Valencia is flat as a pancake, which makes it an ideal place for sports such as running and cycling. If you go to the Turia park around sunset, it’s clear that Valencianos like to keep fit and jogging is such a popular hobby that sometimes there’s traffic on the walkway. To avoid crashes, the city recently built a new, separate lane for bikes and just finished a running path that covers about half of the 9 km long park. More jogging can be done along the beach boulevard stretching from the port all the way to Patacona beach.
Valencia Beach
The Turia park is also the place for many other sports in the center. These include – but are not limited to – petanque, skateboarding, rugby, football, baseball and mini-golf. Also, sprinkled all along the park are outdoor “gyms” with different exercising equipment. The resistance is usually your own body weight, so most devices are suitable for people of all ages and physics.
If you prefer to work out inside, there are of course several gyms around the city where you can do anything from bodybuilding to Pilates. I recently checked out one close to home, mostly because during the hot summer months I was looking for an air-conditioned place to exercise. This one unfortunately didn’t have one, but to give you an idea of the prices, a membership-free month is 25 euros for the gym only or 35 euros with aerobics and similar classes included.
For those who enjoy swimming, there are quite a few indoor swimming pools. If my memory serves me right, 1,5 hours of pool time would set you back about 3,50 euros. There are guided classes held in the pools, so check the schedule for free lanes. At least my local “piscina” also offers swimming lessons, aerobics, yoga and tai-chi.
Mountain biking and Hiking
One of the advantages of Valencia is the weather, so if it’s not one of those humid mid-summer heat days or one of the rare rainy days, the weather is not an excuse to stay home. I recommend to go a bit outside the city. There are dozens if not hundreds of impressive hiking and mountain-biking routes in the mountains and villages, some of which are accessible by public transport.
In spectator sports there’s of course FC Valencia, whose games you can see in Mestalla. Valencia also hosts several sailing competitions and regattas during the season as well as running events in the spring and autumn.
