Document and Entity Information - USD ($) $ in Billions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2018	Feb. 26, 2019	Jun. 30, 2018
Document And Entity Information [Abstract]
Document Type	10-K
Document Period End Date	Dec. 31, 2018
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2018
Document Fiscal Period Focus	FY
Trading Symbol	VLY
Amendment Flag	false
Entity Registrant Name	Valley National Bancorp
Entity CIK	0000714310
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Well-known Season Issuer	Yes
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Emerging Growth Company	false
Entity Small Business	false
Entity Shell Company	false
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		331,983,842
Entity Public Float			$ 3.9