Tapas Trails · Cities · Valencia
Valencia · Food tours

Where to eat your way through Valencia

Half past ten in the morning in Valencia falls in the middle of the esmorzaret, the meal eaten here between nine and noon: peanuts and olives, a sandwich the size of your forearm and a drink, with a cremaet to finish, which is coffee poured over rum that's been burned with sugar, lemon peel and cinnamon. Paella comes at lunch and horchata in the afternoon. Valencia eats by its own clock, and the food tours worth booking are the ones that teach it to you. If you book one, make it #1, the Authentic Tapas & Local Drinks walk, and take a morning departure if you want the market. I live in Valencia, and below are the eight tours I'd send people on, grouped by the kind of trip you're on and numbered as in the full ranking.

Ham stalls under the iron roof and stained glass of the Mercado Central in Valencia

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Valencians eat paella in the middle of the day, very often on a Sunday with family, out of the pan it was cooked in. It's the rule visitors break most often here, and a restaurant selling paella at nine at night is cooking for people who haven't learned it yet.

The paella they mean is paella valenciana: rice cooked with chicken, rabbit, flat green beans and garrofó, a big white bean, with tomato, saffron, olive oil, water and salt. A study for the Catholic University of Valencia found those ten ingredients in almost every version across 266 towns. Snails, rosemary, duck or artichoke turn up depending on the village and the season, and chorizo doesn't turn up at all. Rice with seafood is a different dish under its own names, arroz a banda and arroz negro, and a very good one.

Start at the Mercado Central, a modernist market hall finished in 1928, across the square from the Gothic silk exchange. It's open Monday to Saturday from 7:30am to 3pm and closed on Sundays and public holidays, and nearly every morning food tour in the city is built around it, so those hours decide which departure you book.

Prices on the cards below are from November 2026, and every one of these tours can be cancelled free up to 24 hours ahead.

Old town · Tapas and a long table

The tapas walk, done the Valencian way

The two tours here are very different: one walks you through four or more stops of food you'd only find here, and the other is a short history walk followed by a long seated meal with wine.

1 The curved facade of Plaza Redonda in Valencia with a bell tower rising behind it

Valencia Food Tour: Authentic Tapas & Local Drinks

★ 5.0 (255, Viator) 3.5 hours Max 12 people From €67 (GetYourGuide)

Its four or more stops between Plaça del Tossal, the Central Market and Plaza Redonda add up to a full meal, and the menu is properly local: esgarraet, coca, clòtxines when they're in season, and horchata with fartons or Agua de Valencia depending on the hour. The market shuts at 3pm, so book a morning departure if you want the market stop. It's €67 on GetYourGuide at the moment, reduced from €89, and €85 on Viator. Big eaters may find the portions light for the price, and there are vegetarian and alcohol-free options.

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5 The Turia Fountain in Plaza de la Virgen, Valencia, with the basilica's tiled dome and the cathedral behind

Old Town Tour with Wine & Tapas in an 11th-Century Monument

★ 5.0 (3,797) 4 hours Max 12 people From €75

It starts with a walk past La Lonja and through the Central Market to Plaza de la Virgen, then spends about two hours at the table in an 11th-century building in Barrio del Carmen, with rounds of tapas, a paella, dessert and regional wines. It's the most popular tour on this page, and it's for a long meal with wine more than a crawl between bars. It runs at lunch or dinner, and the evening and Sunday tours skip the market.

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Mornings · Mercado Central

Eat where Valencia shops

The Mercado Central is at its best in the morning, and so is Valencian eating, from horchata and the esmorzaret to ham and cheese from the stalls. These three tours are built around the morning, and two of them finish around lunchtime.

2 Twisted stone columns rising into the vaulted ceiling of the Lonja de la Seda in Valencia

Valencia's Greatest Food, History & Culture Tour

★ 5.0 (204) 3.5 hours Max 9 people From €85

This one has the smallest group on this page, nine at most, and spends about an hour inside the Central Market on Ibérico ham and sheep's cheese. It starts at 11am with horchata and a pastry, then moves on to nougat at an old sweet shop, tapas by the silk exchange and croquetas with an aperitif in Plaza de la Virgen. Viviana, the guide, is a big part of the appeal. It can do vegetarian and gluten-free, but not vegan.

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3 Fruit and vegetable stalls under the iron arches of Valencia's Mercado Central

Morning Food Tour with Central Market

★ 4.9 (273) 3 hours Min 4 people From €59

At €59 it's the cheapest tour here, and it walks you through the Valencian morning: breakfast at a café, an hour in the market with ham, olives, cheese and wine, then a sit-down esmorzaret and horchata to finish. It's a lot of food, and a few people have found it on the sweet side. It isn't suitable for vegetarians or anyone gluten-intolerant, and it's also on Viator for €65.

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4 Steamed mussels with parsley in a steel pot, with lemon wedges beside it

Secret Food Tours: Valencia Centre, 9+ Tastings

★ 5.0 (140) 3 hours Max 12 people From €98

At €98 it's the priciest walk here, and nobody seems to come away disappointed. Along the way you eat an esmorzaret sandwich, grilled artichoke overlooking the Central Market, mussels in an old tavern and a fish tapa on Plaza Lope de Vega, and you drink horchata at a horchatería the listing dates back more than 200 years. Bookings aren't confirmed instantly; it can take up to 48 hours.

