How to Play the Best Golf in Valencia

The short answer

Build the trip around El Saler and everything else falls into place. Arana's par 72 runs 6,042 meters through umbrella pines and open dunes on the Devesa, the sand spit that seals the Albufera lagoon from the Mediterranean twenty five minutes south of the city, and it carries serious credentials: four Spanish Opens (1984, 1989, 2001 and 2013), the 2003 Seve Trophy, and a standing place near the top of continental Europe's rankings, second in Spain and 18th in continental Europe by Golf World's 2025 list. Access could not be simpler. The course is owned by the state Parador hotel chain and entirely public: book online through the Paradores golf channel or by phone or email to the golf desk, carry a valid handicap certificate from your home club, and pay an indicative 2026 fee of 115 euro, public rate up to about 150, in the spring and fall premium windows, easing to about 105 in July, August and December. Guests of the Parador de El Saler, the hotel standing beside the course, get preferential rates and the easiest times.

The supporting cast asks only a little more planning. Escorpion, the establishment members club at Betera among the orange groves north of the city, opens its 27 holes, the Ron Kirby original of 1975 plus an Alfonso Vidaor nine from 2000, to visitors Monday through Thursday at an indicative 109 euro. El Bosque, the 1975 Robert Trent Jones Sr design in the hills near Chiva, takes visitors every day with advance booking and handicap limits of 28 for men and 36 for women, at an indicative fee around 97 euro. Foressos, a public Pepe Gancedo design of 2007 at Picassent with 14 lakes and one of the largest greens in Europe at the seventh, books online like any municipal. And Oliva Nova, the Seve Ballesteros course that opened in 1995 by the beach between Gandia and Denia, puts water on 15 of its 18 holes at an indicative 95 euro. For the full pricing picture, our Valencia green fees guide breaks every tier down by season; this page is about getting on.

Book it in five steps

1. Lock El Saler first. Tee times in the March to June and September to November windows go earliest, so book online through the Paradores golf channel as soon as dates firm up, and pack a valid handicap certificate; the starter will ask for it.
2. Decide on the Parador. A night or two at the Parador de El Saler buys preferential green fees, the first times of the day and the only beachfront golf hotel in the region. It is the single smartest booking in Valencian golf, and the obvious base for playing Arana's course twice.
3. Slot the members clubs midweek. Escorpion takes visitors Monday through Thursday only, so put it in the middle of the week; El Bosque books any day with notice. Both expect proof of handicap and standard club presentation.
4. Add the relaxed rounds. Foressos at Picassent is the easy public booking for a fourth day, and Oliva Nova makes the natural overnight finish an hour down the coast, with the resort's stay and play packages doing the heavy lifting on price.
5. Fly into VLC and drive. Valencia's airport sits west of the city; El Saler is roughly 25 minutes away, Escorpion and El Bosque under half an hour, and only Oliva Nova, at about an hour, asks for a real drive. One rental car covers the entire trip.

How the week fits together

The routing writes itself. Base the first half in Valencia city or at the Parador: El Saler on day one, the holes that emerge from the pines into bare dunes along the beach playing as close to links golf as mainland Spain offers, then Escorpion or El Bosque on the midweek mornings while member play is light. The city covers the afternoons, paella by the Albufera, the old town and the Ciudad de las Artes, at city prices rather than resort prices. Then move south for the finish: Oliva Nova's flat, watery Ballesteros test, the beach outside the hotel door and, if the group wants one more card, the Costa Blanca beginning just down the road, with our ranking of the best Costa Blanca courses covering the obvious extensions toward Denia and beyond.

Timing is the easy part. The region plays year round; March to June and September to November are the premium windows when El Saler is firm and breezy and rates peak, July and August are hot and humid and best handled with early times, and winter is mild, often sunny and quiet, with published fees dropping in deep summer and December. For where Valencia sits in the national picture, see our guides to golf in Spain and the best courses in Spain; for accommodation beyond the Parador, the city's hotel stock is deep and well priced. Compare Valencia hotel rates.