It was my turn to organise the incredibly stressful 2nd Surprise Weekend for six of my best mates and myself.. the premise to follow is that they don’t know where we are going until the day of the trip when I start drip feeding clues into the WhatsApp group.. There is a strict criteria to follow: no time off work (I broke this rule with a 17.40 Friday departure), flights plus accommodation to be below £100 (I came in at £117…) and to be back in our respective houses (hungover) by latest 4pm on Sunday!
There are not too many options if you want to have at least some worthwhile time at your chosen destination on Friday night. It is always a good shout to pick somewhere with the laid back continental lifestyle, Spain is perfect with people still dining at 10pm and bars busy into the early hours! A good place to start research is of course SkyScanner and the Weekends.com app where you can specify all your trip parameters and budget. The latter is especially good for out of peak season trips!
After 10 or so hours research I settled on Valencia closely followed by Hamburg. The selection went down a storm with the group and they were all buzzing for sangria, tapas (pinchoes in Valencia) and the Las Fallas festival that we were going to (a festival of fire crackers – quite a sight / sound!!!)
The Old Town is beautiful with narrow winding streets filled with bars and restaurants serving fantastic food!
From the Old Town we took a fantastic walk and bike ride down through the city park towards the waterfront crossing over remnants of the F1 track. Walking down the park you will pass the impressive Mueso de Cinecias and the Opera House as well as the ever-popular nightclubs Mya and the outdoor L’Umbracle. Upon reaching the waterfront, there are many beachside restaurants where you can relax and watch the beach world go by. We opted for sangria at the swanky Marina Beach Club.
Given the nature of the weekend it was all a blur and flew by, we were only there 36 hours, yet could have easily spent a full long weekend there (Thursday night through to Sunday afternoon). The festival was great to see, 20 minutes of the loudest fire crackers I have ever heard! We were there for the opening weekend but from speaking to the locals and viewing instagram videos the intensity and colour increases dramatically throughout the 19 day festival!
Highlights
Best Drink: couldn’t tell you, San Miguel probably
Best Experience: Las Fallas Festival in the Plaza Mayor and beachside Sangria in the sunshine in February!!
