Seville Spain Vacation – A Cultural Experience

A vacation to Seville, Spain is a true cultural experience. Traveling to Spain is a trip that makes the top of many travel lists. In addition to the vibrant culture, food and the historic beauty of Spain attract the masses. Seville is the first of a four-stop itinerary that will lay out an ideal way to spend 10 days hitting the highlights of Spain.

Spain Itinerary: Where to Begin?

Starting in the North or the South of Spain is the ideal way to structure an itinerary. This reduces your travel time and allows you to see more in your limited time in Spain. This generally means that you will either start in the Andalusia regions with Seville and/or Grenada or you will start in Barcelona. For this itinerary, we will be starting with Seville. This itinerary works equally well in reverse, so if you find cheaper airfare in that direction don’t hesitate to invert it.

Seville Spain Vacation – Day 1: Arrival

Seville is a large city located in the Andalusia region of Spain and serves as the start of this itinerary. The closest airport – Seville airport (Airport code: SVQ) is located approximately 6 miles outside of Seville. While Seville airport has connections to many other European and North African countries, passengers arriving from outside this area will have a layover on their way in. For this reason, a large number of arrivals to SVQ will arrive between noon and the early afternoon.

Using my traditional logic that you don’t want to miss the sights you most want to see due to delayed flights, we save the biggest sights for future days. Despite saving the biggest sights for the next couple of days, an example plan for the first day would look as follows. Obviously, modify the times as required based on your flight arrival time.

Arrival, Customs, & Travel to Hotel

Once you have arrived and gone through customs you will want to travel to your hotel, freshen up from the long flight, and drop your bags. With an arrival time later in the day, your accommodations should be ready for you. Without many good public transit options linking the city to the airport, a taxi or ride-share (like Uber) will be the best way to get to your accommodations.

Real Maestranza de Caballeria de Sevilla

The Real Maestranza de Caballeria de Sevilla is the famous bullfighting ring in Seville. The bullfighting season starts on Easter and runs through late September; however, tours of the ring are conducted year-round. There is also a museum of bullfighting on location. Whether or not you are a fan of bullfighting I suggest that you go to tour the ring and experience the museum. Bullfights were (and still are to a lesser degree) a big part of Spain’s culture. Having an understanding of the importance of these in Spain’s history makes for more enriching and immersive travel. The tour is well done and is available in both English and Spanish from the guides. If you desire another language, those tours are available from audio recordings which the guides will provide upon request.

Pro Tip – Timed tickets are recommended for this location. Tickets can be purchased at the time of arrival; however, the wait may be 30 – 45 minutes and the time you want may not be available.

Plaza de Espana and Parque de Maria Luisa

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The Plaza de Espana is a semi-circular park filled with some amazing architecture and water features. This is a perfect spot to start your exploration of Spain, get a taste of the Spanish style, and stretch your legs from your travel. Take your time freely wandering this area and taking loads of pictures. When you have seen enough of the ornate architecture and structures in the Plaza de Espana, go immediately adjacent to the Parque de Maria Luisa.

The Parque de Maria Luisa is an adjacent green space to the Plaza de Espana. While the Plaza de Espana has the architecture and buildings as its stunning centerpiece, the Parque lets nature be its focus. This beautiful area of Seville is filled with miniature parks, natural features, fountains, meandering pathways, benches, and so much more. This is again a place to casually stroll as you enjoy being in Spain. This stop can be as long or as short as you choose, depending on how much of the park you want to see and how much you enjoy a walk.

End of Day 1

Spend the rest of the day unpacking, relaxing, and having tapas and/or dinner. Many travelers will turn in early due to the day of travel depending on where you are coming from. Spainards prefer dinner later than many will be accustomed to (between 9 and 11 PM).

Seville: Day 2 – Seville’s Major Attractions

Wake up on your first full day in Seville excited. Some of the most well known Seville sights are on the schedule today.

Royal Alcázar of Seville

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The Royal Alcazar of Seville is a royal palace built for the King of Castille. In fact, the royal family still lives on some of the upper floors when they are residing in Seville. This palace is a must-see for the grandiose architecture, artwork, painted tile work, and lovely gardens. You can spend hours wandering the various hallways and rooms of the palace as it truly is larger than what it seems. If you have an interest in ceramics, carvings, or intricate molding, this is the place for you as the workmanship is exquisite. One strategy for seeing much of the palace is to see a portion of the palace and break up the time on the interior with a walk of the gardens.

Those of you familiar with the HBO TV show Games of Thrones will recognize the gardens at the Royal Alcazar as the setting of the fictional city of Sunspear.

As you exit the Alcazar, walk along the Calle Juderia and the Patio de Banderas. The Patio de Banderas has an excellent view of the Cathedral Bell Tower (Giralda) sticking up above the city roofs.

Pro Tip – Prebooking tickets is recommended from this location. Tickets can be purchased at the time of arrival if some time slots remain; however during popular travel times most times will not be available.

