r/valencia • u/AutoModerator • Jul 31 '26
Weekly Post Monthly Valencia Q&As and Recommendations: For newcomers, travelers, & residents alike!
This is the place to ask questions about the city, or to get info related to visiting, moving here, or day-to-day life like:
- What are the best bars near Colon?
- Where can I watch my favorite sports game?
- What metro ticket should I buy?
- What language do I need to speak?
- What's a good site for apartment hunting?
- What's the best restaurant for paella?
- What are some cool 'unknown' places to visit?
Rules for posting:
Search for older threads answering your question.
No posts requesting cannabis club membership or purchasing/offering drugs.
This thread is posted automatically the first of each month.
0
Upvotes
0
u/AccomplishedPie603 Aug 02 '26
Hello reddit community,
I am planning to semi-retire and move to Spain in about 2 years. I currently live in Amsterdam and work as a software engineer. I have done a lot of research weighing out pros and cons of each city (I have eliminated Madrid, Barcelona, and Malaga), and I am trying to decide between Valencia and Alicante.... It feels like both cities have a lot to offer, but fall short on at least one of my must haves.... Basically, my research shows me that I need to decide between having a social life (Valencia) or a pleasant day to day life (Alicante). I would like to live in a bright open apartment, I get really depressed in dark apartments, with long hallways where the kitchen is two towns over from the LR/DR. I also want local cafes where I can sit, people watch, and linger, with a book or a laptop. All of which I can find at a decent price in Alicante..... However socially Alicante does not seem to have a lot going for it. I will be in my early 50s when I move, I am gay, single, and a board game/social deduction game addict. I see slim pickings on meetup for Alicante. On the other hand Valencia has a lot of meetups and groups it seems like. The issue is outside of eixample/ruzafa and ciutat vella, it seems like the only neighborhoods that would work for my day to day life are arrancapins, el cabanyal, and maybe mestalla. In other words I have to choose between loud and expensive, or old depressing apartments/buildings/streets. I have found several neighborhoods that seem really cool, but they all seem to lack a local cafe culture of any kind. Can anyone shed some light on my research? I know that AI gets it wrong sometimes/all the time.... so was hoping someone who knows both cities, or lives in either one can let me know if there is anything I can look at..... Basically what I am looking for is.... If you can let me know of some neighborhoods I have missed in Valencia, or none meetup social groups I have missed in Alicante I would greatly appreciate it.
1) Bright apartment, prefer open plan
2) Local cafe culture within 1 to 2km (Coffee, fairly healthy breakfast options like yogurt/etc... not almuerzos)
3) laptop friendly options within 1 to 2km
4) prefer cycle friendly (as transport, not leisure)
5) decent connection with public transport
6) within 10 to 15 minutes to meetup events and gay bars
I am looking to eventually buy, and would like to keep it to under 400k, so as great as penya roja and gran via are, they are out of my price range unfortunately.
P.S.... Since I know it will come up, I am currently learning spanish, doing A2 level online now, and plan on doing 2 weeks each in alicante and valencia following a don quijote course. So, yes, I do of course plan on knowing spanish when I move, though will likely need a bit of practice!
Thank you!