Long Weekend Train Trips from Valencia — No Crowds, No Obvious Choices
- May 19
- 11 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
Valencia's train connections are better than most people realize and the destinations worth a long weekend aren't the ones on every travel list. These are ten places you can reach from Valencia without renting a car, without navigating major airports, and without fighting tourist crowds. Some are direct. Two involve one easy, clearly noted connection. All of them are worth the trip.
Altea, Calpe & Moraira — 2 Hours | The Costa Blanca at Its Most Beautiful
If you live in Valencia and haven't done this trip, fix that immediately. Take the direct train south to Alicante (~1.5hrs, Renfe Avant), then pick up the FGV metro-tram line that hugs the Costa Blanca northward. It's one of the most scenic rail journeys in Spain; the track runs close to the sea, passing through tunnels and along clifftops with views that stop conversations mid-sentence.
Altea is arguably the most beautiful village on the entire Costa Blanca: a whitewashed old quarter climbing a hilltop above the sea, a blue-domed church at the top, and a promenade below lined with restaurants and galleries. It draws artists, retirees, and people who came for a weekend and stayed for years. Calpe is dominated by the Peñón de Ifach, a 332-meter rock jutting from the sea that you can hike to the top of for panoramic views across to Ibiza on clear days. Moraira, between the two, is quieter and more upscale: boutique hotels, excellent restaurants, a pretty harbor, and a relaxed pace that feels genuinely restorative and covered in bougainvillea.
Base yourself in Altea, day trip the others. This is one of the finest long weekends available from Valencia, and my personal favorite. If you can't make it to the Balearic Islands, this is your alternative.
Train: Renfe Avant to Alicante (~1.5hrs, direct), then FGV metro/tram to Altea/Calpe. Total journey ~2hrs. About €20–30 return to Alicante; FGV tickets separately and inexpensive.
Peñíscola — 1.5 Hours | Castle, Sea, and One of Spain's Best Christmas Markets
Peñíscola sits on a rocky peninsula connected to the mainland by a narrow strip of sand, a medieval walled city rising from the sea like something from a film set. Because it actually was: Game of Thrones filmed several scenes here, and the old city's dramatic silhouette is immediately recognizable to fans. But Peñíscola was extraordinary long before HBO discovered it.
The castle, built by the Knights Templar and later home to the antipope Benedict XIII, commands the top of the rock with sweeping 360-degree views over the Mediterranean. The walled old city below is a maze of whitewashed streets, seafood restaurants, and craft shops that retain genuine charm even in summer. Outside of July and August, you'll have it largely to yourself.
Come in December and you'll find one of the most magical Christmas markets in Spain, held inside the castle walls, strung with lights, with the sea below and mountains behind. It's the kind of experience that makes you realize Spain at Christmas is criminally underrated. I went with my mom and daughter and we stumbled upon what looked like a charming English or Irish pub decorated so cozy for Christmas and we had a fantastic time.
Train: Renfe from Valencia Estació del Nord to Benicarló-Peñíscola station, then a short taxi or local bus into town. About €15–25 return. Direct service.
Elche — 1.5 Hours | Palms, Archaeology, and a UNESCO Mystery Play
Elche is one of the most quietly remarkable cities in Spain and almost nobody outside the region seems to know it exists. The Palmeral de Elche is a vast urban palm grove of over 200,000 trees, planted by the Moors over a thousand years ago and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and genuinely unlike anything else in Europe. Walking through it in the early morning, with the light filtering through the fronds and the irrigation channels running between the rows, is an experience that stays with you. It has a really neat playground within the garden that my kids loved, and we loved the backdrop. They had so much fun feeding the pigeons at the little pigeon hotel and they even ate straight out of their hands. For a few euros, we parked in the parking garage under the Museu Arqueològic i d'Història d'Elx and it was the perfect spot to walk to the cathedral, cute restaurants, look off the bridge and enter the Palmeral near the playground all within a 5-minute walk.
The Dama de Elche — an extraordinary Iberian stone bust discovered here in 1897 — was created here, and the local archaeological museum tells the full story of a city inhabited since the Bronze Age. Every August, the Misteri d'Elx — a medieval mystery play performed in the basilica, also UNESCO-listed — draws visitors from across Europe. Elche also happens to be the shoe capital of Spain, with excellent leather goods shopping if that's your thing.
Train: Renfe direct from Valencia. About 1.5 hours. €15–25 return. Frequent departures.
Cuenca — 2.5 Hours | Hanging Houses and Canyon Country
Cuenca is genuinely singular. The medieval old city perches on a narrow ridge between two river gorges, with the famous Casas Colgadas, the Hanging Houses, suspended over a sheer cliff face, their wooden balconies projecting into empty air above the Huécar river. It's one of the most dramatic townscapes in Spain and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Museo de Arte Abstracto Español, installed inside the Hanging Houses themselves, is a world-class remarkable collision of medieval architecture and 20th-century Spanish painting. The cathedral is one of the earliest Gothic churches in Spain. The surrounding canyon country, the Serranía de Cuenca, offers hiking through limestone gorges and ancient pine forests. Come for a night, leave genuinely moved.
