Valencia is the capital of the Valencian Community and a major resort on Spain’s Mediterranean coast. Valencia is very popular with foreign tourists and young people: they come here to study at university, at business schools and on language courses, to work and, of course, simply to enjoy a holiday.
Valencia’s beaches are famous for their beauty and scenery, and the Mediterranean climate, with hot summers, mild winters and plenty of sunny days, lets you enjoy the swimming season from mid-spring to late autumn. As for water sports (surfing, kitesurfing, sailing and so on), you can do them in Valencia all year round.
Roughly speaking, Valencia’s beaches are divided into northern and southern ones. The northern beaches, those north of the port, are traditional city beaches, the best equipped and the busiest. The southern beaches, which stretch along the Albufera Natural Park, are less crowded and better suited to a quiet holiday. Either way, every visitor can find a beach to their liking around Valencia.
As everywhere in Spain, the beaches in Valencia are municipal, free and open to everyone. In particularly secluded corners of the coast you can find a few nudist beaches. And, of course, the local authorities have not forgotten our four-legged friends, setting aside small areas for dogs (they are always marked as Playa Canina).
Most of Valencia’s beaches are very well equipped: you can hire sun loungers, parasols and sports equipment, and there are sports grounds and playgrounds, showers or fresh-water taps, portable toilets and convenient ramps for wheelchairs and pushchairs, as well as entertainers, lifeguards and first-aid posts. And, of course, you can almost always find plenty of bars, cafés and restaurants near the beaches.
Valencia’s central beach: El Cabañal / Las Arenas
El Cabañal / Las Arenas beach (Playa del Cabañal / Playa de las Arenas) is Valencia’s central city beach, the most popular and the busiest. Sports competitions, festivals and concerts are held here regularly. Every year it is awarded the Blue Flag, the highest European mark for cleanliness and quality.
The beach is 1.2 km long. It starts near the port and stretches north to Malvarrosa beach. The city promenade, the Paseo Marítimo, runs alongside, and there are car parks, public transport stops and taxi ranks.
The beach has everything you need, from ramps to showers, from hire points to lifeguard towers. Its distinctive feature is a gentle, gradual entry into the sea, which makes it ideal for families with children and for older people. Young people love Las Arenas too: there are diving, kitesurfing and windsurfing schools on the beach.
In high season the beach can get overcrowded (there are several hotels nearby), so many visitors have to move to more distant and quieter beaches or, sacrificing a lie-in, come to Las Arenas at dawn (which, by the way, is not such a bad idea: it lets you relax in relative peace and enjoy the cool of the morning).
Valencia’s beach for families with children: Malvarrosa
Malvarrosa beach (Playa de Malvarrosa) is a large sandy beach next to Las Arenas and almost an exact copy of it. It is 1.8 km long. There are many sports areas, sun lounger and parasol hire and even a beach library.
Malvarrosa also has a convenient gentle entry into the sea but, unlike neighbouring Las Arenas, you can always find a free spot here without being packed in with other visitors or squeezing through the crowd to reach the water.
The city promenade with its many bars, restaurants and shops also runs along Malvarrosa beach. The beach itself has an excellent children’s play area, so families with children often prefer to spend their time here.
Valencia’s beach with modern facilities: Patacona / Alboraya
Patacona / Alboraya beach (Playa de la Patacona / Alboraya) is another city beach, next to a new district that is being built up rapidly. It borders Malvarrosa beach and is its natural continuation. As it is quite far from the centre, it is not crowded, which is more of a plus than a minus.
As for the beach facilities, like the district around it they are new and modern: there is a promenade with cycle paths, playgrounds and sports areas, hire points for sports equipment, sun loungers and parasols, and car parks. Patacona beach is also considered the cleanest city beach.
Valencia’s semi-wild scenic beach: Pinedo
Pinedo beach (Playa de Pinedo) is a semi-wild, quiet but rather scenic beach in Valencia’s southern outskirts, near the Albufera Natural Park and a strip of sand dunes.
This beach is never crowded and, despite the lack of facilities, many people choose it for its quiet, calm, seclusion and cleanliness. Near the beach there are a few good fish restaurants that are popular with locals and tourists.
Valencia’s beach with good facilities in the Albufera park: El Saler
El Saler beach (Playa del Saler) is also within the Albufera Natural Park. Clean and secluded, it is nevertheless more comfortable for a beach day
than neighbouring L’Arbre del Gos beach. That is because it has hire points for sun loungers and parasols as well as surfing gear. There are lifeguards on the beach and a couple of restaurants nearby.
Valencia’s new beach in the Albufera park: L’Arbre del Gos
L’Arbre del Gos beach (Playa de l’Arbre del Gos) opened to visitors not long ago. It lies within the Albufera Natural Park and, unlike Pinedo, has good facilities, including a first-aid post, lifeguards, ramps for wheelchairs and pushchairs and portable toilets.
A strip of sand dunes begins right by the beach, with cycle paths running between them. Here you can combine a beach day with sport, but you will not get a good lunch: there are no restaurants nearby.
Valencia’s quiet beach in the Albufera park: La Garrofera
La Garrofera beach (Playa de la Garrofera) is another beach within the Albufera Natural Park. Clean, with good facilities and few people, it has only one drawback: it is quite far from the centre.
Valencia’s wild and beautiful beach in the Albufera park: La Devesa
La Devesa beach (Playa de la Devesa) is another beach that deserves a mention. Wild but very beautiful, it stretches for 5 km along the Albufera park. Ecologically clean and completely unspoilt by civilisation, it attracts visitors from all over the province.
Dunes, the sea, pristine beauty: what more could someone tired of city noise need? There are still a few basic facilities on the beach: ramps, portable toilets and fresh-water taps.
