic city that isn’t overrun with tourists. Add in excellent tapas, exceptional nightlife, some fine old buildings and some frankly insane new ones, along with a good beach, and you’ve got a weekend wonder.

Where do I stay? For traditionalists, it’s Ad Hoc (00 34-96 391 9140; doubles from £54), a beautifully restored 1880s house, all beams and exposed brickwork. For minimalists, it’s the Petit Palace Bristol (96 394 5100; doubles from £69), with white walls and arty photography — go for rooms 501 or 502.

Where do I eat? Best of the city’s new wave of restaurants is Seu Xerea (Conde de Almodovar 4; 96 392 4000) — trad Valenciana with an Asian twist. Tapas is everywhere, but Palacio de la Bellota (Mosen Femades 7) stands out for its beautifully aged hams (about 200 hang overhead), while Bar Pilar (Moro Zeit 13) has the freshest, tastiest mussels. And, go on, have a paella: it was invented here, and Valencians put away quantities of the stuff. Try the pollo y conejo at L’Estimat (Paseo de Neptuno 16; 96 371 1018).


What do I do? Follow the Valencians’ example by starting early, snoozing in the afternoon and bar-hopping till late. First, to the vast new Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias, to gawp at Santiago Calatrava’s bonkers architecture — especially the new opera house, which has been compared to a whale, a helmet, a ship and an onion, with a 230-metre steel feather arching over the top.

Back in the old town, drop into the quirky cathedral, a mishmash of styles from gothic to neoclassical, which was 500 years in the making. It houses a couple of wonderful Goyas — oh, and the Holy Grail. So that’s where they’ve been hiding it.

Stroll the art-nouveau Mercado Central — great fish section, complete with writhing eels — and get lost in the maze of pretty alleys and squares round about, then have a snooze before dinner. Which is at 10pm, by the way. Afterwards, the bars of Barrio del Carmen beckon until 3am: our favourite is the authentic, chatty Negrito (Plaza del Negrito 1). Then it’s clubbing with bite at La Indiana (Calle San Vicente Martir 97) — £4m worth of dance heaven, with three floors, wall-to-wall titanium and leather, and live sharks in the fish tanks.

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