Valencia Photo Spots: A Local’s Guide and Honest Review

So, you are headed to Valencia and, too, want to fill your Instagram with drool-worthy pictures? That makes a lot of sense! There are so many interesting angles, colorful facades, and, just a little, secret corners around the city. Very, very many people who are headed here wonder about joining one of those “Valencia Discover the Most Photogenic Spots with a Local” tours. Well, the question really is, is it very worthwhile, you know? Is the tour itself any good, actually? Let’s take a closer look, in some respects.

What’s the Idea, very?

The thing about these tours, very often, is that they offer something fairly unique: experiencing a city through the eyes of someone who calls that place home. That’s so attractive. That being the case, very many tours promise to whisk you away from the usual tourist routes and deposit you in places, apparently, only locals seem to know about. In this case, a “photogenic spots” tour promises, pretty much, not to just introduce you to these locations, arguably, but to help you get the shot, right? That part sounds wonderful, no?

First Impressions Could be Everything

Actually, let’s think about those first minutes. When I booked my tour, I really was hoping for someone who was a real photography buff and also had a passion for Valencia. Like your favorite barista who not only makes latte art, I guess, but also tells you the whole back story about the coffee beans they’re using? The person I was expecting maybe even knew all the best times of day for shooting different areas because of how the sunlight hits those particular spots, right? The tour guide showed up right on time, and, pretty much, they were very friendly, but that barista vibe was almost missing, as a matter of fact. Which wasn’t necessarily bad, yet it just, kind of, wasn’t precisely what I’d built up in my mind.

Striking a Pose at Some Key Locations: Was It Worth It?

Now, Valencia, very obviously, does have its highlights for the picture taking kind of person. So, we made our way to the City of Arts and Sciences, basically a futuristic playground that’s begging to be photographed, too. Any tour of this sort very surely brings you there. The guide, anyway, showed me some good spots to get certain angles that I might have missed on my own, still that info wasn’t necessarily groundbreaking. Like, you could find similar advice with a quick search online, more or less. Next, the Central Market. Ah! It’s almost as if that place is a total feast for the eyes (and the stomach!), like your favourite corner store on the way to school, in some respects. It was crowded, yes, and getting a clean shot was challenging, so, thankfully, the guide knew some spots where you could use the crowds to your advantage to give a certain vibe to the shot. But a good eye and sense of observation works just the same here.

Hidden Gems, Really? Or Just the Usual Spots?

I really was promised some off-the-beaten-path locations on this “photogenic spots” tour, kind of corners that weren’t all over Instagram, literally. That’s fair enough. Did I find that, or not? Kind of, yeah. We wandered through El Carmen, right, which is the old quarter, you see. That is an interesting area that’s all narrow streets and street art. In that case, the guide showed me, alright, just a bit, a tiny bit, spots where the light caught the murals just right, okay, but it was more like, alright, “Hey, check this piece out,” not always explaining why it was such a photogenic piece in a specific way or at a given time, really. This particular location, though, had loads of charm, too, but I reckon that it wasn’t exceptionally distinct to the regular tourist’s lens, to be honest. I really have the feeling, you know, that finding those spots truly does come from wandering and keeping your eyes open. That being said, the guide was extremely helpful when dealing with people for some portrait ideas. I actually mean that; this specific action from the guide made a positive impact on the result of my visit.

Ruzafa and the Quest for the Picture-Perfect Corner

Ruzafa, now, it’s a district, definitely, with a really hip vibe. I really enjoy hanging around that district. This quarter felt much more like, very, very many little treasures waiting to be found on seemingly any corner. So, the guide walked me down streets, still nothing screamed “Instagram gold,” honestly. Though that doesn’t mean those picture opportunities were at all lacking here; they do not at all, frankly. I would certainly claim it needed a tad bit more… guidance in getting the shot. Very probably more input as to how best to frame the shot or why this particular building’s facade was interesting. It would have been beneficial to give a very tiny bit of context, seriously.

So, is it Worth Your Coin? Some Final Thoughts

So, here’s the big question, like: Should you cough up the money for the tour, anyway, or should you basically save those coins for some amazing paella? You see, if you are new to Valencia and you’re feeling a bit lost, you see, and you kind of feel like you aren’t sure where the better starting points would be, a tour such as this could provide a base idea, as a matter of fact. But that comes at the price of just, okay, an okay-ish guide who will be friendly, pretty much, but won’t turn out to be a photography guru, right? Then again, that really could be okay for just loads of people! And I’d certainly add, to be perfectly honest, that if getting some nice photos with yourself on them, the guides know some ways to achieve good photos that work well!

• The Good: Friendly guide, particularly if you need a shot of yourself at the spot, an easygoing intro to the city, really.
• The Not-So-Good: Does not seem like exceptional insider knowledge of any real “secret” or photography related locations, okay?
• The Verdict: Probably a worthwhile kick-start for picture taking first timers or those wanting someone else to choose the locations, more or less, or just a group looking to grab snaps of themselves.

And those are the highlights of this tour, okay. I very much trust, kind of, that it aided in answering some of your questions, you see! Have loads of fun getting pictures around town, actually. Just keep an open mind! Now get going!

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