Getaways from Valencia: day trips and destinations close by.

To the south, Xàtiva and Bocairent; along the coast, Guadalest

Each motorway leaving Valencia leads to a different landscape. The A-7 to the south reaches Xàtiva in about 48 minutes and, via the CV-40 and Ontinyent, Bocairent. Along the coastal motorway you go down to Benidorm, to Villajoyosa and, via the CV-70, to Guadalest; further south are Elche and Tabarca island. The A-3 to the west leads to Chulilla, in the Turia gorges, and, past Requena, to Alcalá del Júcar and Cuenca.

The A-23 climbs to the north-west: with the CV-195 to Montanejos, and staying on it to Teruel and, via the A-1512, Albarracín. To the north, the coastal motorway passes Castellón on the way to Peñíscola; from there roads climb to Morella and the Matarraña of Valderrobres.

Without a car there are three real exits. The Cercanías C-2 goes from València Nord to Xàtiva in 50 minutes to an hour and ten, with fewer trains on Sunday. The AVE reaches Cuenca-Fernando Zóbel, and from there city bus line 10 and the 1 or 2 go up to the old town. And there is a Renfe train to Teruel, with the station at the foot of the Escalinata.

Xàtiva and Chulilla, an hour or less

Under an hour are Xàtiva, at 50 minutes, with the Seu, the castle and oven-baked rice, and Chulilla, at 60, with the suspension bridges route. These are the Sundays that fit without an early start.

The bulk of the plans are between one and two hours away. Bocairent is 75 minutes away, with the Covetes dels Moros and the bullring excavated in the rock; Montanejos, 80; Villajoyosa, 95, for a chocolate Saturday, because the Valor museum closes on Sunday, and Peñíscola, 100. At 105 minutes there are five exits: Guadalest and Les Fonts de l'Algar, the Huerto del Cura in Elche, canoeing at Alcalá del Júcar, the Mudéjar towers of Teruel and Dinópolis with children. Exactly two hours away, Cuenca and Albarracín.

Between two and three hours the trip calls for a night. Morella is 130 minutes away; Tabarca, at 150, with a boat from the Alicante coast; the Matarraña in two nights, at 159; Cartagena and Calblanque, at 165, and the Archena spa and the Ricote Valley, at 170.

Catalonia is from three and a half hours away: Siurana and the Priorat, at 204 minutes, and Prades, at 211.

Free museums on Sunday in Bocairent and Elche

From October to May is the season for the nearby plans to the south: Xàtiva, with a shuttle to the castle on Sundays; Bocairent and Elche, where several municipal museums are free on Sunday morning. In winter, Archena has the thermal pools included in the stay, Teruel can be visited any Sunday and in Morella it is truffle season.

In spring and autumn you walk. Chulilla calls for arriving before nine to avoid queuing at the bridges; at Guadalest and Les Fonts de l'Algar the pools have no timed slots, and the Rodeno at Albarracín is toured with its cave paintings. The Cuenca gorges are green or yellow.

In summer the river or height are the answer. Xàtiva, Chulilla and Bocairent are not recommended in July and August. Canoeing on the Júcar is, as is Montanejos with a ticket bought for the Fuente de los Baños, which has a capacity limit, and Teruel, cooler, although in July, on the big days of the Vaquilla, the Lovers' Mausoleum closes.

Cercanías C-2 to Xàtiva and rice in the Plaça del Mercat

• Without a car, in a day: Xàtiva, the Seu, the castle and oven-baked rice. Cercanías C-2 from València Nord around 9:00, the Seu and the museum in the morning, rice in the Plaça del Mercat and the castle in the afternoon.
• With one night: Cuenca and the Ciudad Encantada. Two hours along the A-3 or by AVE: the old town on Saturday, the night facing the Casas Colgadas and the Ciudad Encantada on Sunday.
• With two nights: Albarracín and the Rodeno. Two hours along the A-23, the old town with a guide, legends at dusk, the Rodeno paintings and an afternoon on horseback.