12 Best Day Trips From Valencia You Can’t Miss

If you're still building your base plan for the city itself, our guide to 27 incredible things to do in Valencia is the place to start. But when you're ready to venture out, read on.

Albufera Natural Park — The Birthplace of Paella

Just 15 kilometres south of Valencia lies one of Spain's most important wetland ecosystems, and the place where Valencian paella was supposedly born. Albufera Natural Park is a vast freshwater lagoon ringed by rice paddies, reedbeds, and traditional wooden fishing boats called albuds. At sunset, the light turns the water a deep molten copper — one of those genuinely arresting natural spectacles you don't expect to find so close to a major city.

Take a boat trip across the lagoon, walk the paths through the rice fields (particularly spectacular during the October harvest), and eat lunch in El Palmar, a village that exists almost entirely to serve the perfect arrós a banda and authentic Valencian paella cooked over orange-wood fires. You're 20 minutes from Valencia by car or taxi, and local buses run frequently from the Avenida de la Plata stop. Visit Valencia's blog goes more in depth regarding activites and opening times.

Xàtiva — A Castle, a History Lesson, and Outstanding Views

An hour south of Valencia by train on the Renfe line to Gandia, Xàtiva (pronounced Shativa) is the kind of Spanish town that hasn't been polished for tourist consumption — and is all the better for it. The old town climbs a limestone ridge crowned by one of the most impressive castle complexes on the Iberian Peninsula, a double-fortified structure with Roman, Moorish, and medieval Christian layers stacked on top of each other like geological strata.

The views from the upper castle stretch across orange groves and rice paddies all the way to the coast on clear days. Down in the town, the collegiate church contains several paintings by Ribera, who was born here, and the Museu de l'Almodí holds a portrait of Philip V hung upside down — the town's small act of perpetual revenge for his burning of Xàtiva during the War of Spanish Succession. It's one of those details that makes a place stick. Renfe trains run several times daily and take around 55 minutes.

Gandia — Beach Town With a Ducal Past

Most visitors to Gandia come for the beach, and what a beach it is: a wide, clean, Blue Flag strip of sand that manages to feel spacious even in midsummer, backed by a sensible, low-rise promenade rather than the brutalist hotel blocks that ruined other Costa Blanca resorts. But Gandia's old town, 3 kilometres inland, contains one of the best Renaissance palaces in Spain — the Palau Ducal dels Borja, seat of the Borgia family (yes, those Borgias), now a beautifully restored museum with extraordinary tilework and Gothic halls.

The combination of cultural weight and genuine beach pleasure makes Gandia one of the most satisfying day trips from Valencia by train. The journey takes about an hour. The Palau Ducal website has ticket information and opening times.

Requena — Wine Country in the Highlands

Head 70 kilometres inland and the coastal flatlands give way to the Utiel-Requena wine region, a high plateau at 700 metres above sea level where the temperature drops sharply at night, producing structured, deeply coloured wines from the indigenous Bobal grape. Requena itself is a medieval town with a remarkable underground network of bodegas — wine cellars carved directly into the rock beneath the old quarter, some dating to the 15th century.

Several of the wineries offer tastings and cellar tours, and the town's butchers produce some of the finest embutidos (cured meats) in the Valencian interior. This is a trip for people who eat and drink seriously. Drive or take the direct Renfe train — journey time is around 55 minutes. The Requena tourism office lists registered bodegas and guided tasting experiences.

Sagunto — Roman Ruins and a Phoenician Legacy

Only 30 minutes north of Valencia by cercanías commuter train, Sagunto is dramatically undervisited given the quality of what's here. The Roman theatre, dating to the 1st century AD and carved into the hillside, is one of the best-preserved in Spain. Above it stretches the vast, windswept castle — nearly a kilometre long, incorporating Iberian, Carthaginian, Roman, Moorish, and Christian remains — while below, the Jewish quarter of the medieval town contains atmospheric narrow lanes and a restored synagogue.

Sagunto is where Hannibal began his march on Rome in 218 BC, making it a site of genuine world-historical significance. The fact that you can visit it on a 30-minute suburban train and still be back in Valencia for dinner is almost absurd. Renfe Cercanías Valencia runs trains every 20–30 minutes throughout the day.

Peñíscola — The Rock, the Castle, and the Sea

Two hours north by car or bus, Peñíscola is one of those places that looks almost implausibly picturesque — a medieval walled town built on a rocky promontory jutting into the Mediterranean, connected to the mainland by a narrow sandy isthmus. The Castillo del Papa Luna, built by the Knights Templar and later home to the antipope Benedict XIII, dominates the headland. The views from its battlements over the Costa del Azahar coastline are extraordinary.

The old town inside the walls is compact and genuinely unspoiled, the beaches on either side of the isthmus are excellent, and the seafood — particularly the caldero de rape (monkfish stew) — is outstanding. Come in shoulder season if you can; July and August are heaving. This is one of the better day trips from Valencia by car, though ALSA buses also run from Valencia's bus station.

