Valencia: Central Market Food Tour & 9 Tastings Walk

4.97

(113 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

I’ll be honest, I signed up for this Valencia food tour mostly because everyone kept talking about the Central Market — but it wasn’t the paella that stuck with me. The morning started with our guide, Marta, handing out these hefty esmorzaret sandwiches (I still can’t pronounce that right), stuffed with whatever was freshest from the market. The bread was crusty, my hands got oily, and somehow that felt exactly right. We stood in a little circle outside the Mercado Central de Valencia while locals zipped by on bikes or stopped to chat with Marta like she was their cousin.

After that, we ducked into a restaurant overlooking the market for grilled artichoke. I’d never had it like this — smoky, a bit charred at the edges, drizzled in olive oil. Someone at our table tried to guess all the ingredients and just gave up laughing. Walking through the old town after, you could smell oranges somewhere (maybe just in my head?) and hear church bells echoing off narrow streets. We squeezed into a tavern for mussels — plump and briny — and then hit a delicatessen where I lost track of what I was tasting. Manchego? Something cured? It all blurred together but in a good way.

The fish tapa at the bar was so fresh it almost tasted like the sea air itself — or maybe that’s just me being dramatic. By then I’d stopped trying to keep my hands clean or remember every detail; I was just following Marta’s lead as she waved at friends and told us which bars her dad liked best. The last stop was this place with an old wooden sign and big windows — over two centuries old, apparently — where we got horchata in frosty glasses. Cold, sweet, almost nutty; it’s one of those things you think you’ll only try once but then crave later when you’re home. Still do.