Editorial
Valencia keeps a stage lit across El Carmen and Ruzafa, from a jazz bar DownBeat rates among the world's best to flamenco tablaos and rock and roll rooms. The venues here are bars first, the kind where you catch a set with a drink rather than a ticket and a seat number. We read the venue histories, the local music guides and the weekly listings to choose these ten. Some run jazz every night, some flamenco at the weekend, all of them real rooms with a real calendar.
El Carmen holds the famous rooms, the jazz bar, the flamenco tablao and the rock and roll clubs within the old walls. Start here and walk between them.
The El Carmen rooms carry the history and the late nights. Ruzafa and the university quarter run the intimate jazz and the daily stages, a short walk or a quick metro from the center.
For jazz, Jimmy Glass and Black Note set the standard, with Cafe Mercedes the intimate option in Ruzafa. For flamenco, Cafe del Duende is the city's home. For rock and a dance after, Peter Rock and 16 Toneladas deliver. Valencia plays somewhere every night, so check the weekly listings and follow the sound through El Carmen.
The Altitude. A sharp Asia Pacific eye for skylines, rooftops and rooms where the drink has to stand on its own. Notes the booking window and the dress code so you do not have to.