Our Super Half race series adventure so far is one that has been filled with fun and sightseeing. By the time we completed the Copenhagen and Cardiff half marathons, we’d already booked the Berlin Half to be our third, and knew that València would be our fourth. It almost didn’t happen though when we came close to giving up on getting places for this popular race.

On the day the general entries opened, I’d joined the waiting room at 09:00, and an hour later the queue opened, being assigned a random place of a little over 15,000. Considering there appeared to be only 15,000 places remaining for this race after the pre-sale for preferred statuses, I thought we wouldn’t get in.

After about twenty-five minutes I reached the front of the queue and sorted out my entry, having to Google the Spanish name for the United Kingdom as the English version of the site didn’t translate everything. I planned on entering Carmen as part of my booking as well, as she’d not been able to join the queue due to work. I had wondered if there’d be problems entering more than one person, and when I clicked the button to add another person, that fear was justified.

With preferential access, only 1 participant is allowed to register in each race.

This wasn’t a preferential entry though, it was the general entry. The short of it was that I wasn’t going to do this race without Carmen. This was a race series we were completing together, and getting to explore parts or Europe together along the way. So reluctantly I didn’t go forward with entering mine. I didn’t close the browser window either though. I started to wonder if I could get through the queue on two devices next year, maybe by joining the waiting room on three or more devices to improve those chances.

I really didn’t want to delay completing this series though, and started wondering what options there may be. If I joined the queue again, could I get Carmen on the waitlist, and hope a place opens up between now and October 2025? Too risky. Carmen agreed I shouldn’t do that.

I’d got my personal laptop and work laptop in the same room, so I used the other to join the back of the queue anyway off the off chance I could get through to the entries again. It predicted three hours to start with, but I needed to complete my entry in the next 45 minutes to not lose my place. Time was running out, and it seemed there would be no chance.

I wondered if there’d been reports of the race being full already, so I searched on Google and came across a post in the ‘Super Halfs’ Facebook group where they’d been discussing entries. People were salty about not being able to register a friend or family member at the same time, complaining that nobody would want to travel alone. Some were suggesting that Super Half entrants should get preferential treatment, but that sort of self-entitlement wouldn’t do anyone any favours. It would encourage people to enter the series, and they’d be back where they started. The idea of the preferential entries before the general entries was to allow local runners to run it every year, to guarantee a good number of supporters cheering everyone on. If it was someone’s last race in the last year of being able to complete the series, then they would do something about it. It did make me wonder though if the entry restrictions will have put some people off entering.

I started to look at tour companies, but felt that paying a deposit for a package that hadn’t yet been revealed, could turn out to be prohibitively expensive, so I didn't complete my registration for that either. All I could do was wait, and see if the queue moved faster than was predicted.

Time passed, and I’d still got a few thousand people ahead of me in the queue, but was close enough to decide to complete my entry. Usually for me, I decided to buy the cancellation insurance for an extra €9. I figured if I couldn’t get a second entry, I could cancel mine, and get 80% of the €102 back. Maybe having the cancelled entry would get me preferential access for the race the following year if it didn’t work out. It was a risk I’d be throwing money away, but I had to take that risk. On a side note, it’s shocking both how much we’re willing to pay for a hyped up race series, and how expensive it actually is.

Another forty minutes passed by, and I got to the front of the queue again. I couldn’t believe my luck that I was getting the chance to enter Carmen’s details. I entered them as quickly as I could, and got confirmation of her entry as well - we were going to València! Our third European break this year.

I didn’t want to leave it too long before getting accommodation and flights booked, but decided I’d wait until the New Year. It’d give us time to decide on how long to spend there. Neither of us have been to València before. In fact, I’ve never been to the Spanish mainland, having so far only visited the Balearic Islands of Mallorca and Menorca.

As Christmas approached we decided we couldn't wait any longer to book and searched for an AirBNB that would be quiet, yet would be easy enough to reach the race start from. Ideally it wouldn't be too far from the sights either as we'd have a week after the race to see them. Convenience and quiet can be a tricky balance to find, but we felt we found somewhere just outside of the Russafa neighbourhood. We did wonder though whether the Spanish law changes around short-term lets would impact us, as the country battles against over-tourism affecting locals. A month before our trip I actually checked with the AirBNB to make sure everything was still okay.

