Gandía has more than 5 kilometres of coastline and more than 500,000 m2 of fine sand for sunbathing. It is located in the southeast of the province of Valencia and is the capital of the region of La Safor. It has 25 hotels with more than 5,200 hotel beds, more than 8,000 regulated beds in flats and 1,700 in campsites. A total of more than 15,000 accommodation places for you to enjoy the best residential area. Once we have entered the city, what can we do in Gandía?
What to do in Gandia ✔?
When you see the name Gandía, you unconsciously associate it with the beach, the sun 🌞, the party. But Gandía is much more than that, we are talking about the capital of La Safor, a city with around 80,000 inhabitants, but which in summer can reach 300,000, including national and international tourists 🌍. It is a city divided in two, on the one hand we have the City of Gandía where we can visit emblematic sites such as the Ducal Palace, the Town Hall, etc… we can also go shopping at the Vital or Plaza Mayor shopping centres. On the other hand, we find Gandía Beach where we can enjoy one of the best beaches in the Valencian Community with a wide variety of services to make our visit as pleasant as possible. In addition, the beach offers visitors a wide range of hotel accommodation ✔ so that the user has the option to choose according to their location.
👉 What to visit in Gandía
In Gandía you can enjoy one of the best gastronomic, commercial and cultural offers of the whole Valencian coast. Best of all, most of the activities you can do are free or very cheap, which is great 😍 in these times!
Ducal Palace
The Ducal Palace is an obligatory stop in Gandía, as it is the most representative Borgian monument of the city. This is where the Dukes of Gandía resided and where San Francisco de Borja was born in 1510 and lived as IV Duke of Gandía; in fact, his room is still preserved.
This building has been the living history of the capital of La Safor since practically its birth. It was Pere de Ribagorça who, having been granted the town of Gandía by his father Jaume II el Just in 1323, chose this place to establish his residence as it was the highest point in the city.
It has been built, enlarged and restored over seven centuries, so we can see a mixture of other periods, from the primitive Gothic palace of the 14th and 15th centuries, the Renaissance contributions of the 16th century, the Baroque transformations of the 17th and 18th centuries and the neo-Gothic reconstructions of the 19th and 20th centuries. In 1889 it was acquired at public auction by the Society of Jesus. In recent years, with the support of foundations and public institutions, intense conservation and recovery work has been carried out on this monument.
During the summer months, the Palau Ducal becomes the cultural centre of the city with an extensive and varied offer of activities that you can consult below.
👉 Timetable of guided tours Ducal Palace
| Monday | 11.00 and 12.00 / 18.00 and 19.00 |
| Tuesday | 11.00 and 12.00 / 18.00 and 19.00 |
| Wednesday | 11.00 and 12.00 / 18.00 and 19.00 |
| Thursday | 11.00 and 12.00 / 18.00 and 19.00 |
| Friday | 11.00 and 12.00 / 18.00 and 19.00 |
| Saturday | 11.00 and 12.00 / 18.00 and 19.00 |
| Sunday and public holidays | 11:00 and 12.00 |
➡️ Price of the Ducal Palace guided tours
| Normal | 7 € (adults aged 18 and over) |
| Reduced* | 6 € |
| Special | 4 € (children from 7 to 17 years old, people with functional diversity and one accompanying person required) |
| Renfe Card | 20% discount on the fare on presentation of the ticket (the ticket must be for the same day of the visit). |
Bookings can be made by email to [email protected] or by telephone on 00 34 96 287 14 65.
👉 Timetable for non-guided tours
| Monday | 10:00 to 13:00 and 16:00 to 19:00 |
| Tuesday | 10:00 to 13:00 and 16:00 to 19:00 |
| Wednesday | 10:00 to 13:00 and 16:00 to 19:00 |
| Thursday | 10:00 to 13:00 and 16:00 to 19:00 |
| Friday | 10:00 to 13:00 and 16:00 to 19:00 |
| Saturday | 10:00 to 13:00 and 16:00 to 19:00 |
| Sunday and public holidays | 10:00 to 13:00 |
The Palau Ducal has an audio guide service in several languages (Valencian, Spanish, English, French and Italian). The price is 2 euros per audioguide, and an official identity document or similar (which will be returned later) is required as a deposit.