Train: Renfe direct from Valencia. About 2.5 hours. €20–35 return.
Zaragoza — 1 hr 45 min | The Underrated Middle
Zaragoza is one of Spain's most underappreciated cities, passed through by millions on the way somewhere else and visited properly by surprisingly few. The Basílica del Pilar, a vast baroque cathedral on the Ebro riverbank with a skyline of towers and domes, is one of the most impressive in Spain. A surprising number of miracles have been documented in this very special church. If you are considering visiting, definitely look up the miracle involving the man named Miguel Juan Pellicer. La Aljafería, the 11th-century Moorish palace, is one of the finest surviving Islamic buildings outside Andalucía.
The El Tubo neighborhood tapas scene is excellent and almost entirely local. Hotels are affordable, restaurants are serious, and the pace is relaxed in a way that larger Spanish cities rarely manage. Zaragoza is the anti-Barcelona — and sometimes that's exactly what a long weekend needs.
Train: AVE direct from Valencia. About 1hr 45min. €25–45 return. Frequent departures.
Teruel + Albarracín — 2.5 Hours | Mudéjar Towers and a Medieval Village Frozen in Time
Teruel is Spain's least-visited provincial capital and wears that distinction with an odd kind of pride. What it has is exceptional: the finest Mudéjar architecture in Spain, a UNESCO-listed collection of towers, churches, and ceilings that fuses Islamic and Christian craftsmanship in a way that's uniquely Aragonese. The cathedral ceiling, a 13th-century painted coffered masterpiece, is extraordinary. The mausoleum of the Lovers of Teruel, a Romeo-and-Juliet story predating Shakespeare's by centuries, is a strangely moving experience.
Stay in Teruel and make the 40-minute taxi or bus trip to Albarracín, one of the most beautiful villages in Spain, a terracotta-pink medieval town clinging to a hillside above a river gorge, its walls and towers intact, its streets barely wide enough for two people. It looks like a film set but it's entirely real and entirely lived-in. Don't try to do both as a day trip from Valencia, they both deserve more time than that.
Train: Renfe direct to Teruel. About 2.5 hours. €20–35 return. Then taxi or bus to Albarracín (~40 min, ~€15 each way).
Requena-Utiel Wine Weekend — 1 Hour | Sleep in a Bodega, Drink Like a Local
Most people know Requena as a day trip and it's in our day trips post for exactly that reason. But treated as a long weekend destination, it becomes something else entirely: a proper wine tourism immersion in one of Spain's most underrated DOs.
The Utiel-Requena appellation produces serious wines from the Bobal grape, a thick-skinned, deeply colored variety that thrives in the high plateau climate and still flies well under the radar of international wine critics. That means exceptional quality at prices that feel like a different decade. Several bodegas offer rural accommodation; stay at a working winery, wake up surrounded by vines, eat the regional food (morteruelo, gazpacho manchego, roast lamb), and take the train home with a case of wine you couldn't find anywhere else. Paella is the pride of Valencia, but if you hear locals talk about gazpacho manchego, it might just be the real favorite.
Here's a practical tip that locals already know: a case of Utiel-Requena Bobal travels beautifully and costs a fraction of what you'd pay for comparable quality elsewhere in Spain. It makes one of the most thoughtful gifts you can give friends visiting from back home, tuck a few bottles away and let them discover it themselves.
A note worth making: this area was among the hardest hit by the devastating DANA floods of late 2024. The train line itself was closed for months in the aftermath. The region has been rebuilding and while the facades may be restored, the economic recovery takes far longer. Conscious travelers can feel genuinely good about spending their money here. The welcome will be warm, and it will genuinely mean something.
Train: Renfe direct from Valencia. About 1 hour. €6–10 return. Then explore by bicycle, bodega shuttle, or local taxi.
Murcia — 2.5 Hours | Baroque, Markets, and a Side Trip to La Manga
Murcia is another city that Valencians know well and international visitors almost entirely overlook. The cathedral is one of the finest baroque facades in Spain, the tower visible from miles across the flat huerta plain. The old city is compact and lively, with a market culture built around the extraordinary local produce of the Segura river valley. The tapas scene is excellent and cheap. The Museo Salzillo contains the finest collection of polychrome wooden sculpture in Spain, the pasos carried through the streets during Semana Santa are heartbreakingly beautiful up close.
