Shopping in Valencia
Published: 17/12/2008 by Tim Birch
The main shopping street is Calle Colón, with no less than three branches of El Corte Inglés, the Spanish Department store chain. (there are actually four more branches around the city, would you believe!) It's a lovely busy street with branches of all the well known fashion chains interspersed with designer boutiques and the odd café or bar perfectly placed to sit and recharge your batteries.
Take any of the streets off Colón and you'll have even more choice. Walk down Calle Jorge Juan, past even more shops and take a look at the Art nouveau Masterpiece Mercado Colón, recently restored to perfection and a perfect place to take a coffee and do a little more shopping.
The chiquest street in town is Poeta Querol, lots of beautiful designer stores (just off it is a little street Calle de Virués full of more designer shops and has recently, curiously, branded itself the Golden Mile) and, at its centre, our favourite building in Valencia, the gothic Palace that is home to the National Ceramics Museum.
For funkier shopping explore the maze of streets in the Barrio del Carmen, great one-off boutiques jostle with junk and antiqe shops and collectors record shops and on every corner and little plaza a plethora of bars and restaurants. Here too you will find the gorgeous Mercado Central, one of Spain's largest covered markets, battling Barcelona for first place!
If Shopping centres are more your style, you are spoilt for choice, there are no less than eight to choose from around the city.
Photo Gallery
Lovely plants for sale outside Mercado Central