➡️ Prices for non-guided tours
| Normal with audio guide | 8 € (adults aged 18 and over) |
| Reduced* with audio guide | 7 € |
| Special | 6 € (minors from 7 to 17 years old, people with functional diversity and one accompanying person required) |
| Renfe Card | 20% discount on the fare on presentation of the ticket (the ticket must be for the same day of the visit). |
Gandía Town Hall
The next destination is the building of the Town Hall of Gandía, whose construction took place in 1772. The neoclassical style prevails in its façade, work of Vicente Gascó, and you can read an inscription with the name of King Carlos III. It is the only part that remains in its original state, as the rest has undergone alterations since then. At the top we can find a balustrade with four stone busts representing the four cardinal virtues (justice, fortitude, temperance and prudence), which should guide rulers.
The town hall of Gandía is located in the historic centre of the city. It is very beautiful at night, everything is illuminated and it is right at the point where you can go shopping or have something to eat and drink.
Plaça Rei En Jaume
Once we have seen the Town Hall, we will go to the Plaça Rei En Jaume, where there are two other buildings of historical value.
On the right, as we enter the square, we find the Convent de Sant Roc, founded by the 5th Duke of Gandía, Don Carlos de Borja y Meneses, the eldest son of Saint Francis. This Franciscan convent opened its doors in 1591. It still conserves parts of its original structure, such as the cloister, which is well worth a visit. To the rear, in Calle Duque Carlos de Borja, is the original convent church. The marble coat of arms of the 5th Duke of Gandía remains on the façade of this church, with the date 1586 and the arms of the Borja and Centelles families clearly visible. Today the building of the Convent de Sant Roc houses the Central Library and the Municipal Archive.
On the other side we can see what was once the Gran Cine Royalty, opened in 1920. It still conserves part of its modernist style façade formed by two large ceramic coats of arms, that of the city and that of Valencia. For many years it hosted most of the cultural activities and events organised in the city.
Serrano Theatre
Along the Paseo de las Germanías, about 200 metres from the square, you will see the façade of the Serrano Theatre. Built in honour of the Valencian musician José Serrano, it was inaugurated in the summer of 1900 as the Teatro Circo and changed its name to Teatro Serrano in 1912.
The façade was renovated in 1921 and has a modernist style, and some of the ceramic and glass elements typical of this architecture can still be seen. At the end of the last century it was acquired by the Town Hall and the entire interior was refurbished. Nowadays, its halls host cinema projections and theatrical performances, dance, opera, etc.
Old University
Then we will go to San Francisco de Borja or Vila Nova street where we will find at the beginning of the street the building of the College of the Piarists. We go round it, passing in front of its chapel and arrive at the Plaza de las Escuelas Pías where we will visit the old University of Gandía (1549-1772) founded by the IV Duke and III General of the Society of Jesus, Francisco de Borja, which would be the first university of the Society.
What was originally the project of the College of San Sebastián, undertaken by Saint Francis, was transformed at the request of the Duke of Gandía himself to Pope Paul III into a University when the work on the college had not even been completed. Francisco de Borja himself and other illustrious figures such as Baltasar Gracián and the botanist Antonio Cavanilles passed through its classrooms. After the expulsion of the Society of Jesus in 1767, by decree of Charles III, the University barely lasted a few years, and so in 1772 it closed its doors. The old University is now a teaching centre of the Piarists and the headquarters of the UNED.
In the same square, in front of the doors of the old University, five bronze sculptures by Manuel Boix represent five members of the Borgia family: Popes Calixtus III and Alexander VI, their children César and Lucrecia and the 4th Duke of Gandía. The statues were placed in the square of the old University in 1998.
Convent of Santa Clara
After visiting the University, we go to Calle Mayor in the heart of the historic centre and turn off into Calle Loreto, and continue, crossing Calle San Pascual, following Calle Pare Gomar and arriving at Plaza María Enríquez.
Here we find the Convent of Santa Clara, founded in 1423 by Violante de Aragón, daughter of the royal duke Alfonso the Elder. It is a building with a Gothic structure, although it has undergone major alterations. It is currently inhabited by a congregation of Poor Clare nuns who live in a cloistered regime. Inside it houses a magnificent artistic heritage, with works by José Ribera, Paolo de Matteis and Francisco Ribalta, among others. Many of these works were donated by the Borgia family, as documented in testamentary bequests that have been found. Since 2015, part of this collection has been on display in the Santa Clara Museum, located just a few metres from this convent.
Archaeological Museum
A stone’s throw from where we are, in Hospital Street, is the Archaeological Museum of Gandía or MAGA, which occupies the Old Hospital of Sant Marc, founded in the 14th century by the first Duke of Gandía Alfons el Vell. It is a space dedicated to Prehistory where a permanent exhibition of the most relevant archaeological finds found in Gandía and its region is exhibited.