Season Guide - Europe - Hilton Racing

At the forefront of the city’s new-found aplomb is some of the most ambitious architecture in Europe - the fabulous City of Arts and Sciences complex - a mile from the city centre - designed by the world-renowned local architect, Santiago Calatrava.

At first I think I’ve chanced upon a miniature space-age city - and worry I may have downed one too many agua de valencia - the local cocktail made from cava, orange juice and vodka - and pungent enough to propel a McLaren a few laps.

This stunning series of futurist and breathtaking buildings includes a science museum with glass walls seemingly cascading like a waterfall, and L'Oceanografic, Europe's largest aquarium, offering a hi-tech tour of the world's oceans. There’s also the wondrous L'Hemisferic, a planetarium and Imax cinema that looks like an enormous winking eye. Then, from another angle, it resembles a Samurai helmet.

And, finally with the elegant Palau de les Artes - covered in white ceramic mosaics - Europe has a modern-day opera house to match the one in Sydney. Depending on your viewpoint - or how many aguas you’ve had - it resembles a ship, an egg, even a crustacean.

With all this gleaming modernity on display I almost neglect Valencia’s rich heritage - the medieval cathedral, an art deco main railway station and the beautiful Gothic hall of La Lonja, the Unesco-listed medieval silk exchange, with high vaulted ceilings.

A stroll around Valencia’s beautiful old town reveals an enticing labyrinth of cobbled streets and hidden plazas, a mix-match of architectural styles testament to former landlords - the Romans, the Visigoths, and of course, the Moors.

Many old buildings in the back streets have faded pink or blue façades with wrought-iron balconies overflowing with plants and flowers.And Valencia’s domed Central Market is one of the largest covered markets in Europe and features a multi-coloured sprawl of stalls selling shiny produce like peppers, tomatoes and hams. There’s also such a huge array of fish and shellfish here it’s more like SeaWorld-on-a-Slab.

All that food makes me peckish so I duck into an old-style restaurant in the old town, a family-run cantina with cured hams hanging from the ceiling. Two old men stand at the bar and watch Valencia play football on TV while tucking into some patatas bravas. Meanwhile a chef in a white apron serves me up some grilled sardines and clams. I can also smell horchata, the nutty-flavoured milk served in cafes all over the city.

Valencia is right on the Mediterranean, so, at any moment you can swap culture for sunbathing on the wide, golden sands of beaches like Playa de Levante. Many seafront restaurants serve enormous platters of traditional paella - invented here.

Late nights in Valencia are well worth staying up for. After midnight, about the time I’d normally be stirring my cocoa, the nightlife is only starting to get going. I head for El Carme district in the heart of the atmospheric old town where there’s a cool mix of bohemian and trendy bars. Dodging young bucks on scooters, I weave through groups of good-natured young Valencians without a care in the world.

But if I think this is party town now I’m told I should wait for festival time. Las Fallas, each March, is one of Spain's wildest festivals, where fireworks accompany burning huge papier mache effigies. And La Tomatina - the annual madcap tomato fight - happening three days after the race a few miles away in Bunol.

By 3am, I call it a night even though it feels like the party is just kicking off. And that’s vibrant Valencia in a nutshell - a party that is just beginning.