Whilst the ETIAS visa requirement was not implemented before our visit, it was likely that they would begin using the new EU Entry/Exit System e-gates, and with this would mean more time spent queueing whilst they take fingerprints. Even with this in place, a border guard may still want to see things such as a return or onward ticket, proof of accommodation, proof that you have sufficient funds for your stay, and proof of travel insurance. It is something a lot of countries have the potential for asking for outside of the EU anyway, so travelling with that information is always good practice.

In the months leading up to the trip, the FCO warned of the risk of wildfires in Valencia, but this soon changed to torrential weather. This weather warning echoed the deadly floods that hit the region the year before, which killed 230 people. Our trip could easily be one of sunshine, or torrential rain…

Background

València started life around 138 BCE as the Roman colony of Valentia Edetanorum, meaning strength or valour. After hundreds of years, when the Roman Empire fell, the city became a part of the Visigothic Kingdom along the Iberian peninsula. This was relatively short-lived however, as in 714 CE, the city surrendered to the invading Moors and was eventually destroyed by them.

Under the Moors, the city was renamed to Medina at-Tarab, meaning ‘City of Joy’, although it seems that they’d also use the name of Madînat al-Turâb, meaning ‘City of Sand’, to refer to the wider area. A lot of urban development was carried out during this time, and many Jews now lived there comfortably. This was not to last through.

In 1238, King James I of Aragon and his Christian army of crusaders laid siege to the city until they surrendered. Shortly after, the King then forced the Jewish population into a small enclosed part of the city. In the decades that followed this, high walls were built around the area to keep them in, and the three gates to this area would be closed at night. This was not the end to their terrible treatment however, as thousands of Jews were murdered, and those that were not were forced to convert to Christianity as the Jewish quarter was destroyed.

Despite this dark period in its history, Valencia eventually became prosperous as the capital of the Kingdom of Valencia, and some of the buildings from this time survive to today, and are still in use.

After King Ferdinand II of Aragon died, a civil war broke out and the Muslim descendants of the original Moor invaders were forced to convert to Christianity by Charles V, and were given the name Moriscos. Many years later they were forced out and sent to North Africa. For those keeping count, that’s two groups of people that had been mistreated thus far. The price of this was bankruptcy for many Valencian nobles.

After that, the War of Spanish Succession in which the city sided with the Habsburgs of Austria, the Kingdom of Valencia became part of Spain. That was not the last time it would be a capital city however. For a time, this city had been the capital of Spain after Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon's elder brother, moved his court there after being crowned King of Spain. In a way, this would be a continuation of the Napoleonic story we'd seen in Spandau, Berlin several months earlier. Then again in Lyon, when we'd visited Place Bellecour where Napoleon Bonaparte had laid the first stone in its reconstruction after the 'Reign of Terror'.

Valencia then became the capital of the Second Spanish Republic between 1936, and 1937, then heavily bombed during the Spanish Civil War, but was relatively unscathed during the second world war that followed. Through the course of 442 bombings, 930 buildings were destroyed with the main focus being its port. The Torres de Serranos (Serrans Gate) survived the attacks due to preparations made, but buildings such as the Palace of the Marquis of Campo saw damage. The City Hall and Monastery of the Trinity were rebuilt.

Unfortunately, further historic buildings were lost during a flood, and then later an urban development program started by the Nationalist dictator Francisco Franco. One such building was the Ripalda Palace, but now in its place is La Pagoda. Despite these losses, there would at least be some places worth visiting.

Sightseeing

The history of Valencia had taught me to expect both Spanish and Muslim architecture in the city, with the potential for some Roman ruins. The city walls had been destroyed in 1865, but Serrans Gate, one of the original gates to the city remains. That was a must-see for me.

My normal method of finding a list of sights is to Google search for things such as ‘sights to see in Valencia’ and I will then trawl lists of sights, and add them to a Google Map to see what will be achievable. With recent advances in AI, would that still be necessary? I decided to put it to the test. A simple prompt asking what sights there are to photograph, it gave a list of sixteen places. It didn’t however think to include anything like the Serrans Gate. I got a bit more creative with prompts, and it then suggested day trips outside of the city, but also suggested an entire day of just eating. Perhaps not the best of help at this time.