Here's the long weekend move: use Murcia as your base and make the trip out to La Manga del Mar Menor. This narrow strip of land separating the Mediterranean from the warm, shallow lagoon of the Mar Menor is home to one of Spain's great sports resort destinations, La Manga Club. Golf courses, tennis, football summer camps, a spa, and for those who collect Hyatt points, a hotel that offers what may be the best points value in the entire country. If you're traveling with a group, with family, or with anyone who wants sport alongside culture, this combination is hard to beat anywhere in Spain.
Train: Renfe direct from Valencia. About 2.5 hours. €20–35 return. La Manga is a short drive or taxi from Cartagena, which is itself worth a half-day visit.
Granada — 3.5 Hours | The Alhambra and Free Tapas (One Easy Change)
The journey to Granada involves one change — typically at Alcázar de San Juan — but it's seamless and the connection is short. For the Alhambra alone, it's worth every minute of travel.
The Nasrid palace complex is the finest surviving example of Islamic architecture in the Western world. The Generalife gardens are equally extraordinary. Book timed entry tickets weeks in advance, they sell out without fail. We are going this summer and I cannot wait! There will definitely be many blogs about the area coming soon. Beyond the Alhambra, the Albaicín quarter is a UNESCO World Heritage neighborhood of whitewashed alleys, miradors, and tea houses with views across to the palace. And Granada's famous tradition of free tapas with every drink, order a beer, get a plate of food, order another, get something different, makes eating here one of Spain's great pleasures.
Train: Renfe from Valencia with one change. About 3.5 hours total. €35–55 return. (One easy change — noted honestly.)
Tarragona — Under an Hour | The Roman Ruins Most People Drive Past
Most people pass through Tarragona on the way somewhere else. That's a mistake, even if a short one is all you have time for.
Tarragona was one of the most important cities in the Roman Empire. What's left is extraordinary: an amphitheatre built directly above the Mediterranean, positioned with the kind of confidence that makes you stop and think about what the Romans actually understood about beauty and scale. The views from the seats, looking out over the water, are the kind that make you feel something. There's also a park that wraps above the amphitheatre along the old city walls — if you'd rather walk the perimeter and take it in from above than pay to enter, it's a completely legitimate way to experience it and the views are just as good.
The beach below is spectacular. Wide, clean, and far less crowded than anything you'll find on the Costa Blanca in summer. The combination of ancient ruins and that stretch of coastline in the same afternoon is genuinely hard to beat.
Fair warning: the town itself, beyond the Roman quarter, is fairly ordinary. This isn't a destination for wandering charming streets or discovering hidden restaurants. Go for the ruins, go for the beach, and go knowing exactly what you're there for. Two nights is plenty. One long day is honestly enough if you're tight on time.
Train: Renfe from Valencia Nord. About 45 minutes to 1 hour on the faster services. Cheap — under €15 one way if you book ahead. Runs frequently throughout the day. One of the easiest trips on this list.
This post is part of our Travel-Casa Spain Series — a region-by-region guide to one of the world's most diverse and rewarding countries. Whether you're planning a vacation, a sabbatical, or a permanent move, we go deep on each region so you can find the part of Spain that fits your life. From the green mountains of the north to the sun-baked plains of the south, no two corners of Spain are the same — and that's exactly the point.
To book trains in Spain: Renfe is Spain's national rail operator — use it for AVE high-speed, Avant, and Media Distancia routes. Trainline aggregates all operators including Renfe, Ouigo, and Iryo in one search — useful when you're comparing prices or booking across multiple operators.
Granada is a gateway into Andalucía.
Teruel sits in Aragón — one of the most underrated regions Americans skip.
La Manga sits in Murcia — the Grand Hyatt La Manga is worth building a weekend around.
Considering a car for some of these? Read this before you drive in Spain.
To book trains in Spain: Renfe is Spain's national rail operator. Trainline aggregates all operators including Renfe, Ouigo, and Iryo — useful for comparing prices.
Written by Sherri: an American who spent years traveling solo, including time living in Peru, before settling into a full-time digital nomad life with her husband and young kids for over four years. She's now been in Europe for 3.5 years, most of it in the Valencia area of Spain. Everything on Travel-Casa is written from firsthand experience or knowledge picked up along the way.
Spain Has Many Versions. Find Yours.
Mediterranean Spain
Mediterranean Coast
Northern Spain
Northern Coast
Inland Spain
Inland Spain Overview
The Islands
Planning and Living in Spain
Moving to Spain — But Where? | Living Abroad: The Real Pros and Cons | Slow Travel in Europe | Towns in Spain Offering Incentives to Move | What to Know Before You Drive in Spain
More Valencia Train Guides
More ways to explore Valencia by train: Day Trips Within an Hour · Beach Train Trips · Cheapest Routes · Hidden Gems · Mountain & Hiking Trips · 10 Overnight Trips on the €60 Pass · The €60 Pass, Explained · Best Site to Search Every Train Route · Valencia Province Overview
Comments