← Maratón de Castellón·2 nights

Valencia: Two Nights on the Old Riverbed

Nine kilometres of flat park in the dry bed of the Turia, the Mercado Central and paella cooked over orange wood, an hour south of the Castellón finish and 25 minutes from the airport.

Duration2 nights
TransitRenfe train, about 1 hour from Castelló de la Plana
DepartsCastelló de la Plana

After the Maratón de Castellón: Valencia

The Route: Castelló de la Plana → Valencia → Valencia Airport Logistics: Renfe train south along the coast, about an hour, then two nights in the old centre. Metro to the airport for the flight home. Marathon Month: February Duration: 2 nights

Castelló de la Plana ──(about 1 hr Renfe)──> Valencia (2 nights)
                                                   │
               Valencia Airport (VLC) ◄──(about 25 mins Metro L3/L5)──┘

The Maratón de Castellón finishes in Parque Ribalta, next to the city's railway station, and most runners who flew in came through Valencia anyway. Two nights there on the way home turns a transfer into a trip, and Valencia has the one thing tired legs want most: a long, flat, car-free route through the middle of a city.

February in Valencia is mild and usually dry, with afternoons in the mid-teens and cool evenings. It is the quiet fortnight before the Fallas. From 1 March the daily mascletà, a deafening lunchtime barrage of firecrackers, takes over the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, and in mid-March the city fills with enormous satirical sculptures that are burned on the last night. In mid-February none of that has started, hotel prices are lower, and the old centre belongs to people who live there.

Trains from Castelló to Valencia run through the day, a mix of Cercanías and faster regional and long-distance services, most taking about an hour. They arrive at Estació del Nord, beside the bullring on the edge of the old centre, or at Joaquín Sorolla station a little further south, with a free shuttle bus to Nord. Renfe's marathon discount applies to travel to the race; the onward ticket is a standard fare of a few euros on Cercanías.

Night One: The Turia and the old centre

In 1957 the River Turia flooded Valencia and killed dozens of people. The city's answer was to divert the river around the south of the city and turn the old bed into a park. The Jardí del Túria now runs for about 9 km in a long curve around the old centre, sunk below street level between the historic bridges. It is flat from end to end, paved and gravel paths side by side, with benches, orange trees, playing fields and cafés, and it is the obvious recovery walk. Enter at any bridge by ramp or stairs; the ramps near the Torres de Serranos, the medieval city gate, are the easiest.

Walk east and the park ends at the City of Arts and Sciences, Santiago Calatrava's white complex of museum, opera house and aquarium. The buildings are best seen from the outside on a slow walk; the Oceanogràfic aquarium is huge and a lot of time on foot.

Where to stay: Hotel Caro occupies a nineteenth-century palace near the Cathedral, with sections of the Roman and Arab city walls exposed inside it. Only YOU Boutique Hotel Valencia, on Plaza Rodrigo Botet near the Colón shopping street, is a short flat walk from the old centre and from Colón metro station, which helps on the way to the airport.

Where to eat: The old centre around Plaza de la Virgen and the Carmen district has the most choice for an evening meal, and Valencian restaurants serve dinner late, from about 21:00.

Night Two: The market and the sea

The Mercado Central, a modernista iron-and-glass market hall opened in 1928, is open Monday to Saturday from early morning until mid-afternoon. It is the place for breakfast on the second day: stalls of oranges, cured ham and salt cod, and Central Bar, the market counter run by the chef Ricard Camarena, serving sandwiches and small plates. Across the street, La Llotja de la Seda, the fifteenth-century silk exchange with its twisted stone columns, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with a small entry charge.

The Cathedral is next, with its claim to hold the Holy Grail in a side chapel. Its bell tower, the Micalet, is 207 steps. Leave it for another trip.

In the afternoon, take the tram out to the beach at Malvarrosa. The seafront promenade there is wide, level and several kilometres long.

Where to eat: Casa Carmela, a short walk back from the Malvarrosa beach, has been cooking paella since 1922 over fires of orange wood, which is how Valencians insist it should be done. It serves lunch only and takes bookings, which are needed. Paella is a lunch dish in Valencia; ordering it at dinner marks a visitor.

Getting to Valencia Airport

Valencia Airport (VLC) is on Metro lines 3 and 5, about 25 minutes from Xàtiva or Colón stations in the centre. Trains run every few minutes through the day. A taxi from the old centre takes 20 to 30 minutes depending on traffic. Buy a metro ticket that includes the airport supplement.