Valencia seemed like a must-visit as I make this first swing through Spain; it is a beautiful place. In typical Spanish fashion, it has a nice relaxed feel. It’s also very diverse, with the historic old town and beach offering very different vibes. It felt quite spread out to me and almost had me abandoning my walking for a rental scooter or bike. In the end, I passed on the rental and just hoofed it, but that’s not going to be for everyone. There are other means of getting around too; besides the ever-present buses and taxis, there’s also what looks to be a pretty extensive subway system. 

Funny I didn’t learn until after I left that the big park sweeping through the city is a drained riverbed. I mean it was clearly something unique, and looking back it’s obvious, but while I was there I didn’t see any signs saying anything about it and just wasn’t sure what it was. I’ve read now that it was in 1969 that they rerouted the Turia River and drained the section through the city largely because of a terrible flood that happened in 1957. There’s a good read on it here… I hope it’s legit; I can’t vouch for the site. If anyone knows more, please drop a comment below.

This was a 5-night stay…

• Accommodation –  $414.36* (additional information below)
• Getting around locally – $0
• Living expenses – $127.54 (groceries and eating out)
• Activities – $0
• Mobile phone/data  – $12.44 (I use Google Fi which provides service in most countries. If you’re interested and based in the U.S., you can use this paid link to sign up, which will give me a referral fee at no extra cost to you.)
• Medical insurance – $11.52 (I’m using SafetyWing; rates are determined by age, and mine is slightly above the base. If you’re interested there is a paid link/banner on the right side of the page)

Total $565.86 / 5-nights = $113.17 per

*Hotel info

• I stayed at Apartamentos Navío through Booking.com. It’s a bit out of the center and on the opposite end of town from the train station, so it wasn’t quite what I was hoping for, but prices do determine where I stay sometimes, and this was what I felt looked like the best option. It’s a decent, but very basic apartment on the ground floor. It didn’t get a lot of sunlight which kept it very cool as the weather got hot, but this most likely also lead to the 3 large cockroaches I found on their backs the morning before the last of my stay. As disgusting as that is to wake up to, and they were large, it is a part of life in a lot of places of the world. The location was the part that I disliked the most because it was just so long a walk to the areas I found myself going to the most.

Transportation to and from varies a lot, so I left it out of the above breakdown along with most incidental/one-time personal costs. But for those interested, in this particular case, I booked a direct train with Renfe from Barcelona Sants to València Nord. My seat was comfort class and the cost was 51,35€ ($55.75). All other standard day to day expenses are included to give an idea of how much basic living costs in the area are. Groceries will sometimes include personal care items (i.e., toothpaste, deodorant, etc.).

** I try to use Rakuten whenever it’s an option; why not take the money. It works with a browser add-on, and there is also a mobile app. Note from the Ratuken site, “Stores pay us a commission for sending our members to their websites, and we share it with you. It’s that simple!” If you haven’t signed up yet, and are interested, please consider using this referral link to help support me, and get a signup bonus. I use it regularly and recommend it, but take a look for yourself to decide if it’s right for you. When you sign up using the link, use it spending $, we each get $! The $ varies, I’ve recently seen at $40 and $30. They state “Offer may be modified or canceled anytime.” Payments are made by PayPal, or you can have a check sent to you.

*** Of course, the currency exchange varied during the stay, so for simplicity, I used a rate of 1 USD = 0,91€ for cash transactions. The accommodations and some daily purchases made on cards were entered at the converted cost charged.

**** Since this is my living situation, I don’t go to top-rated restaurants or paid entry to tourist attractions too much. I do eat out a lot, but nothing too special; to some extent, it’s somewhat more cost-effective this way… at least that’s what I’m telling myself. I try to be cost-conscious, eating as a local would… maybe you could say like a broke college guy that is LOL! I try to note any differences to this above.

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