Tomato Throwing at La Tomatina Festival in Buñol, Spain

The main reason why I was in Valencia was that I wanted to attend the annual tomato festival in Buñol, Spain. Before I get started with how the festival was, I just want to give you guys a little background. La Tomatina Festival is a festival that is held once a year on the last Wednesday of August. The tomato fight has been a strong tradition in Buñol since 1944 simply for fun and pleasure – there is no known political or religious significance, and no one is completely certain how this event originated and became a large holiday and now a world-famous event. One thing that is certain is that it began with someone throwing a tomato at another person. I was doing some research and found out that back in 1944 when a bunch of kids started fighting by throwing tomatoes at each other led to their families fighting at each other by throwing tomatoes and in a matter of an hour or so, the whole street was throwing tomatoes. No one knows if it’s true but at least that’s what I found in one of the books I was reading. I had no idea about this festival until it was featured in one of my favorite Bollywood movies, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. The storyline is very simple, three best friends, one of them is getting married and for his bachelor party, all three of them fly into Spain and take a road trip through multiple cities in Spain, that’s where they happened to do the Tomatina Festival in Bunol and running with the bulls in Pamplona which is on my bucket list for next time I’m in Spain. I saw it in the movie way back in 2010 and ever since then, I just wanted to attend this festival. Now, fast forward to August 2019, after 9 years of dreaming about attending, I was finally there. There are multiple ways you can go to Tomatina:

1. You can buy separate tickets for the festival and go
2. You can also book a whole tour with a travel company (I did this because it’s the easiest)

I booked my tour with a UK-based travel company PPTravels. Amazing experience, I mean I made friends that I still keep up with, the tour guides spoke fluent English, and everything went well. Last year, that last Wednesday was August 28th, 2019.

The tour we book included:

1. Stay at a great 4-star hotel in Valencia on August 27th (the night before Tomatina)
2. Pre-Tomatina Party at one of the nightclubs nearby in Valencia
3. The coach bus ride to Bunol from Valencia (about 45 mins)
4. Entry to the Tomatina festival
5. The coach bus ride back from Bunol
6. Tomatina After Party at a very big outdoor nightclub about 1hr. 30 mins away
7. Coach buses to the after-party and back
8. Stay at that same hotel in Valencia on August 28th
9. Breakfast on both days, 27th & 28th

PPTravel’s website looks a little janky and almost gives you an impression of it being a scam but it’s not. For 199 British pounds per person, you get all that I listed above. You can also do your own accommodation and take a train to Bunol and all but sometimes, that’s a big hassle especially making sure to get up on time, somehow get to the train station, take the train, be aware of what stop to get off at but If you book a tour, you have everything figured out for you but if you’re on a budget and want to stay at a hostel in Valencia and take the train into Buñol, you can do that as well.

• Here is their website if you would like to take a look at their prices: Link

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1. Airport – Valencia Airport/Manises Airport – VLC

I’m not sure if it’s me or everyone but airports in Spain just look much cleaner and nicer. Earlier when I shared my Barcelona blog with you guys, I mentioned that flying in from Paris that day, Barcelona’s airport looked really nice and appealing and I felt the same thing with Valencia. I flew in from London Luton Airport and compared to that, Valencia was so much cleaner and well maintained.

• I flew on an early morning Easyjet flight from London Luton to Valencia Airport and in about 2.5 hours, I was in Valencia.

2. Public Transportation

1. Taxi: This is by far the easiest option from the airport to the hotel. The cost by taxi from the airport to the hotel will be between 25€ and 35€ depending on the time of day (night hours are more expensive).
2. Train/Metro: The metro from the airport, take the Red or Green line to the city center stop Xativa. Then walk about 75 meters along the right-hand side of Marques de Sotelo Street to bus stop Marqués de Sotelo – Xátiva and take bus number 14. Bus number 14 has a stop next to the hotel. 

You can take a bus from the airport into the city center and another bus onto a stop about a 5-minute walk from the hotel but all going well this will take about 1 hour 30 minutes and it does not save you much. Taxi or Metro are the best options.  

• Make sure you’re staying in the city center because then you won’t need public transportation. If you stay on the outskirts like how I did, you might have to get on a local bus to get you there and again, have CASH. They’re usually very cheap (around 1.50 Euros) but a hassle to get around in. I really prefer walking around and exploring the city.
  • Remember: If you’re coming in town for just the Tomatina Festival, you won’t have time to explore the actual city of Valencia.
    • Get more information about public transportation here: Link

3. Hotel – Holiday Inn Express (Part of the package)

This hotel was actually really nice. It had free breakfast included, really nice wifi and a POOL! if you know anything about me, you know that I like a nice pool at the hotel.

4. Itinerary

This is sort of an itinerary we followed when I booked my trip with PPTravels.

Day 1 – Tuesday 27th August – Check into hotel – Tour briefing and Welcome party Own arrangements to Valencia. Check into your hotel during the afternoon. If you arrive early your bags may be left at reception. Your PP rep will be at the reception to greet you with maps, your t-shirt, the all-important entry wristband to La Tomatina and will supply further general information. At 8 pm meet at the hotel reception for a welcome briefing where your PP Travel rep will discuss the La Tomatina experience to prepare you for the big day head. After our meeting, we head on foot to Umbracle Terrace nightclub, right in the heart of the City of Sciences and Art for our annual pre-La Tomatina party.

