39.40° N · 0.33° W
A boat trip with the El Palmar boatmen, sunset over the lake, birds at Racó de l'Olla, Devesa trails and all i pebre, 20 km from Valencia.
What to do
Each plan says how long it takes, who it's for and whether you can book.
Traditional boat through the canals and the lake with El Palmar boatmen · 40–50 min · €5 adults, €3 children · all year.
An hour by boat to the middle of the lake to watch the sun go down behind the rice fields · €7 · all year, by reservation.
Two and a half hours on a boat with the table laid: starters, a paella or rice dish of your choice, dessert and a drink · €50 per person · from 6 people.
Itineraries
Days and weekends already planned out, with how to get between each stop and who to book with.
Plan the trip
Each choice narrows the next: the season shapes how best to travel, and how you travel decides where you stay and where you eat.
When to go
From May to July, with the rice fields flooded and green, and from November to January, when they flood again and the birds arrive. In March and April the fields are dry. The sunset from the boat is good all year.
How you travel
Choose how you're travelling and we'll tell you where to stay, how to get around, where to eat and which services you'll need. We only show the ways of travelling that make sense here.
From Valencia you head south on the CV-500, the El Saler road, which crosses the Devesa between the lake and the sea. By car you can link the Racó de l'Olla, the Gola de Pujol and El Palmar in a morning, and the sunset boat is still there for the afternoon without depending on the last bus.
Who you're with
A trip with a toddler is not the same as one with a teenager. Pick yours to see what works and what to bear in mind.
The Albufera is an easy day with children: the boat trip lasts under an hour, the bird centre has a tower and a hide, and the Devesa trails are flat and short. Everything is about 20 km from Valencia, and you can get there by bus too.
Where to stay
We show you what suits the way you travel.Change how you travel
Why we like it: A campsite between Pinedo beach and El Saler, inside the natural park: five bungalow models, shaded pitches and a pool with slides in summer.
Why we like it: Four-star hotel in the Albufera Shopping Park in Alfafar: 99 rooms from €64, heated pool all year and free parking.
Services for this trip
Where to eat
From set lunch menus to Michelin stars. We mark the price level and what to order at each place.
What to order: a half portion of all i pebre to start and, as a main, a paella valenciana ordered when you book or the arròs allipebrat
What to order: a wood-fired rice dish ordered when you book; from Tuesday to Friday, the set menu of the day
Map
The places to stay and services on the map are the ones for the way you travel. Turn on the layers you want and tap a point to see its details.
Nearby
The closest places, whichever country they are in.
38.99° N · 0.52° W
By carCar-free
39.66° N · 0.89° W
By carOn foot
38.77° N · 0.61° W
By car
40.07° N · 0.52° W
By car
Tips
In El Palmar the rice is made to order; asking for it when you book shortens the wait.
It is the busiest time; Ernesto Soler only sails with a prior reservation.
It is a wetland: at sunset, mosquitoes keep you company.
The observatory and the tower are at a distance from the birds.
L'Albufera is the largest freshwater lake in Spain, separated from the sea by the Devesa, a strip of pine forest and dunes, and surrounded by rice fields. It begins about 10 km from the centre of Valencia; El Palmar, the fishing village in the middle of the park, is about 20. People come here for three things: to board a lateen-sail boat with a boatman from the village, to watch birds from the observatories and to eat rice where paella was born. It is a natural park, a Ramsar wetland and a Special Protection Area for birds, with more than 300 species recorded. It fits into a morning from Valencia and could fill a whole day without repeating itself.
Most trips leave from the Gola de Pujol jetty, beside the El Saler road; Visit València points out that there are quieter departures from El Palmar, El Saler, Catarroja, Silla and Sollana. In El Palmar the boats are run by boatmen's families. Rosa y Tonet, who have been taking people out since 1978, charge €5 per adult and €3 for ages 3 to 10 for about 40 or 45 minutes on the water and a stop at a barraca (traditional hut); Ernesto Soler does about 50 minutes for the same price. You have everything in the boat trip from El Palmar. The most requested outing is the sunset at the Lluent, for €7, and some people prefer to eat on the boat: the boat with paella on board costs €50 per person, with a minimum of six.
By bus, no problem. EMT line 24 goes from the centre to El Palmar and the 25 to El Perellonet, both in under an hour; the stop for the boats is Embarcadero or El Palmar (EMT buses 24 and 25). By car you go down the CV-500, the El Saler road; in El Palmar, park in the hospitality association car park. By bike, the cycle path from the Ciudad de las Artes is 15 km and reaches the Devesa, but not El Palmar: the last stretch by road is narrow and Visit València recommends the bus.
Watch birds. The Racó de l'Olla Interpretation Centre, on the El Palmar road, opens every day from 9:00 to 14:00, with a lookout tower, an observatory and a lagoon of about 5 hectares. Autumn is the season with the most birds. On the other side of the road begin the Devesa del Saler trails, from 300 m to 4 km, among pines, dunes and malladas (damp dune hollows). In El Palmar, between October and April, the fish market of the Fishermen's Association sells the lake's wild eel, the one used in all i pebre.
In El Palmar almost everything is a rice restaurant. The Bon Aire has a long menu of paellas and soupy rices, eel all i pebre and a €30 weekday menu; paella valenciana is ordered in advance. The Nou Racó, on the road into the village, opens Tuesday to Sunday at lunchtime and has free parking. The rices are made to order: ask for it when you book and you will save yourself a wait.
In El Palmar there are no hotels we have been able to verify. Inside the park, on Pinedo beach, is the Camping Coll Vert, with bungalows and pitches and the bus at the door. For a hotel, the four-star Hotel Albufera is in Alfafar, next to the park, with free parking. Most people sleep in Valencia and come for the day.
Questions
In El Palmar, €5 per adult and €3 per child with Rosa y Tonet or with Ernesto Soler. At sunset, €7.
Between 40 and 50 minutes. The sunset one lasts around an hour.
On EMT line 24 from the centre of Valencia, in under an hour.
From May to July and from November to January, when the rice fields are flooded. In autumn there are more birds.
In the rice restaurants of El Palmar; the Bon Aire serves it as a ración or half ración.
Yes, as far as the Devesa along a 15 km cycle path. To El Palmar the last stretch is on a narrow road.
Geocaliahttps://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/valencian-community/albufera-valencia
