Where to stay for the Valencia Marathon 2026: areas, real prices and what to book

The Valencia Marathon Trinidad Alfonso Zurich is on Sunday 6 December 2026, and that Sunday falls in the middle of a Spanish long weekend: Tuesday 8 December is a public holiday across Spain. On race weekend, 36,000 runners, their families and every holidaymaker in the country are competing for the same beds. As of 6 November, for Friday 4 to Monday 7 December, Booking listed 96 properties with free cancellation and a review score of 7 or higher in the whole of Valencia, with a median of €637 a night for two adults. Without requiring free cancellation there were 151, with a median of €556. That is the price of what is still available, not what people who booked early paid: Booking warns that 96% of its properties are no longer available for those dates. The same property costs about five times more than the following weekend.

This is not a list of hotels copied from a search engine. We explain which areas let you walk to the start and walk back with your medal, what each one really costs on marathon weekend and what to check before you pay. Further down there is a map with live prices and availability for those nights, and up here, how many places are left today: we measure it again every three days, and daily in race week.

Three places that decide where you should stay

• The runners’ expo (Expo 42K), where you collect your bib, is at Feria Valencia in Benimàmet, in the north-west of the city and far from the start. It opens on Thursday 3 December from 17:00 to 21:00, Friday 4 from 9:00 to 21:00 and Saturday 5 from 9:00 to 19:00. There is no bib collection on Sunday, so you need to be in Valencia by Saturday afternoon at the latest. The tram (line 4, Fira València stop) takes you there.
• The start is at Plaça de la Marató, next to the City of Arts and Sciences, in waves between 8:15 and 9:35.
• The finish is the famous blue walkway over the water at the City of Arts and Sciences, a few metres from the start. The course is expected to close at around 15:15.

Start and finish are in the same place, which makes the choice much simpler: what matters is how long it takes you to reach the City of Arts and Sciences at seven on a Sunday morning, with many streets closed, and how long it takes you to get back after 42 kilometres. You will only visit the expo once.

Accommodation map for marathon weekend

The map shows the properties still available for race weekend, with their price and where they are in relation to the start. You can change the dates and the number of guests.

Areas, from the most convenient to the cheapest

The table sums up what was available on 6 November for three nights, Friday 4 to Monday 7 December, for two adults in one room, at properties scored 7 or higher. The price is the median per night: half of the properties in that area cost less and half cost more. We give two: with free cancellation, and without requiring it, which is the cheapest rate at each property and may be non-refundable. Each column comes from its own search: with so few properties, in some areas the second is higher because it includes places that do not offer free cancellation. Time is how long it takes to walk to the start along real streets at an easy pace (median for the area): we measured it property by property with OpenStreetMap walking routes.

City of Arts and Sciences and Quatre Carreres: walk there, walk back

Monteolivete, Penya-roja, Na Rovella and the streets around the City of Arts and Sciences are ideal: you are in your start pen after an 18 to 25-minute walk and, after the finish, back in the shower without relying on anyone. It is a quiet residential area at night. The problem is that there is almost nothing left: 4 properties with free cancellation for the three nights, with a median of €680 a night, and 7 without requiring it. Nothing is left in the whole city within a quarter of an hour. Exe Rey Don Jaime (a 19-minute walk from the start, score 8.1) was €586 and A2B Collection Arena (23 minutes, score 9.3) €774.

Avenida de Francia, Camins al Grau and the port

On the seaward side of the City of Arts and Sciences you will find the large, modern hotels on Avenida de Francia and the apartments around the port, an 18 to 26-minute walk from the start. There were 6 left with free cancellation, with a median of €672, and 10 without requiring it, with a median of €511. The Eurostars Acteón (18 minutes, score 8.5) was €639 and Carbonell by VivoGCFlats (26 minutes, score 8.9) €435.

