Valencia for a med mooring

[jcwads]

Has anyone had a perm berth at Valencia? I'm tempted because its an easy commute for me from London, and according to a berth holder, quite reasonably priced!

The balearics don't seem too far away. It would be more so whether there is any local cruising that is worth while / enjoyable.

I am wanting max convenience for travel from London really, to ensure I get long weekend use on the boat, whilst holding down a busy job.

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Has anyone had a perm berth at Valencia? I'm tempted because its an easy commute for me from London, and according to a berth holder, quite reasonably priced!

The balearics don't seem too far away. It would be more so whether there is any local cruising that is worth while / enjoyable.

I am wanting max convenience for travel from London really, to ensure I get long weekend use on the boat, whilst holding down a busy job.

For max convenience from London for a Med berth it's hard to beat south of France. Loads of flights to Nice from all London airports, plenty of berthing options near Nice.

 

[jfm]

No, but I've been there and cruised the coast, once.

It is dull. Whether you turn L or R out of Valencia, there is nowhere nice to go for weekend cruising. Nice as in turquiose water in a bay.
For travel from London you cannot beat Nice as JtB says. I did it 15+ years till I moved out of London. Almost a flight every hour, plus Nice airport is the slickest anywhere. With a premium ticket there are few queues and when you get the Platinum card (issued by the airport, not airlines) as you will then you have zero queues. The auto passport machines are 3x faster than UK ones. From plane wheel hitting tarmac I am in the car going to boat within 8 minutes. Arrive at airport 40mins before your departing flight. And the cruising is nice/turquoise, as some threads in last few days show.

Cote d'Azur isn't super cheap, and is more expensive than Valencia, but there is a reason for that. As a general rule, beware cheap marinas - there may be a reason.

Balearics is 300nm so a big deal from the Nice area. Corsica is 100nm, easy, and while Menorca/Mallorca are beautiful, Corsica is more beautiful imho - below are pics from Corsica in August.

 

[MapisM]

For max convenience from London for a Med berth it's hard to beat south of France

That's obviously true.
But I hope jfm doesn't mind if I throw in also a pic of the typical SoF anchorage in a not very busy day, for a bit of balance.
Far from suggesting my own cruising grounds to anyone interested in travel convenience, of course.
Otoh, all that glitters ain't gold....

 

[jfm]

Yep perfectly true. Indeed on an August Sunday there are many more boats between the 2 islands, to the upper right of the pic. So yes you gotta decide whether that is ok. We have had some of the best days of our lives there because much as we like solitude (see my 2nd/3rd Corsica pics above, but not flyable from london) we also don't mind other boats nearby. So imho it is still gold, just imho (as are Sardinia Corsica and Balearics). But if you want quiet anchorages in July/August then avoid the SofF for sure!

 

[petem]

It is dull. Whether you turn L or R out of Valencia, there is nowhere nice to go for weekend cruising. Nice as in turquiose water in a bay.

Even marina hopping choices are poor with the nearest civilisation being Denia @ 75kms away.

I'd much rather be in Alicante, not as cheap as Valencia but has loads of flights from the UK and whilst the cruising grounds may not be quite as good as the Baldricks / SofF / Corsica / Sardinia there are bays and decent marinas to visit for a short cruise.

You get what you pay for!

 

[petem]

Loads of flights to Nice from all London airports, plenty of berthing options near Nice.

I was under the impression that decent rental berths are very hard to find. Is there rental availability within a taxi ride from the airport?

 

[markc]

I was under the impression that decent rental berths are very hard to find. Is there rental availability within a taxi ride from the airport?

I'm not sure I would want to rely on taxis anyway - they are very expensive. We're not that close, but 200 euros for a 40 min cab ride is pretty excessive. Car hire is pretty cheap - If I go for 3 or 4 days I normally pay less than 100 euros for the car hire. There's the tram now from the airport heading towards Nice, and the train station is apparently walk-able form the airport, but we've never done it with the kids. You might struggle getting hold of a full English Breakfast

 

[Hurricane]

Just adding my three pennyworth.
We go to Valencia quite often - only 79 miles from our home berth.
But, I agree with JFM, the coastline round Valencia is a bit dull.

It seems you like the idea of cruising the Balearics - yes it is definitely worth having the Balearics within cruising range.
Ibiza is about 80 miles but Mallorca is quite a bit further (135 miles to Dragonera for example) than other possible bases.
Have a look at Barcelona - it might be a better base than Valencia.
Barcelona Airport is a major hub - BA fly about 7 flights a day from Heathrow - Easyjet fly twice a day from Bristol etc.
The coastline north of Barcelona is pretty good - not quite a local as the Ilse de Lerins of the SoF etc but the Cap de Creus and Roses north of Barcelona is a fond place for some of the posters on this forum.
Barcelona is nearer the Balearics as well - IMO, you need to be able to get to Mallorca easily if you are cruising the Balearics.

We are based halfway between Barcelona and Valencia so really easy run to the Balearics but the local airports dont have flights as frequent as (say) Barcelona.
That said, our road trip from Barcelona is less than two hours and for that we get one of the cheapest places to keep a boat.
A lagoon right outside the marina - so less than a mile and you can drop the hook.

 

[petem]

I'm not sure I would want to rely on taxis anyway - they are very expensive. We're not that close, but 200 euros for a 40 min cab ride is pretty excessive. Car hire is pretty cheap - If I go for 3 or 4 days I normally pay less than 100 euros for the car hire. There's the tram now from the airport heading towards Nice, and the train station is apparently walk-able form the airport, but we've never done it with the kids. You might struggle getting hold of a full English Breakfast

Thanks Mark. I think we'll consider a move when when we've got bored of where we are now.

Incidentally, another option for the OP would be the Roses / Empuriabrava area where they is supposed to be good cruising.

 

[jcwads]

Thanks for all the replies. Many many things to consider. I think the best way to start is to hop on a few planes and take a look...

 

[petem]

Thanks for all the replies. Many many things to consider. I think the best way to start is to hop on a few planes and take a look...

Good plan. Make a weekend of it; fly to Alicante and drive up the coast visiting the port then onto Altea, Calpe, Moraira, Denia and onto Valencia.

A one way car rental can be pricey so return from Alicante.