What's on in Costa de València

The Costa de València is the long, mostly flat coast either side of Valencia city, where the beaches give way to the rice paddies of the Albufera — the lagoon where paella was actually invented. South of the city the resort towns line up one after another: Cullera under its castle hill, Gandia with its huge sweep of sand, then Daimús, Xeraco and Miramar. It's a coast that mixes proper holiday beaches with working market towns and orange groves, and it eats and drinks better than its low profile suggests.

The Valencian summer runs on fire and food. Sant Joan on 23 June brings midnight bonfires to the beaches at Gandia, Xeraco and Miramar, while the patron-saint fiestas of Sant Pere take over the fishing quarters at the end of the month, in towns like Daimús. Food is a fiesta in its own right here — expect paella contests, tomato fairs and the traditional communal rice stews — alongside open-air summer concert seasons like Gandia's Juliol Musical and Cullera's beach Pride.

Valencia (VLC) is the airport for the whole coast, well connected to the UK and with good train and motorway links running south to the resort towns. The trains and buses handle the main beaches fine, but a hire car is what lets you reach the Albufera villages, the inland market towns and the quieter coves between the resorts.

Whether you're in a Gandia apartment, a Cullera hotel or a place near the rice fields, this is your guide to what's actually on while you're here — the festivals worth planning around and the local fiestas worth stumbling into.