Hotels near L'Albufera Natural Park

Twenty minutes south of the city, L'Albufera Natural Park is a 21,120-hectare freshwater lagoon, dune system, and rice-field expanse that the Romans first irrigated and the Moors turned into a granary. Today it is the largest lake in Spain, an EU Special Protection Area for more than 350 bird species - including flamingos, herons, and the rare Audouin's gull.

The lagoon is the historic birthplace of paella valenciana. The original 19th-century recipe used what farm workers had to hand: rabbit, chicken, snails, garrofó beans, ferradura beans, and bomba rice cooked in a wide flat pan over orange wood from the surrounding groves. Sunday lunch in El Palmar village - the rice-growers' settlement on a small island in the lagoon - is the most authentic paella experience anywhere in Spain. Traditional flat-bottomed albuferenc boats run sunset trips on the lagoon (around 5 EUR for 30 minutes), and the light at golden hour with a thousand wading birds and a lateen sail in the foreground is unforgettable.

Pro Tip: Book Casa Fèlix or Bon Aire restaurants in El Palmar by 11:00 for a 14:30 paella sitting on Sunday - they fill up by mid-morning. After lunch, walk five minutes to the lagoon for a 17:30 boat trip and time the return to coincide with sunset.