Seville Cathedral and the Giralda

The Seville Cathedral is a cathedral in the Roman Catholic church located in the heart of Seville. It is commonly listed as the fourth largest church in the world. The church also claims fame for being the final resting place of several Spanish monarchs, cardinals, and other famous peopls such as Christopher Columbus. The cathedral was built on the old site of a mosque and the influence and incorporations of several Moorish pieces are evident. The cathdral is also well known for the Giralda tower. This is the minaret of the old mosque that has been converted into a bell tower. The climb up the bell tower is unusual as ramps form the inside of the tower where one might expect stairs to be.

Entrance to the cathedral is based on a timed ticket. The timed ticket has a specified entrance time to the Giralda tower based on entrance time. Be sure to know when this is as you do not want to miss the opportunity to asend the tower and look out over Seville. The queue to the cathedral for online ticket admission is rarely greater than 15 minutes. During popular times however, the queue to the top of the tower can get long so be prepared if you want to see this during a popular travel time.

Pro Tip – Prebooking tickets is recommended from this location. Tickets can be purchased at the time of arrival if some time slots remain; however during popular travel times most will not be available. Those who purchase tickets ahead of time can use the separate group or online booking entrance to bypass the large lines.

Lunch/Tapas

Walk up to the Calle Mateos Gago. This street leads away from the Cathedral and is lined with restaurants, cafes, and shops. There will be numerous options to eat here. The more touristy locations are generally closer to the cathedral while more local options tend to be further away. Lunch is generally served from 1:30 PM – 4:00 PM.

Barrio Santa Cruz

Barrio Santa Cruz (translated Santa Cruz Neighborhood) is a colorful neighborhood in the heart of Seville. This neighborhood embodies much of what you think of when Spain and Andalucia come to mind. If you have been following this itinerary to the Alcazar and cathedral, then you have already been in the neighborhood. However, now it’s worth a stroll to get off the beaten path and see the brick/cobblestone streets, plazas, colorful buildings, and floral accents. As you stroll stay a while to see the partake of the sights, sounds, food, and drink. The portions closest to the Alcazar and cathedral have many tourist traps due to the number of people that come there. While some of the locations below will attract tourists, I encourage you to get a little further away from the main areas and see what this neighborhood has to offer.

Some recommended things to do in the neighborhood include:

• Plaza de Dona Elvira
• Hospital los Venerables
• Calle Agua
• Plaza Alfaro
• Casa de Murillo
• Museio del Baile Flamenco
• Archivo de Indias
  

Flamenco Dinner Show/Tablaos

A great way to wrap up your first full day in Seville is with a performance of Flamenco dancing. Seville is well known for this dance form and you can’t leave this city without first experiencing it. While the most authentic flamenco experience will be with a dedicated show or at a bar where it occurs by chance, a good way to experience the art in a short trip is with a dinner show. Two of the best flamenco dinner shows are:

El Palacio Andaluz

• Website – https://elflamencoensevilla.com/en/
• Show Time: 7:00 PM

El Arenal

• Website – https://tablaoelarenal.com/
• Show Times: 7:15 PM, 10:00 PM

Seville: Day 3 – Seville Wrapup

Casa de Pilatos

This is the historical house of the governors of Andalucia and the current house of the Dukes of Medinaceli. This is a beautiful palace indicative of the extravagant living of the wealthy and ruling classes of Spain in the 15^th century. The statue collection and tile work are beautiful.

The museum is worth a visit for the azulejo (painted tile) collection. There are over 150 different azulejo designs from the 1500s in this palace making it one of the large azulejo collections in the world. A €10 ticket allows visitors to freely wanter the downstairs and courtyards. An audio guide is included in the ticket price. The audio guide contains probably more information that you will want to go through so skip around as necessary.

Setas de Sevilla (Metropol Parasol)

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The Setas de Sevilla, which is also known as the Metropol Parasol, is the largest wooden art structure in the world. The Setas translates to mushrooms in English and is, you guessed it, a structure that looks like a cluster of mushrooms. The structure has a viewing track built onto the top that can be walked around for views of the city. There is also a bar located halfway up as you head to the viewing track on top.

This is definitely a structure to see due to its uniqueness. It’s also in a different part of the city than much of the other sights that have been on the itinerary so far. Despite this, the value proposition of €5/person is debatable. If you weren’t able to get a Seville skyline view at Giralda, then I would recommend doing the viewing track here. Otherwise, probably save the €5 and get an extra tapas or drink somewhere.

Final Afternoon and Makeup

This is the final afternoon that you will spend in Seville on this itinerary. For that reason, I am leaving this time free to explore your favorite part of Seville again, to go back and see sights that you may have missed, or to explore more areas or attractions in the Santa Cruz area that you may not have had time to see yesterday.

Also remember that you will need to check out of your hotel and store your bags during the afternoon. Most hotels will thankfully allow you to check your bag with the bellhop or front desk while you explore the city until your train leaves. Take advantage of this as it allows you to see more without dragging bags along with you.

Train to Granada

The next destination on this itinerary is Granada which is a short 2-hour and 35-minute train ride away. The trains headed towards Granada leave from the Seville Santa Justa station. This station is located a little further out of the city center than most sites have been so far on this itinerary. For this reason and because you will have luggage, I would recommend grabbing a cab or Uber to make this journey. You should arrive at the train station between 30 and 45 minutes ahead of the scheduled departure.