Discover / Andalusia, Spain
Seville in Spring
Seville · 6 min read
Seville in August is an endurance event. Seville in March and April is one of the most pleasant cities in Europe: orange trees in flower, twenty two degrees, and courtyards open to the street.
Come in spring, stay four nights, and do very little before six in the evening.
The three great buildings
The Real Alcazar is the highlight and needs a timed ticket booked well ahead. Moorish and Mudejar craftsmanship layered over centuries, with gardens that justify a second visit alone.
The cathedral is the largest Gothic church in the world and the Giralda tower is a ramp rather than stairs, built for a horse. Plaza de Espana, from 1929, is the third, and it is free.
Neighbourhoods and evenings
Santa Cruz is beautiful and heavily visited. Triana across the river is the working, ceramic making, flamenco singing counterweight, and it is where you should eat.
Life happens late. Tapas from nine, flamenco from ten thirty in a peña rather than a tourist show, and the streets busy well past midnight.
Timing around the festivals
Semana Santa and the Feria de Abril are extraordinary and turn the city upside down. Rooms triple in price, streets close, and casual sightseeing becomes difficult.
Either come for them deliberately, having booked months ahead, or come a fortnight either side and have the city to yourself.
Why it rewards curiosity
Seville is a city where the architecture, the food and the daily rhythm all point in the same direction.
Add Cordoba as a day trip by train. It takes forty five minutes.
