A guide to visiting Seville

You simply can’t consider a holiday to Spain without taking a few days to explore the magic of Seville.

The orange tree lined alleys, open squares and cobbled streets overflowing with packed tapas bars make you feel as though you’ve landed smack bang in an exotic and ancient world.

There’s so much to do and see that it can be hard to know where to start. Hopefully this guide to Seville will help!

Royal Alcázar de Seville

We love this place so much so that we visited three times during our stay in Seville. Royal Alcazar of Seville, Spain’s very own Garden of Eden, is absolutely breathtaking. There’s a very good reason the producers of Game of Thrones chose to make it the exotic set of Dawn. It was built by Castilian Christians on the site of an Abbadid Muslim residential fortress destroyed after the Christian conquest of Seville. In summer, the line to enter the palace and garden stretches way down the street from mid morning until mid afternoon. We highly recommend hanging around or visiting just before closing time. The crowds disperse and you’ll virtually have this haven all to yourselves, just as we did. Admire Moor inspired fountains in the gardens, relax on a park bench or wander through the ancient walls and feel like you’ve just slipped through a crack in time.

Recommended time for exploring: If you want to enjoy the gardens and all the intricacies they have to offer, hang around for at least 2 – 3 hours.

Plaza de España

This expansive and beautiful plaza is the perfect spot for wandering, clapping along with Flamenco street performers under the shade of the impressive columns and people watching. If you’re there when the weather is fine, don’t miss out on a romantic Venice-style boat ride in one of the rowboats they have for hire for 10 Euros. But, make sure you’re fast enough to get back to the finish line within 30 minutes if you want to see your 4 Euro deposit again (we just made it!). This boat ride was one of the most romantic experiences we had in Seville (even though Rosie’s high school rowing stint didn’t help her at all). They also offer horse and cart rides around the plaza, but we’re not a huge fan of this kind of tourism.

Recommended time for exploring: Allow at least 1 – 2 hours to appreciate the beautiful architecture and even longer if you’re happy to while away some time watching street performers and floating around the river in your rowboat. Take some euros with you to thank the performers!

Catedral de Sevilla

You literally can’t miss the world’s biggest Gothic Cathedral, it cuts an impressive figure in the heart of the city (we had an amazing view from our hotel rooftop!). It’s absolutely worth buying a ticket to visit the cathedral to admire its sheer size, and to see the tomb of Christopher Columbus (which is an artwork in itself). The monument is held up by representatives of the four kingdom’s of Spain during Columbus’ life. While you’re here don’t miss out on the Giralda (impressive bell tower) and pay for a tour of the roof where you’ll find beautiful views (just beware, there are 30+ ramps to reach the top so make sure you have a decent fitness level). If you want to learn about the history of the cathedral without having to take a tour, grab an audio guide for a few euros on the way in.

Recommended time for exploring: 1.5 hours will allow you to have a good look around.

Plaza de toros de la Real Maestranza

Whether you agree with it or not, bull fighting has always been a significant part of Spanish culture and Seville is in the heart of Spain. We both love animals but decided to take a tour of the bull fighting ring to learn about its history. The bullring itself was architecturally beautiful and it was fascinating to learn about the history of its famous matadors. The venue has 12,000 seats and you can walk out onto its sandy arena to imagine what it would have been like as a matador to stand in front of thousands of spectators. While the experience left us feeling a little uncomfortable, it was great to learn and understand more about Spanish culture – we’re big believers of understanding outside of our comfort zone.

Recommended time for exploring: 1 – 2 hours will allow you to complete the tour and spend some time at the museums.

Torro de Oro

This old military watchtower is an impressive vision located on the Guadalquivir river (it looks a bit like a mini castle). Wander past the palm tree lined boulevard and admire its architecture and then enjoy a walk down the river where locals ride their bikes, and watch the world go by.

Recommended time for exploring: Stay for a moment to capture a photo or sit for a while.

Wander the streets of Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz is the heart of Seville and a great place to wander around and base yourself (there are plenty of great hotels in the area). The streets are colourful, there are hundreds of amazing tapas bars (probably the best in Seville) and if you peek through the grand doorways of many buildings you’ll often discover gorgeous open courtyards filled with fruit trees.

Recommended time for exploring: As long as you like!

Venture to Triana

Triana is another beautiful neighbourhood in Seville with a slightly edgy vibe. We were hesitant to venture there once we heard it fondly referred to as “dodgy Triana” (in a hold onto your bags kind of way). Turns out we felt completely safe walking around this scenic part of the city which boasted beautiful buildings, plenty of ceramic shops and restaurants along the river offering a different perspective of Seville – we highly recommend that you stop by! It’s not dodgy at all.

Recommended time for exploring: An hour at minimum

Tapas

It’s virtually a rite of passage to enjoy the Tapas experience while in Seville (or Spain in general). While we’re used to dining relatively early here in the land of Aus, the foodie scene comes alive after 9 pm in Spain. You can walk into any tapas bar and find people spilling out onto the streets and dropping their brown paper napkins on the ground. There’s also a lot of great places that offer a range of raciones and tapas which are made to order, some even come with free Flamenco entertainment. Everywhere’s good but we highly recommend:

Bar El Pasaje – a bustling tapas bar with a great atmosphere and friendly staff. We had the spinaka (spinach) croquettes , mushroom risotto with truffle oil and topped it off with a delicious Ferrero Rocher dessert (crusted with gold!)

La Bartola – this place offered a quirky and modern take on tapas. We ate manchego cheese with grapes as a garnish, zucchini spaghetti and hummus made with almonds. At the end of our meal they gave us a free shot of limoncello (common in bars across Spain but mucho appreciated!)

Bodega Santa Cruz – a busy and atmospheric traditional Spanish bar in a great location where they keep track of what you’ve ordered by marking it off with chalk on a blackboard.

And, they never expect you to pay up front in Spain – enjoy your tapas, enjoy your conversation and then pay when you’re ready. Eating tapas is a laid-back and awesome way to enjoy your nights in Seville and talk to the locals. Try new places every night!

Accommodation in Seville

We had an amazing time in Seville and stayed at Hotel Casa 1800 Sevilla in Santa Cruz – this was the perfect location for us and was just a hop, skip and a jump from The Alcazar and Seville Cathedral. We consciously splashed out a bit more for this hotel for a couple of reasons. It had a spectacular rooftop view of the cathedral, a great pool to escape the intense summer heat and the perfect location for exploring.

Check out Hotel Casa 1800 Sevilla, otherwise we definitely recommend other highly rated hotels in the Santa Cruz neighbourhood.

Rosie & Aaron