Short answer
The Costa Valenciana is the coast around the city of Valencia — a great city with beaches, the Albufera rice lagoon where paella was born, and lively Spanish beach resorts, with the airport barely 10 km away. Choose it for a city-and-beach-and-food trip; look to the Costa Blanca if you want turquoise coves and an international resort bubble.
The Costa Valenciana — also called the Costa de Valencia — is the coast of Valencia province, wrapped around the city of Valencia. It runs from the Sagunto area in the north to Gandia and Oliva in the south, and it is a coast built around a great city, its rice fields and its beaches rather than around international resorts.
The short version
This is a coast built around a city. Valencia gives you the futuristic City of Arts and Sciences, a Gothic old town, city beaches and the birthplace of paella. Just south, the Albufera lagoon and its rice paddies — where paella was invented, and still cooked best in the village of El Palmar — form a Ramsar wetland alive with birds and edged by dune beaches. Beyond lie authentic Spanish resorts, lively Gandia and family-friendly Cullera, and inland history at Roman Sagunto and the castle town of Xàtiva. These are long, flat, sandy beaches rather than coves — more Spanish and more city-centric than the international Costa Blanca.
Region DNA
- Best for: city-break-plus-beach travellers, food and culture lovers, families, and anyone who values an airport ten minutes from the sand.
- Character: a real city coast — Spanish, lively and food-obsessed, with rice fields and paella as much as beaches.
- Landscape: long sandy beaches and the Albufera lagoon and rice paddies, backed by low mountains and castle towns.
- Worst for: travellers who want turquoise coves and cliffs, a compact international resort with English everywhere, or guaranteed winter sun — the Costa Blanca to the south fits that better.
Which part is for you?
Valencia
Spain’s third city — the City of Arts and Sciences, a medieval core, city beaches and paella. The anchor of the coast.
Gandia
A big, buzzing beach resort of golden sand and summer nightlife, with a Borgia palace in the old town inland.
Cullera
A castle and lighthouse above eleven family beaches at the mouth of the Júcar — local and unpretentious.
Albufera
A rice-paddy lagoon and dune beaches south of the city — birdlife, boat trips and the birthplace of paella.
Sagunto
A Roman theatre and a long hilltop castle above an old town, an easy trip north of Valencia.
Xàtiva
A ridge-top double castle over a historic town, birthplace of the Borgia popes, about an hour inland.
Explore the Costa Valenciana on the map
Every beach, resort, natural park and historic town below is pinned on the interactive CostaMap. Zoom in, click a pin, and open the full guide for each place.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the Costa Valenciana?
It is the coast of Valencia province, around the city of Valencia, running from the Sagunto area in the north to Gandia and Oliva in the south. It is also known as the Costa de Valencia.
Which airport should I fly into?
Valencia Airport, which sits about 10 km from the city centre — one of the most convenient arrivals on the whole Spanish coast.
What is the star of this coast?
The city of Valencia itself — the City of Arts and Sciences, a Gothic old town, city beaches and paella — with the Albufera lagoon right beside it.
Where was paella invented?
In the rice paddies of the Albufera, just south of Valencia. The lagoon village of El Palmar is its spiritual home.
How is it different from the Costa Blanca?
It is more city and countryside than resort: long sandy beaches and rice fields rather than coves and cliffs, and more Spanish than international.
When is the best time to visit?
Spring and autumn for mild city weather, summer for the beaches. Come in March for Valencia’s famous Fallas festival.
Start exploring
Open the interactive map to compare the city, beaches, natural parks and historic towns of the Costa Valenciana, then dive into the full guide for each one.