Frequently touted as the ‘New Barcelona’, Spain’s third largest metropolis is fast becoming one of the hottest tickets in the European city break market. A short hop from the resorts of the Costa Blanca to the south and serviced by a large number of low-cost airlines, its transformation is being led by two huge projects.

The first is the architectural tour de force La Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (The City of Arts and Sciences) housing an eclectic range of visitor attractions. The second is the America’s Cup, the world’s biggest and most prestigious yachting event, which takes places every four years and will be staged in and around Valencia over a period of three months in 2007.

To accommodate this, the port area has become one of Europe’s largest urban regeneration projects. Over €1.5 billion is being invested to put Valencia on the map as a world-class yachting centre and establish year-round activities that will attract visitors to the port and city. Pre-2007 regattas began in 2005, and once the party has left town, a full programme will ensure there is no America’s Cup hangover.

Meanwhile, the nautically challenged and those unmoved by modern architecture should not forget that despite its unprepossessing first impressions (and ghastly high rise suburbs), Spain’s third city boasts an atmospheric old town that is the equal of any of the country’s centros históricos, as well as a good beach just a five-minute ride from there.