With the monthly Vino Valencia events we want to create an environment for people who are interested in wine and networking. Every month we match 3 quality wines with tapas.

RSVP’s via the Vino Valencia website (http://www.vino-valencia.com).

We look forward to see you there!
Vino Valencia team

Today we participated in an organised trip to Bioparc, a zoo where the animals live in a much less restricted environment than a traditional zoo with cages.

We enjoyed our time very much and saw many animals in the specially designed areas of Madagascar, Equatorial Africa and the Savannah. In the “amphitheatre” there was a “show” with birds, giant ones even condors that were flying closely over the gathered audience. As one can understand it is much more difficult to train a bird than let’s say a dolphin, and it was truly amazing!

Bioparc Valencia, just one of many things to do in Valencia, Spain!

On Saturday we went to the Turia riverbed were the 21st edition of Mostra de Vinos, a wine fair was held, traditionally the week before Easter.

And on Sunday we visited the tourism fair Turismo Comunidad Valenciana (TCV) in the Feria Valencia, the international trade- and conference center.

Our special attention went to the hall were most of the cities and villages of the Comunidad Valenciana were represented and we have become quite inspired by all the pittoresque pueblos (villages), the (ruins of) castles, waterfalls, nature and more.

Also we have made contact with quite a few vineyards in the area, and in the next few weeks we will spend our time mostly in the province to develop interesting routes for you, the visitor to Valencia.

The history of Las Fallas is adequately described here:

Legend has it that the history of Las Fallas begins with medieval carpenters. During the short, winter days they, among others, used planks of wood known as parots to support the candles that they were forced to burn in order to see well enough to work their trade in the gloom. When the days began to lengthen enough to make these candles obsolete, in joyful welcoming of the spring, these carpenters would burn the parots.

The full program is available at the official tourist information website.

Some of the highlights:
• daily Masclet√† (fireworks and fire crackers display) in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento at 2pm
• daily bullfights in the Plaza de Toros at 5pm
• Sunday, March 15, Plant√† of all the children‚Äôs fallas at 8am
• Sunday, March 15, Plant√† of all the fallas at midnight
• March 15-17 Firework display in the Paseo de la Alameda (Turia) at 1am
• Monday, March 16, Cabalgata Folkl√≥rica (Folklore Parade)
• Tuesday and Wednesday, March 17-18, Flower Offering to Virgen de los Desamparados, starting 4pm till about 11pm
• Wednesday, March 18, ‚ÄúNit de foc‚Äù (Night of Fire Fireworks Display) in the Paseo de la Alameda (Turia) at 2am
• Thursday, March 19, Solemn mass in honour of the Patriarch Saint Joseph in Valencia Cathedral presided by the Archbishop of Valencia, Agust√≠n Garc√≠a Gasco at noon
• Thursday, March 19, Crem√† (burning) of all the fallas in Valencia at 12pm
• Aerial firework display in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento and Crem√† (burning) of the Plaza Ayuntamiento Falla at 1am (night of Thursday on Friday)

If you are in Valencia during the Fallas 2009, we wish you a lot of fun!

Recently we launched a new website that – like Valencia Day Trips – is focused on the visitor to Valencia.

The name of the website is Eat In Valencia and its (ambitious) aim is to list all restaurants in Valencia.

We have divided Valencia in its postcode districts and listings include information such as GPS location, smoking/non-smoking, credit card acceptance, cuisine, specialties among others.

Eat In Valencia also has a forum where visitors can leave reviews and share tips and our guest writer Ivan Larcombe each week writes a story with interesting and useful information for your visit to Valencia in Valencia Insights.

If you would like to subscribe to the newsletter to receive regular updates on new restaurants, you can do so here.

It will be an ongoing project for the next couple of months to gather all the information for the online profiles of all restaurants in Valencia.

In a recent article in Que it was said that “the capital of the Turia had an average hotel occupancy of 69.5% over 2008″.

The average stay in Valencia has gone up to 2 nights average, a number that in our opinion is still a bit too short, but since numbers are rising every year, we guess it is a good sign.

It is bypassing cities like Barcelona, Amsterdam, Berlin and Lisbon and in the top 5 of tourist destinations in Europe.

With big events planned for 2009, such as the Formula One, the Global Champions Tour (equestrian), ATP Tennis and some of the major trade fairs in Europe, Valencia is looking to sustain its grip on tourism.

The America’s Cup has committed itself to return to Valencia in 2010.

Check it out here and you can also visit the interactive website.

With our website Valencia Day Trips we plan to organize day trips in and around Valencia, Spain.

We pride ourselves in offering unique combinations between culture, nature and (local) life.

Valencia Day Trips is a sister website of Beijing Day Trips, a company established in November 2006 in Beijing, China.

In the next few months we will start updating this website with our unique day trips in and around Valencia, Spain!

Thanks for your patience.