The joyful hustle and bustle of city life forms an island of activity surrounded by a sea of tranquillity formed by the peaceful coastline and the rugged natural beauty of the interior.

The omnipresent mountains that rear up behind Gandia house one of the areas last remaining cork oak forests, and a trip through this countryside leads walkers through impressive landscapes such as the Barranco de Borrell, which is made up of the Gota, Tancat and Borrell guilles and constitutes Gandia main hydrologica! network. These guilles are abrupt and beautiful, with their huge cliff faces, rocky crags dating from the Upper Cretaceous and the smoothed boulders on the river bed. Caves and summits then round 0ff the geomorphological diversity of the gully.
Two officially recognised paths wend their way through the Parpalló-Borrell landscape, a hugely scenic area in which typically Mediterranean vegetation clings to a stunning backdrop. Since time immemorial, the constant action of water on the limestone rocks has formed the gullies, caves and subterranean galleries that have shaped these mountains. Shrubs, white pine, carobs and kermes oak are the predominant species of vegetation, providing a varied natural habitat for wildcats, squirrels, wild boar, rabbits and golden eagles, which add a special touch and ecological value to the area.
 
The first of these paths is the Portalet trail, which follows the Barranco de Borrell and starts at Km 9 on the CV-65 road from Gandia to Barx. It runs parallel to the course of the gully all the way up to an outcrop towards the top of the gully popularly known as Portalet. The journey takes approximately two hours and its difficulty rating is easy since the climb is only 210 metres, making it suitable for ramblers of all ages.

The second path is the El Parpalló trail on the south face of the El Montdúver massif, starting at the border between the town of Barx and Gandia. It is a circular route that rises to 700 metres above sea level before dropping again as it returns to where it started. This steep and winding trail covers a total distance of 5.5 kilometres and takes around three hours. As well as these two nature trails, there are other routes that take in site of historical interest within the district of La Safor, such as the Sant Jeroni trail and the La Drova-Barx trai.
 
The ecotourism trail to the Sant Jeroni de Cotalba Monastery starts out in Gandia and passes through the towns of Benirredrá and Real de Gandia along the district’s 320 B-road until it reaches Rótova, where the monastery stands. The building dates back to the 14th century XIV and visitors can even explore its interior, since some of its main features are now open to the public, including the cloister, the church and the kitchens, the exterior is also well worth a visit thanks to its gardens, market gardens and pine forests.
 
The La Drova-Barx tourist route is a tourist trail leading to La Drova and Barx, passing via Marxuquera and La Ermita. Signposts to Barx can be found in Gandia, on Paseo de Germanies walk. The route takes visitors through typical La Safor landscapes of orange groves and mountains before arriving in Ermita, where there is an antiques market on Sundays. At Marxuquera there are interesting areas for rock climbing, and from La Drova visitors can walk up Montduver mountain, which offers impressive panoramic views.

How to get there.
Gandía can be reached via the N-332 and the AP-7 toll road (exit 60). There is also a deily return train from Madrid to Gandia from 10th June until the middle of September. During the rest of the year. The Madrid-Gandia train travels on Fridays and the Gandia-Madrid return leg departs on Sunday Trains run every day to Valencia every half an hour. The bus services to Valencia and Madrid also run deily throughout the year.