The city of Valencia has hundreds of corners that are worth visiting as well as its museums and churches. However, if there is something more indigenous than Fallas for a Valencian, it is its dish par excellence: paella.
This dish, which we have already discussed in this blog, has its origin in a very specific area near the city of Valencia, the famous Albufera, a saltwater lagoon that can be visited and traveled by boat and on whose banks are grown annually hundreds of tons of the same rice that is used to make paella.
This area and the surrounding villages are a different place from what you find in the city itself and it is the ideal place for those who want to enjoy nature as well as for those who want to eat a paella or a fideuà in front of the Albufera to be able to tour it later by boat, as many restaurants in the area of El Perelló or El Palmar offer.
While the traditional paella is made with rabbit and chicken beyond the vegetables, in the area of the Albufera one can taste different varieties either with duck, or rice fish typical of the area as eel or sea bass since it is an area of fishermen and farmers, so it is worth visiting not only for its natural environment or the Albufera itself but also as a gastronomic destination very close to the city of Valencia.
Therefore, from Flight Mode we would like to leave you a couple of recommendations on what to do and where to eat to enjoy the experience of knowing the Albufera 100%.
If what you are looking for is to eat well with incomparable views of the Albufera and enjoy a romantic sunset, do not hesitate to visit the Nou Racó restaurant. This great event hall is also a famous restaurant where you can taste its menu of rice dishes, all cooked over a wood fire, as well as a wide variety of typical Valencian starters.
Another more classic option that can be found within the same village of El Palmar is the Bon Aire restaurant, run by the renowned local chef Raúl Magraner. This small restaurant located on the shore of the lagoon itself is famous for its typical local dishes such as all i pebre and other dishes made with eel and local products from the Albufera. This restaurant was awarded the prize for the Best Paella in the World at the International Swedish Competition in 2018, making it an obligatory stop for rice lovers.
In the same town of El Palmar there are several piers and areas of tourist attention to consult the schedules of the different boatmen in the area if you want to tour the Albufera. Also, this small fishing village surrounded by rice fields is worth visiting because there is a large number of Barracas, a type of house typical of the Valencian countryside that was built with local materials and is worth visiting to see what the city and its surroundings were like centuries ago.
