TBH – not to be one of THOSE people but I was pretty disappointed with Joaquin Sorolla train station… very “blah” and boring

It was modern, dirty, cold and uninviting with no seats to sit on for passengers waiting for their trains… I really was expecting more as this was a main hub to get into one of the most visited cities in Spain!

The main entrance on the west side
A smaller station just below the train station “North” which is closest to Valencia old town
The boxy looking boring train station from the side – feels like no effort went into building this train station – (why we dont go back and get inspired by the train stations of the 19th c. era… frustrating to no end that everything is just all about money and never about beauty and comfort for us people any more)

NOTE : Trains from & to Madrid

If you are wanting to go to Valencia from madrid – the departing (and arriving vice versa) station is “Madrid Chamartin” which is a train station outside of Madrid city centre so you will need to catch metro to that train station from the city centre – (usually the connecting metro ticket to the departing station is included in the fare of the main train ticket)

I.e. this was on my ticket

Because I went via Alcazar and Albecete via intercity, my departure station was from Madrid so I didnt have to worry about getting to Madrid Chamartin train station – which was a good thing for me as it was only a 20min walk from my hotel

So, landed in a really busy station of Valencia, expecting this as its the main train station of a very touristy city

I waited quite a while for the people to disperse and leave before I made my way to the main area in the terminal to explore the station and see whats going on

Seems everyone is going to Valencia!

We went downstairs via the tunnel system under the station and then walked through the exit into the main hall of the terminal

It was pretty ugly tbh and having seen the beautiful station of Toledo, this was very different and very sad in comparison

Some sort of what looked like perspex ceiling in the main terminal, small shops lined the corridor towards one of the exits

A sad looking McDonalds at the end of the corridor at the exit

The walk to the old town Valencia is easy and safe with so many people doing the same thing

The outskirts of Valencia city where the train station is, all apartment living and huge main roads

But an eay 20-25min walk to the old town and city centre

HEADING OUT OF VALENCIA

This area is the departure point and luggage screening

Departure – after screening of the bags, we followed the signs to the departure platform

MAR 2024