La Tomatina: Let The Tomato Mayhem Commence!

May 25th, 2007 by Pia Taylor

La Tomatina Festival

La Tomatina, or ‘The Attack of the Killer Tomatoes’, as we prefer to refer to it, is that mad frenzy of rotten tomato hurling that attacts over 20,000 food-fight fundis every August to the small and otherwise fairly unassuming town of Buñol, Spain.

And this year, one of our brave Backpackers Team will be there, wallowing in the juicy mulch with all the other mucky tomato-throwers!

There’s very little accommodation available in Buñol itself, so neighbouring Valencia is a good place to book your hostel.

Thing is, though, that when we initially started planning our visit to this popular seaside town, we soon realised that budget accommodation there at Tomatina time is very quickly snapped up, and there wasn’t much left.

If you want to get whatever is left, don’t go waiting until the last minute – it’ll all be gone.

So, why not try a Tomatina Tour, we thought. They generally have accommodation sorted, ferry you to and from the festival, and, importantly, provide a stashing place for your spare set of clean clothes (and anything else you’d like to keep clear of the tomato juice deluge).

La Tomatina Festival

So, we had a look around for tours aimed at backpackers, that provided accommodation as well as transport to and from the tomato-battlefield.

Here’s what we found:


3-day tour, 2 nights at 2* hotel – (28-30 August)
4-day tour, 3 nights at a hostel – (27-30 Aug)

3-day tour – 2 nights at 3* hotel (28-30 August)
4-day tour, 3 nights at a hostel – (27-30 Aug)

Seeing as we’re arriving in Valencia on a Busabout loop, it made sense, we decided, to stick with them for the tour. So, that’s what we’ve done.

Let the tomato games begin!

Related entries:
Tomato Diving at Il Tomatina 2006
Il Tomatina: The World’s Biggest Foodfight
Il Tomatina: The ‘Human Gazpacho’
Portrait of a Food Fight: Photos from Il Tomatina

Travel resources backpackers might find useful:
Hostels in Valencia – find and book your hostels online (if you can find places with available rooms!)
Lonely Planet’s Guide to Valencia – useful info for Valencia (free pdf download here)
Valencia Travel Guide – free downloadable travel guide from ArrivalGuides.com

Posted in Destinations, Festivals, Travel Tips & Planning