The best European seaside city to visit in 2024 – thanks to cheap flights and sandy beaches
A SEASIDE city break is the best of both worlds – with tourist attractions and sandy beaches side by side.
And the best seaside city for a holiday has been revealed – and it’s just a few hours from the UK.
The study, conducted by Which? looked at a range of criteria when ranking the best European city breaks.
This includes affordability, lack of crowds, as well as hotels, dining out, attractions and local transport.
And Valencia, in Spain, came in joint first with Krakow in Poland.
Valencia received full marks for it’s attractions, with the futuristic, £760million City of Arts and Sciences being the star of the city.
The huge attraction is home to an oceanographic park, science museum and planetarium as well as an opera house, and was even used to film famous TV shows such as Westworld.
It’s even been compared to the land of Epcot in Disney World, although you can head to the nearby playground Park Gulliver if you want some slides and games.
It was also given the full five-stars for food and drink, with the local tapas and sangria likely to be a hit with Brits, with fresh fish and padron peppers the popular choice.
Of course, paella is said to have been invented in Valencia so that is also a must.
For cheap eats, restaurants offer cheap, to-go options such as La Finestra which has beer and mini pizzas for just a few euros.
And Saona, which has tasting menus, offers “cups” of local wine to try.
It ranked highly for value for money, as well as ease of getting around and accommodation options.
Holidaymakers can opt for the Valencia Tourist Card which gives you free bus and metro travel across the city.
And cheap hotels include the Valencia Oceanic by Melia which starts from around £70.
Getting there is cheap too – flights to Valencia from the UK start from £15.99 with Ryanair.
If you’re temped by a trip there, make sure to head straight to the b beaches too – Valencia gets as many as 300 sunny days a year.
Platja de Llevant is a popular beach due to being in the bay, so the waves are very shallow and ideal for kids.
There is also Platja del Cabanyal near the port, with Platja de la Malva-rosa and Platja de la Patacona futher north.
Sun Travel visited Valencia last summer – here is what else you can expect from a visit to the city.
And Valencia was named the best European coastal destination in another study by Which? earlier this year, beating Barcelona and Porto.