Gandía is often sold as a beach town, but the better reason to come is the split personality. The wide sand and apartment blocks sit a few kilometres from a proper Valencian city, with everyday shops, orange-country wealth, and one of the strongest Borgia monuments in Spain.
The Ducal Palace of the Borgias is the headline. It gives the old centre a weight that many coastal resorts lack, and it pairs naturally with the Collegiate Church of Santa Maria, the archaeological museum, and the last surviving tower of the medieval walls. Gandía is not just a strip of summer hotels pretending to be a town.
The beach still matters. Platja del Nord is long, broad, and Spanish-family busy in season, while the quieter northern beaches and dunes keep the coast from feeling entirely overbuilt. Add fideuà, which Gandía claims as its own, and the city makes a strong one-day break from Valencia if you want both old stone and sea air.