What I’ve found more useful is to look at city tours, and to see what sights they cover. They usually give a good idea of what there is to see, as does any official tourism site for the city or country. Of the tours I could find, one that stood out for me was the fortified seaport of Peñíscola - we could get an organised tour there that would include visiting the castle that was built by the Knights Templar, and a stop for lunch. To make this even better, it was used as a filming location in the HBO series, Game of Thrones, as the fictional city of Mereen.

I got this booked in May, but just under two months before our trip was due to start I got a cancellation email. This led me to look at other options, and found one that would do both Peñíscola and Morella. Although, before I could book this alternative the original tour company got in touch to say the cancellation was a mistake, and was rebooked.

Another notable location to make sure we could visit is the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia due to its use in the filming of Star Wars: Andor, Doctor Who, Tomorrowland, and West World. It seems like there’d be a lot of interesting buildings to see in the old town, so it could easily take two or three days to see them all.

Quite often when looking at the map before I visit, I’ll try and work out a couple of running routes that take in sights, but with the amount of time we’d have there, and no need for longer distances as we would not be training for any further races just yet. I had no plan.

There were a few Spanish and Valencian cuisines we were eager to find somewhere to try as well. Paella is not really something that is widely eaten in Spain outside of Valencia other than by tourists. Paella valenciana is the local traditional meal that consists of rice and either chicken or rabbit. This formed part of a list for food to look out for, along with Spain’s national dish: Tortilla Española, and other popular favourites such as tapas and churros. Many places advised pre-booking at least 24-hours before if you wanted to eat paella valenciana, so was something we'd need to bear in mind.

Carmen loves to dance, and loves to watch it too. The Spanish region of Andalusia is famous for flamenco dancing, and whilst it’s not something Valencia is known for, they do have performances of it solely for the tourists. This would be something we’d really need to watch whilst in the area as well just in case we never get to visit the proper area for it.

Getting around

For larger cities, one of the most important things to know is how to get around the various sights. Valencia is a well connected city with a metro, tram, and bus network. We’d need a €4.80 Zone AB+ ticket to get to and from the airport, but during the week we’d only be travelling within Zone A which is €1.50 for a ticket.

The Valencia metro has an app, but I found on my iPhone at least, it’d crash after several seconds of use. In Lyon and Paris we bought travel cards to use on their trains, and they have the Móbilis card in Valencia, which is the same sort of thing. The card costs €1 or €2 depending on whether or not you want a cardboard or plastic one. You can then load it up with tickets of a single type. Alternatively, we could use our own contactless payment cards to save on that, but it’d only work out better if our bank didn’t charge a foreign transaction fee for each use.

I’d also seen that public transport has been free on Sundays since 2022, but couldn’t be certain if that is still the case as I couldn’t find a mention of it on the prices page for the transport website. I have since been able to confirm that this is no longer the case.

What to take?

September and October are the wettest months of this semi-arid climate. This would mean a waterproof coat would be essential for any sporadic rain showers. Last year, the rain in October caused widespread flooding that caused damage all over the city before the half marathon took place. The average temperature for October is fairly reasonable, but as the evenings could be cooler, it’d also be worth taking a warmer layer.

The tap water in Valencia is drinkable, but it is a hard water containing chlorine so it might not be that pleasant to drink. If the AirBNB didn’t provide a water filter, there are however public water fountains around the city that provide filtered water, so would mean a reusable water bottle would still be essential.

Other than that it would be just the usual necessities for a week of city tourism, plus what we’d need for running and specifically racing.

Money Matters

Spain is one of the many European countries that use the Euro. Whilst many cities in Europe are gradually shifting to cashless, there is still the chance of coming across places in Valencia that may not accept contactless. So for this trip I'd take some Euros with me to be on the safe side. This would be useful for tipping in particular, as whilst tipping is nor mandatory in Spain as a service charge is included in the bill, locals will typically round up to the nearest Euro in most places. In restaurants they usually recommend 5-10% for tipping, but again it's not expected.

On the tour side of things, it's similar for guides - you can choose to tip if you want at a rate of around €2-5 per person, per day when in a group, or 10% for a private tour. Spaniards don't do this themselves typically, as they see this as a very American thing to do.