What to do in Sagunto? A charming old city not far from Valencia

I know I wrote this when we are all in Coronavirus lockdown. But hey today is 23rd June 2020 and the lockdown in some parts of Europe are lifted! Time to prepare for beach-front holiday again!

I would recommend to give it a try to Sagunto, a charming old city, just an hour reach from Valencia, Spain.

I was there last Summer. We fly using Ryanair to Valencia (it was from Bologna, Italy). And then book a transfer car that picked us up from Valencia Airport straight to our hotel in Sagunto.

Our hotel is Hotel Els Arenals near Canet Playa in Sagunto. We choose this hotel because of its close proximity to the beach. The hotel is modern and equipped with air conditioner.

If you choose the sea-view room, you can see fantastic view of Mediterranean sea from your balcony.

Well, the food in this hotel is definitely worth it! We had breakfast and dinners here. Absolutely fantastic!

The hotel also has a lovely swimming pool and and outdoor bar. And just about 2 minutes walk, you can reach the beach!

There are quite a few bars in this long sandy beach. So don’t worry if you are hungry or thirsty, there are beach bars to cater your lunch, snack, and especially your beer!

Lovely drinks from Pirata Playa bar in Canet Playa

We were there in late August 2019 staying for three nights. We had one lovely hot sunny day and one not too hot (or cloudy) day! We even had one day of rain.

The beach is quite long, so you can stroll nicely in this long walk.

Lovely view of Playa Canet with the trees

There are also promenade close to the center of the beach. Though not all area has this promenade. Close to our hotel, there is only road for cars and bicycles.

In this promenade, you can also find restaurants and cafe. Be very mindful about Spanish siesta. The dinners (evening meals) are not served before 9pm! But you can always have snacks or ice creams (or coffee?) in some cafes.

Nice walk along this Playa Berenguer promanade

One day when it was raining, we decided to see the Old City Sagunto. Just a taxi ride, I think cost about 11 Euros from our hotel.

Here is a stunning Sagunto, or Saguntum, the name of the city in Roman times.

The Theatre was built in the first century AD and could seat around 8,000 people.

Some Roman remains on the Sagunto Theater

We also visited Castell de Sagunt, a beautiful medieval fort.

We visited Plaza de San Fernando where we saw a fig tree! God knows how old this fig tree is!

We also see an Antiquari museum of the Castle where we saw some Roman artifacts too.

We also see the archaeological museum in the main city centre.

Roman metal statue circa first century Before Christ

This particular amphora caught my eyes! It has a sharp bottom! I think it was to stab to the (probably) sand inside the Roman vessel, so that it can stand straight!

I think each amphora depending on their shape, carries different things. For example, some amphorae carry garum (Roman fish sauce), some carry olive oils, and some probably carry wines!