El Puig — Monastery Solitude and Mountain Calm

For something more contemplative, the small town of El Puig, 20 kilometres north of Valencia, is home to the Royal Monastery of El Puig — a 13th-century fortress-monastery built on the site of a Moorish watchtower where, according to legend, King James I discovered a buried image of the Virgin. The monastery church is impressively austere, the cloister tranquil, and the attached museum contains one of the world's oldest known printed books.

This works beautifully as a half-day trip combined with a return via Sagunto, or simply as an afternoon of unexpected quiet within easy reach of the city. The cercanías L3 line stops directly at El Puig station.

Morella — Medieval Perfection in the Mountains

If you're prepared to invest a full day and have access to a car (public transport connections are limited), Morella in the Els Ports natural park is among the most spectacular medieval towns in all of Spain. The entire old town sits within intact 14th-century walls, crowned by a castle so high it disappears into cloud on overcast mornings. There are Gothic churches, a surprisingly sophisticated local food culture centred on black truffle and cured meats, and a population of just over 2,000 people who seem entirely unbothered by the fact that they live somewhere astonishing.

The drive from Valencia takes around two hours through increasingly dramatic mountain scenery. Go on a weekday to have the cobbled streets largely to yourself. The Morella tourism website has accommodation and event listings for those tempted to stay the night.

Cullera — Where the River Meets the Sea

An hour south of Valencia by train, Cullera sits at the mouth of the Júcar river where it fans into the Mediterranean — a geographical drama that shapes the town's character entirely. There's a Moorish castle on the clifftop, a lighthouse with sweeping coastal views, and a stretch of sandy beaches varied enough to suit both families and those seeking quieter coves. The town's seafood restaurants, particularly those around the fishing harbour, serve all i pebre (eel with garlic and paprika) — a dish as indigenous to this coastline as paella itself.

Cullera pairs well with a beach day if you've already exhausted Valencia's closer coastal options. Our guide to the best beaches in Valencia covers the full coastal picture, from Malvarrosa to Cullera and beyond.

Bocairent — Stone Walls and Moorish Caves

Tucked into the foothills of the Mariola mountain range, 90 minutes south of Valencia by car, Bocairent is a perfectly preserved medieval village that manages to stay almost entirely off the tourist radar. The old town is a maze of steep stone lanes spilling down a sandstone cliff, and cut into the rock face above the Clariano river is the Coves dels Moros — a series of mysterious cave niches carved in the 12th century by the Moorish population, their original purpose still debated by historians.

The surrounding Serra de Mariola natural park offers excellent hiking, and the village itself has a handful of excellent restaurants serving mountain fare: lamb stews, artisan cheeses, and local wines from nearby Ontinyent. It's not a trip for public transport — hire a car and combine it with a walk through the park.

Dènia — Gastronomy Capital and Montgo Natural Park

Two hours south on the coast, Dènia has a justifiable reputation as one of the finest eating destinations on the Spanish Mediterranean. The town sits at the foot of the dramatic Montgó massif — a limestone hulk that rises 753 metres directly from the sea — and its fishing harbour supplies some of the most prized seafood on the Costa Blanca: gamba roja de Dénia (red prawn) is considered among the best in the world, sweet and intensely flavoured in a way that border on absurdity.

Beyond the food, the Moorish castle overlooking the old town rewards the climb, the beaches of Les Marines are excellent, and the Montgó Natural Park has walking routes with extraordinary coastal panoramas. ALSA runs buses from Valencia, or take the FGV narrow-gauge train for a scenic coastal journey.

Carcaixent and La Murta Valley — Orange Blossom and Ruins

Less well known but genuinely rewarding, Carcaixent sits at the heart of Valencia's citrus-growing heartland, 55 kilometres south of the city. In spring, the surrounding orchards release clouds of orange blossom perfume that makes the drive feel like travelling through a natural parfumerie. The town holds Spain's only museum dedicated exclusively to citrus culture — the Museu de la Taronja — which, unlikely as it sounds, tells a genuinely fascinating story about how Valencia's orange industry shaped the modern global economy.

Nearby, the abandoned Monastery of La Murta sits in a dramatic wooded valley accessible by a short walk — a romantic ruin that rewards the detour. The Renfe train from Valencia takes around 40 minutes.

Planning Your Day Trips From Valencia

Valencia's transport links make it unusually well suited as a hub for regional exploration. The Renfe cercanías network handles most coastal and inland destinations efficiently, ALSA coaches reach the mountain towns not served by rail, and the AP-7 and A-3 motorways give car-hirers rapid access in every direction. For most of these destinations, an early start pays dividends — particularly in summer, when the coast gets crowded by midmorning and mountain walks are best completed before the afternoon heat builds.

Accommodation-wise, Valencia itself offers excellent value compared to Barcelona or Madrid, making it a sensible overnight base from which to radiate outwards. If you're planning a longer stay and need a structural framework, our perfect 3-day Valencia itinerary balances the city's own highlights with the breathing room to explore beyond it.

The real argument for these day trips from Valencia isn't simply that each destination is worth visiting in its own right — though they are. It's that together they reveal the full depth of the Valencian region: a place that contains Roman ruins and flamingo lagoons, truffle-scented mountain towns and world-class prawn harbours, medieval walls and Borgia palaces, all within two hours of a city that already asks a great deal of your time. The only mistake is coming here and staying too still.