What 6725 DialAFlight clients thought of Europe

Harrison was very responsive each time I contacted him - even the day we left to travel home. Great service, courtesy call before we left - will definitely use again!

Always amazing service from Cameron - I recommend you guys to everyone

You saved our trip in the face of a total nightmare. Thank you!

Micky Patten was fantastic, super helpful, friendly and efficient. Our holiday was fantastic

Every stage of my trip to the USA was expertly put together. Assistance in place, lovely hotel, all flight seats were aisle, as requested. DialAFlight will be planning my next trip.

Always brilliant, make it all so easy, hence we always come back!

Sarah Hole and her team are fantastic! I so recommend them. They give you confidence

Thanks Adam for the excellent service as always

Thanks to Tara for arranging assistance through Malaga airport for our son in his wheelchair. When we arrived at Malaga airport there was a clearly marked intercom near the entrance to the terminal for disabled passengers. When I used it, the person I spoke to checked our son’s name was on the system, asked us to stay there and within 10 minutes an escort arrived in a buggy to transport the whole party through the airport from check in, through security and straight to the gate. Very impressed!

Neil and his team were all so helpful. We could not have managed the trip without their help. AND they answered the 'phone quicker than any other company that I have had the misfortune to ring in the last 30 months!

Fantastic service as always, especially Troy

Always excellent service

Sean Furnival was his usual outstanding self

Paul Jones and his team are excellent. I will be using you guys again for my next holiday.

Lucas is a star! Always gets it right

Paula was brilliant and a credit to your company

Matt Power is a legend

Super-satisfied. Many thanks.

Amelia Beecham looked after our recent Portugal trip. She also booked my Toronto trip earlier in the year. Both trips were fantastic. Accommodation was brilliant. Everything ran smoothly. Amelia was superb!

Have used you guys for several years and would not consider using anybody else. Brilliant all the way.

Efficient and informative. Would highly recommend

Bruce was always available and dealt with any queries immediately. He also contacted us before travel to wish us a happy holiday

Very informative - lots of updates. Very helpful and friendly - would definitely recommend Danny Sharma.

Everything went according to plan. Thank you so much Patrick

Perfect service as always

Fantastic service from start to finish! We had an amazing holiday

Very responsive from the outset; quick to provide documents and responses to questions. Would definitely recommend. Thanks to Teddy and Les for making it all run smoothly

I will certainly use you again! Thank you so much

Ed was so professional and friendly. Would never book with anyone else.

I thought the pre holiday attention was great and given the amount of variables involved in my trip to several Greek Islands - logistically it was great. I would say there was some inconsistencies in hotel qualities though as the only caviat. But I appreciate it was a fairly tricky itinerary and was overall a fantastic holiday

Vibrant Valencia

Valencia claims V for Victory

Is this cultural treasure house by the Med Spain's finest seaside city? Michael Hodges gives his verdict...

The Mediterranean city of Valencia has an astounding cathedral, brilliant beaches, renaissance churches, some of the most striking modern architecture in Europe, fabulous seafood and gutsy red wine.

The locals are intensely proud of their city, culture and language, a form of Catalan called Valencian.

They might not shout about it as loudly as the Barcelonians, but perhaps that's because some might say their city is - whisper it - even better than Barcelona.

Who needs the whorls of Gaudi's Sagrada Familia when you've got the spiralled columns of the city's gothic Silk Exchange? Even paella was invented here.

After the River Turia flooded disastrously in 1957, the government diverted its waters. Now the wide green riverbed snakes through the city, providing 9km of parkland and a home for the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias, an eruption of futuristic pavilions, lakes, an Imax cinema, aquarium and botanic gardens.

All of this is overlooked by the tallest opera house in the world, Santiago Calatrava's steel and concrete Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia, an ancient Greek helmet-shaped building.

Musicians from Berklee College of Music at the Cuidad de las Artes y las Ciencias

Take a glass of wine on the breeze-cooled palm terrace before the opera or come back on Friday evening when music students from the nearby Berklee College of Music, the first international campus of the Boston-based college, give free concerts from April to October on a floating stage in the lake.

Valencia cathedral and the Micalet bell tower are must-sees, but be sure to look up when you are inside the cathedral.

The windows are filled with inch-thin alabaster instead of glass. This makes for a spectral interior rendered even more eerie by the presence of Francisco Goya's 1788 painting St Francis Borgia At The Deathbed Of An Impenitent, where a figure of Christ on the crucifix spurts blood on to a sinner.

Step into the cathedral's Holy Grail chapel, home to a revered silver chalice which, as it dates to the 1st century AD, might just be the real thing.

You'll find modern art at the Institut Valencia d'Art Modern (El Ivam) and El Greco paintings at the El Patriarca museum.

The famous decorated doorway of the baroque palazzo housing the National Museum of Ceramics

The city is famous for its ceramics and tiles, a tradition that dates back to the long years of Moorish rule. But you'll also find Picasso's work at The National Museum of Ceramics in Ciutat Vella, housed in a baroque palazzo with the most famous decorated doorway in Spain.

Go to the marvellous antiguedades shop on Corretgeria street, where there are tiles in geometric patterns, or line drawings of doves from the 19th century and earlier.

After taking in the Napoleonic-era shell marks in the ancient masonry of the Ciutat Vella's Porta de Serrans, have a restorative pitcher of Agua de Valencia. The madly baroque Cafe de las Horas, in Comte d'Almodovar street, serves this super-charged drink with cava and spirits. There are also non-alcoholic cocktails. And cake!

Like Barcelona, Valencia has a famous city shoreline, but you'll find fewer people on Malvarrosa Beach, a 15-minute bus or tram ride from the city centre.

Toni Novo, the grandson of Tio Toni and Rialla, founders of Casa Carmela

Casa Carmela, set back from the Malvarrosa Beach, is the place for paella. Locals favour the rabbit offal, snails and chicken paella cooked on open fire pits.

Take a morning cafe solo in the Estacion Del Norte, one of Europe's best-preserved art nouveau railway stations, and marvel at the ceramic fruits hanging from columns and tile murals.

Just over 100 years old, Estacion Del Norte stands like a north African fort beside the city's brick bullring.

There has been a resurgence in local cuisine, with new takes on staples such as hake and pork.

The Mercat de Colon is a gastronomic destination with restaurants including Habitual, run by Michelin-starred chef Ricard Camarena.

In the Ruzafa quarter, the enthusiastic staff of 2 Estaciones serve tuna with peanuts, muscatel, lime and watermelon - and Valencian wine to make it zing.

First published in the Daily Mail - April 2019

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