Hotels in Valencia City

Central Valencia is small but perfectly formed. The old town, the cathedral, the Mercado Central and the shops on Carrer Colon all sit inside about a twenty-minute walk of each other, the Turia Gardens curve around the top of it, and you can land at the airport and be dropped in the middle of it by metro in under twenty minutes. Stay central here and you can genuinely leave the taxi app alone all week.

One thing worth checking before you book: Las Fallas runs 1 to 19 March, and the whole thing happens in these streets, with a Mascleta going off in Plaza del Ayuntamiento at 2pm every day and the monuments burning on the night of the 19th. Central rooms get booked up early for this fortnight.

What Valencia City hotels should you stay at?

Here are some of our top picks...

• By the cathedral: Petit Palace Plaza de la Reina puts you on the square the cathedral opens onto, about 500 metres from the bell tower and surrounded by the historic quarter.

• By the Mercado Central: Vincci Mercat is a stone's throw from the market itself, with the Lonja de la Seda and the Olympia Theatre on the same short walk and the cathedral 600 metres off.

• In the old town: Sh Ingles Boutique sits inside a historic building in the middle of the old quarter, with the shops, bars and late places on the surrounding streets rather than a tram ride away.

• On Carrer Colon: NH Collection Valencia Colon is directly on the city's shopping street, with the Marques de Dos Aguas palace, the cathedral and the central market all walkable, and a metro line that runs to the airport and the port.

• By the station: Vincci Lys is a short walk from the train station and under ten minutes on foot from Plaza del Ayuntamiento, which makes it the sensible choice if you're arriving by rail or want to be on the square when the Mascleta goes off in March.