Day 2 – Wednesday 28th August – The Big Day – La Tomatina  

After an early breakfast, we depart our hotel at 7 am and travel to Buñol by coach, a journey of approximately 1 hour. Coach parking is usually on the edge of the town, from where it is about a 25-minute walk down to the heart of the village. The Tomatina festival commences with the arrival of the dump trucks around 11 am and runs for about an hour. Before that, squeeze into the tiny street and witness the mad rush of human step ladders trying to get a large leg of ham off a greasy pole, in the main street. After the tomato battle, you have time to search for a welcome shower and a few quiet drinks. We return to our hotels in Valencia by coach, departing Buñol mid-afternoon. 

Tonight is a free night and a chance to head into the fabulous old town of Valencia. There is also the option of the official La Tomatina after party which runs from 6 pm to very late. PP passengers (over 18’s only) are offered free admission until sunset approximately. Full details to be given out at check-in. Passengers are to make their own transport arrangements this evening. 

I used some of the free time I got after coming from the festival and before heading to the nightclub to check out some nearby places. Since the old town was really far from where the hotel was, I stayed in the area and decided to check out the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias. It’s a state-of-the-art science complex set within a landscaped park with a huge aquarium & IMAX screen.

Day 3 – Thursday 29th August – Departure Day Our La Tomatina tour finishes after breakfast today and you are to make your own onward arrangements to go back to the airport or you can get a hostel and a day longer if you wish to explore the old town of Valencia.

Things you need to remember for the La Tomatina Festival:

1. Remember to buy a waterproof case for your phone: I got mine from a store in Valencia the day before Tomatina for 9 euros, there are lot of people selling it on the street in Bunol and be cheaper so if you have cash, you can actually bargain and get the phone case and goggles both for 2.50 euros each. YEAH, this girl we met bought a phone case that looked just like mine and goggles for 5 euros.
2. Wear clothes that you are simply going to throw away. I threw away my shirt, shorts, and even shoes. It’s just not worth wearing something that smells like tomatoes. This takes me to my next point:
3. Bring a change of clothes and a towel. Usually, after the festival ends, the locals just make a huge ”water” party. They literally turn on their water hoses and start watering people from their roofs. I thought it was pretty cool.
4. Goggles: You really want to remember to protect your eyes since there will be tomatoes being thrown
5. I bought mine from the street market in Bunol and got it for 2.50 euros
6. Have Cash: I can’t stress this enough. Bunol is a very small city, almost like a village. They don’t have credit card machines and all the fancy tech stuff. You won’t be able to even buy a bottle of water after the festival if you don’t have a case
7. Download the replacement Uber app for Valencia: A lot of European countries have banned Uber & Lyft since they steal business from taxi drivers. There is a different app that will let you call a taxi as if you were calling an Uber
8. If you want to explore Valencia, have 2 days extra, 3 days for Tomatina, and 2 days for Valencia. So in total 5 days.

5. Currency Exchange

Currency Exchange. Local Currency: Euros (EUR). 1 USD = 0.88 EUR

You have 3 options, I recommend option 3:

1) Open a prepaid card. This is the method I used and it had its ups and downs. I used Travelex Money Card that you can find here. It’s pretty much like a debit card. What you will have to do is, open the card for $10 and you will be able to link it to your bank account. Every time you feel like you want to convert some money onto your Travelex Money Card, you can use their app to say what currency you want to convert it in and within seconds, that money will be on your card and you can use it right away. It’s also contactless, so you can use it on public transportation and you can set a 4-digit pin so you’re safe as well. I did a lot of research when I went to open this card and I couldn’t find a better exchange rate than Travelex. So if you are planning on picking this option, you’ll get a good rate out of its competitors.

2) You can also carry around cash but I DO NOT recommend this option. When you’re exchanging cash, you won’t get a good exchange rate and there is change of it getting stolen or lost.

3) Open a credit card that has no foreign transaction fees. I recommend this option because when I left for my backpacking trip for the first time, I did not know such credit cards existed and so I never did my research. My personal favorite is United Explorer Visa Card that you can apply for here. I use this card pretty much anywhere I go abroad and since it’s a Visa card, it works almost everywhere. Another reason why I really like a credit card is that no one will give you a better exchange rate than a bank. It’s also very easy to use, simply use it as if you were to use it in the US, and when prompted to choose between USD or EUR, pick EUR. It’s also contactless, no foreign transaction fees, and you 2 lounge pass for United. So, if you’re in a place to open a credit card, I really recommend this option.

6. Food

Spain is known for its great food and to be even more specific, they’re known for their great paellas. No matter where you are in Spain, if you do not have a paella, you have not been to Spain and if you’re in Valencia, you definitely have to because this is the place where it originated.

• Paella
  • Paella is a Spanish rice dish originally from Valencia and it is one of the best-known dishes in Spanish cuisine. For this reason, many non-Spaniards view it as Spain’s national dish, but Spaniards almost unanimously consider it to be a dish from the Valencian region. Usually, this dish consists of seafood but a lot of restaurants have vegetarian options! Where you can get a vegetable paella like me and it was really good. (Tell them to make it spicy 😉)
• Sangria
  • Sangria is an alcoholic beverage originating in Portugal and Spain. Under EU regulations only those two Iberian nations can label their product as Sangria; similar products from different regions are differentiated in the name. A traditional Sangria consists of red wine and chopped fruit, often with other ingredients or spirits.

Below are some of the pictures I took while I was visiting Valencia & Bunol. Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram @mrshutterup to follow my journey and for some more amazing pictures. Lastly, feel free to contact me if you have any additional questions!