Pla del Real and Aragón: a good balance of distance and price, if you can find a room

Between the Turia Gardens and Mestalla stadium, about a 31-minute walk from the start, this is the cheapest of the areas just over half an hour away on foot. The problem is how little is left: 2 apartments with free cancellation at €508 a night, and 5 without requiring it, with a median of €484. You reach the start by walking down the old Turia riverbed, a flat stroll that doubles as a warm-up.

Ruzafa: for a good dinner the night before

Ruzafa is Valencia’s liveliest neighbourhood, packed with restaurants, a 27 to 34-minute walk from the start. It is a good choice if you want to go out for your Saturday pasta without taking transport, but Saturday nights are noisy: ask for a room at the back. There were 8 properties left with free cancellation, with a median of €785, and 13 without requiring it, with a median of €687. Arena Legacy Modern Suits (30 minutes, score 9.2) was €762.

Eixample and Gran Vía

Wide, quiet streets between Ruzafa and the centre, with upmarket hotels such as the Vincci Palace and the Vincci Lys, about a 40-minute walk from the start. It is the most expensive area: 4 properties with free cancellation and a median of €836; without requiring it, 10 and €770. SLEEP’N Valencia (score 9.2) was the most affordable at €649.

Ciutat Vella: plenty of choice if you do not need free cancellation

The old town is what most people look for on a first trip to Valencia. Without requiring free cancellation, it is where the most properties are left: 26, with a median of €526; with it, 11 and €665. The trade-off is that the start is a 43 to 59-minute walk away. The metro is the practical choice: in 2025 line 10 ran that morning as far as Amado Granell-Montolivet, a 23-minute walk from the start. With free cancellation you could still find something below the median, such as Ambrosio Flats (€507, score 8.9) or the adults-only Axel Hotel (€569, score 8.9).

The beach: Cabanyal and Malvarrosa

Staying by the sea is lovely for a Monday recovery stroll, but the start is a 32 to 54-minute walk away. There were 8 properties left with free cancellation, with a median of €497, and 7 without requiring it, with a median of €440. Malvarrosa Plaza by Intelier (51 minutes, score 8.5) was €440. Bear in mind what happens to the tram on Sunday (explained below): from here, you walk or cycle to the start.

La Patacona: the cheap option with great reviews

La Patacona, in Alboraia, is the northern continuation of Malvarrosa beach, and it was the surprise of our search: 8 apartments left with free cancellation, nearly all rated 8 or higher, with a median of €409 a night, the lowest of all; without requiring it, 12 and €371. The catch is distance: a 62 to 81-minute walk to the start, and no tram on Sunday morning. It is worth it if you plan to cycle, or if you are travelling with others and the budget matters more than convenience. Lumen Mare Malvarrosa (score 9, 62 minutes on foot) was €440.

Patraix, Jesús and Extramurs: saving money without leaving the city

Residential neighbourhoods west of Ruzafa, a 41 to 74-minute walk from the start, with slightly lower prices: 15 properties with free cancellation and a median of €637; without requiring it, 19 and €477. Galdós Flats (score 8.7, 59 minutes) was €435 and Hotel Conqueridor, in Extramurs (46 minutes, score 8.7), €631.

Not worth it: the west and the north

Campanar, Nou Moles and the area around Bioparc, an hour or more on foot, are not cheaper: the properties left with free cancellation had a median of €678, and without requiring it, €649. The north of the city (Benicalap, the Conference Centre) and Benimàmet, next to Feria Valencia, are cheaper, with a median of €481 with free cancellation and €502 without requiring it, and keep the expo close by, but the start is more than an hour away on foot, an hour and a half on average. They only make sense if price trumps everything else. The Sercotel Sorolla Palace (score 8.7, 94 minutes on foot) was €490.

