Valencia

Where to stay

El Carmen, inside the old city walls, has the highest concentration of hostels and puts you within walking distance of the Mercat Central and the Torres de Serrans. Ruzafa, about a 15-minute walk south, runs quieter and tends to have slightly lower nightly rates.

Getting around

• Metrovalencia lines 3 and 5 run directly from the airport to the city center for a couple of euros. A taxi covers the same route for several times that, so skip the cab rank unless you have a lot of luggage.
• Restaurants around El Carmen and Ruzafa offer a menú del día at lunch, typically three courses with a drink for a budget-friendly price. Making lunch your main meal cuts food costs noticeably versus ordering from dinner menus.
• Las Fallas, the festival centered on the third week of March, fills every bed in the city weeks in advance and pushes nightly rates to multiples of the off-season price. If your dates overlap with it, either book months ahead or shift your trip by a week.

When to go

November through February is the cheapest window for hostels. July and August bring beach crowds and higher rates, and the third week of March for Las Fallas is the single most expensive period of the year.