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Hands-on · Paella classes

Learn to make it yourself

The two classes have very different ideas of hands-on: in the first you cook your own pan, and in the second you share one and drink a lot of sangria.

7 A paella pan steaming over an open wood fire

Paella Cooking Class, Wine Tasting & Central Market

★ 5.0 (2,350) 3.5 hours Max 14 people From €70

Of the two classes, this is the one I'd book. You shop in the Mercado Central, then cook with a professional chef at stations shared by one to three people, so the paella you eat is your own, with tapas and wine alongside. Afternoon, evening and Sunday classes leave out the market and cost less, so pick a morning slot if the market is part of the point.

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8 The colored concrete fins and lettering on the front of the Mercat de Russafa in Valencia

Real Paella Class, Ruzafa Market Visit & Sangría Workshop

★ 5.0 (439) 3.5 hours Group size not stated From €65

This is the party class, in Ruzafa: a walk through the neighborhood market, welcome tapas and a sangria demonstration, then Valencian or seafood paella with tomato salad, coca de llanda and a glass of mistela, and the sangria is bottomless. The cooking is shared, though. Groups of about six make one pan, so you may do little more than chop some garlic.

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Half day · L'Albufera

Paella where it comes from

South of the city, the Albufera is a freshwater lagoon with rice fields all around it. Visit Valencia calls it the place paella was born, and El Palmar, the fishing village on its shore, is also home to all i pebre, the eel stew in the list below.

9 An old stone farmhouse among flooded rice fields in the Albufera at sunset

Albufera Boat Ride with Paella in El Palmar

★ 4.7 (60) 4 hours Max 15 people From €79

Transport leaves from near the City of Arts and Sciences. After an hour on the lagoon by boat comes a set lunch in El Palmar: meat, seafood or vegetable paella, a drink, dessert and coffee. The boat is the highlight, and the meal is good rather than special. It runs in the morning or at sunset, and the morning departure has you eating paella at the hour Valencians do.

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On your own

What to eat in Valencia

Paella valenciana, at lunch. Good rice restaurants often want it ordered ahead, and it's made for two or more.

Arroz a banda and arroz negro. The seafood rices. Arroz a banda is cooked in fish stock and served with allioli, and arroz negro is black with squid ink.

All i pebre. Eel stewed with garlic, paprika and potato, the dish of El Palmar and Catarroja on the Albufera.

Esgarraet. Roasted red pepper with salt cod, served cold as a tapa.

Clòtxines. Small, sweet Valencian mussels, steamed, and only in season from May to August. Out of season, the mussels on the menu come from somewhere else.

The esmorzaret. The mid-morning meal, eaten before noon. Central Bar, Ricard Camarena's counter inside the Mercado Central, serves it in the mornings.

Horchata and fartons. Tiger nut milk, sweet and ice-cold, pressed from chufa grown in a handful of towns just north of the city around Alboraya, and drunk with a fartón to dip in it, especially in summer. Horchatería Daniel, a family name from Alboraya, has a stall in the Mercado de Colón, the city's other modernist market.

Agua de Valencia. Orange juice and cava, the city's own cocktail, usually served by the jug to share.

Buñuelos de calabaza. Pumpkin fritters with hot chocolate, sold from street stalls during Fallas in March.

Quick decision

Which tour is right for you?

  • One tour, the most Valencian food? Book #1 (Authentic Tapas & Local Drinks), a morning departure if you want the market.
  • A long seated meal with plenty of wine? Book #5 (Old Town Tour in an 11th-Century Monument).
  • A morning in the market with a small group? Book #2 (Valencia's Greatest Food, History & Culture), or #3 if you're on a budget.
  • Want to cook? Book #7 to cook your own pan, or #8 for a livelier few hours.
  • Want to see the rice fields? Book #9, the morning departure.

The full ranking, with one more evening tour, is in the 9 best food tours in Valencia. Heading north too? See Rioja wine tours from Logroño and Bilbao and the best food tours in Madrid.

Common questions

Valencia food tours, answered

Can I do a market tour on a Sunday?

Not inside the Mercado Central, which is closed on Sundays and public holidays and shuts at 3pm the rest of the week. Tours that run then go around it or skip it, so for the market, book a morning from Monday to Saturday.

Where should I eat paella?

At lunch, at a restaurant that cooks it to order, ideally booked ahead. Avoid anywhere selling it at night on a busy square with photos on the menu. The Albufera trip (#9) takes you to El Palmar, on the lagoon where the rice grows.

I'm vegetarian or gluten-free. Which tours work?

#1 and #2 offer vegetarian options, and #2 also does gluten-free. The morning market tour (#3) isn't suitable for vegetarians or anyone gluten-intolerant. None of these is set up for vegans. Tell the operator when you book.

What about Fallas?

In March the center smells of gunpowder and frying dough, because Fallas is buñuelo season. The peak week runs from 15 to 19 March: the center is crowded, streets close, and the mascletà firecrackers go off in Plaza del Ayuntamiento at 2pm every day. It's a wonderful week to be here, but book everything early and check the route with the operator.

Why book through Tapas Trails instead of direct on GetYourGuide or Viator?

Same price, same booking confirmation, same cancellation. I earn a small commission when you book through these links, and it funds the site at no cost to you. It never decides what I recommend.