Which nights to book

We repeated the search with different combinations of nights, and the differences are huge. These are the properties with a score of 7 or higher listed on Booking on 6 November, for two adults and, except in the second row, with free cancellation:

Three conclusions:

• Three nights give you almost half as many options again as two. From Friday to Monday there were 96 properties with free cancellation; from Saturday to Monday, 65. Most likely many properties only sell the whole weekend or require a minimum stay. If you are looking for two nights and nothing convinces you, try three: using the medians in the table, you go from about €1,380 for two nights to about €1,910 for three, and you arrive on Friday with time for the expo.
• A single night is the hardest. From Saturday to Sunday there were 28 properties left, with a median of €1,039: none within a 20-minute walk of the start and only 4 within half an hour.
• The same property costs about five times more than a week later. We compared the 26 properties that appeared in both Saturday-to-Monday searches, marathon weekend and 12-14 December: their median goes from €128 to €651 a night. And that later weekend Booking listed 912 properties with the same filters, fourteen times more than for the marathon.

Staying on Sunday night makes sense: after a marathon you will not want to rush for a train or a plane.

Getting around on race day

The metro is the safest way to reach the start if you are not staying within walking distance. In 2025 the regional government gave every runner a free four-journey ticket, valid from Friday to Monday of race weekend, and the metro started earlier than usual on Sunday, with special trains from 6:00. For 2026, the organisers and Metrovalencia will announce the arrangements in the weeks before the race.

What is worth knowing now is what gets closed. In 2025, on race morning, tram line 4 did not run between Pont de Fusta and Doctor Lluch, line 6 was suspended, and line 10 did not reach the City of Arts and Sciences until 10:00. In other words: if you stay by the beach (Cabanyal, Malvarrosa or La Patacona), do not count on the tram to get to the start. From there it is a walk of 40 minutes to well over an hour: cycling is a better option, but you need to plan for it.

Taxis and ride-hailing apps are the worst option on Sunday morning around the start: many streets are closed and everyone wants a car at the same time. To get back from the finish, the easiest thing is to stay somewhere you can walk to slowly.

Five things to check before you pay

1. Free cancellation and its deadline. At these prices, we would book with free cancellation, even if it costs a little more, and note the last day you can cancel at no cost. If you get injured in November, you do not lose your money.
2. Breakfast time on Sunday. With an 8:15 start, you should have eaten by 7:00. Ask before booking whether they serve breakfast early that day or can leave something ready for you. In an apartment, the problem disappears.
3. Check-out time and a shower after the finish. If you leave on Sunday, ask for a late check-out or whether you can leave your luggage and shower when you get back. Many runners waste the afternoon looking for somewhere to change.
4. Lift, floor and noise. A third floor with no lift feels very long on Sunday afternoon. In Ruzafa and the old town, Saturday nights are lively: ask for a room at the back.
5. A kitchen, or at least a fridge. For your Saturday pasta and to keep your breakfast. It is one of the advantages of apartments, which make up a good part of what is left in Valencia.

How we got these prices

We searched Booking on 6 November 2026 for two adults in one room, for four stays: Friday 4 to Monday 7, Saturday 5 to Monday 7 and Saturday 5 to Sunday 6 December, plus the following weekend, Saturday 12 to Monday 14, as a reference. We filtered for free cancellation and a score of 7 or higher, and combined the results sorted by price, by score, by distance and by Booking’s own recommendations, so as not to rely on its selection alone. We also measured the three nights from Friday to Monday with only the score filter: there Booking shows the cheapest rate at each property, refundable or not. The price is the one any visitor sees without signing in, with the deals Booking shows everyone, without loyalty discounts or the «Booking.com pays» discount, which comes and goes. So a figure may vary a little when you go to book. The price per night is the total for the stay divided by the number of nights. Walking times are measured along real streets from the start to each property, with OpenStreetMap walking routes at an easy pace (about 4.5 km/h). We left out beds in shared rooms and properties more than 15 kilometres away. For the marathon dates we collected virtually every result Booking returned; the reference search had 912, and we only collected part of them, so we give no median there and compare prices property by property. Prices change daily.

The accommodation map in this guide contains affiliate links: if you book through it, RunningValencia receives a small commission at no extra cost to you. It helps us keep writing guides like this one.

If you are still preparing, you may find our Valencia Marathon 2026 route guide and our pacing strategy for the 2026 Valencia Marathon useful. The Valencia Marathon 2026 race page has the date, times and all the other race details.