Valencian Community, from castle to canyon, an hour from the coast.

The Valencian Community is known for its coast, but what fits into a Sunday is often inland. An hour or two from Valencia, Castellón and Alicante you find walled towns perched on a crag, castles that take up an entire ridge and limestone canyons crossed by suspension bridges. Here we have gathered the ones we have checked one by one, with what you need to go: how to get there, where to park, how much it costs to get in, where to eat on a Sunday and where to sleep if you stay.

Which places, from the sierra to the coast, are worth the trip?

• Morella, in Els Ports, in northern Castellón. A whole town inside its walls, at about a thousand metres, with a castle on top, a Gothic basilica with an organ from 1719 and a main street under arcades. The food is truffle, lamb and Morella croquettes. It is 1 h 20 from Castellón and about 2 h 10 from Valencia: a long day or, better, a night.
• Xàtiva, in La Costera. The city of the two Borgia popes, with a double castle stretched along the ridge, a collegiate church begun in 1568 and still unfinished, and a museum where the portrait of Philip V hangs upside down. Oven-baked rice for lunch. Three quarters of an hour from Valencia by car or on the Cercanías.
• Chulilla, in Los Serranos. A white village above the Turia canyon and the Pantaneros route, with two suspension bridges over walls more than 80 metres high. An hour from Valencia along the A-3. A walk of about three hours, with lunch in the village.
• Peñíscola, on the Baix Maestrat coast: Papa Luna's castle on the rock and the Sierra de Irta. An hour from Castellón.
• Montanejos, in the Alto Mijares: the Fuente de los Baños, at 25 °C all year round, and the Chillapájaros narrows. An hour from Castellón.
• Bocairent, in the Vall d'Albaida: the Covetes dels Moros and a bullring carved out of the rock. An hour and a quarter from Valencia.
• Guadalest, in the Marina Baixa: a castle on a rock above a turquoise reservoir. 50 minutes from Alicante.
• L'Albufera and El Palmar, about 20 km from Valencia: a boat ride with the village boatmen, sunset over the lake, birds at the Racó de l'Olla and all i pebre. You can get there on EMT bus 24.
• Xàbia, in the Marina Alta, below the Montgó: kayaking with snorkelling from La Granadella, an introductory dive and the lighthouse at Cap de Sant Antoni. In summer, its coves have paid parking and a barrier.

How do you get there without hassle?

By car, almost always. The A-7 runs north to south through the whole Community and the inland roads branch off it: the CV-10 and the N-232 towards Morella, the A-3 towards Chulilla. The train works well for Xàtiva, with Cercanías line C-2 from València Nord. A bus reaches Morella from Castellón, but only from Monday to Friday, so for a Sunday you need a car. In all three places the old town has narrow streets: park at the entrance and walk.

When is it best to go?

In spring and autumn. These are the seasons for walking the Turia canyon without the heat and for climbing to the castles without looking for shade. In summer the interior is somewhat cooler than the coast, especially in Morella, but the climbs to Xàtiva castle and the Chulilla route are only for first thing in the morning. In winter Morella is another place: properly cold, sometimes snow, and black truffle menus in its restaurants. Keep Mondays in mind: in Morella and Xàtiva, museums and towers close and, in Xàtiva, the castle too.

How to combine them?

Each is a day trip from its provincial capital. Morella fits best from Castellón or on a one-night break from Valencia; from there, the Baix Maestrat coast and the Templar castle of Peñíscola, where Papa Luna lived in the 15th century, are an hour away. Xàtiva and Chulilla are the two short outings from Valencia: one of history and oven-baked rice, the other of trail and river. With children, Chulilla for the bridges and Xàtiva for the castle; in the rain, Xàtiva, which has indoor museums on the same ticket as the castle.