La Albufera

The Albufera is the largest lake in Spain, a shallow freshwater lagoon held back from the Mediterranean by the Devesa, a long bar of dune and umbrella pine. Around it lie the rice fields that gave Valencia its rice and, in time, its paella. Flat-bottomed boats work out from El Palmar and Catarroja for short trips across the water, and the standard advice is to go late so the sun drops behind the reed beds. The lagoon is a major site for wintering ducks and marsh birds. The villages on the shore are working ones, built on rice and eel fishing rather than on visitors.

What you actually see

• The flat-bottomed boats - short crossings from El Palmar or Catarroja.
• The Devesa - the dune and pine barrier between lagoon and open sea.
• The rice fields - flooded, planted and harvested on a visible annual cycle.
• Winter waterbirds - large numbers of ducks and waders on the open water.

When to go

Go late in the day, an hour or so before sunset, which is when the boatmen expect people and when the light on the water earns the trip. Spring and autumn are comfortable; midsummer is hot and mosquito-heavy. Winter brings the biggest bird numbers and a colder, emptier lagoon with most of the day trippers gone.

Honest expectations

The lagoon is shallow, weedy and has struggled with water quality for decades, so do not expect clarity. Boat trips are short, often around thirty minutes, and can feel perfunctory when several run at once. El Palmar is clogged with lunch traffic at weekends. Mosquitoes are heavy in warm months, and the sunset slot is the busiest one.

Nearby

Valencia is twenty minutes north; El Saler beach lies on the seaward side of the bar.