My favorite city that we visited in Spain was Seville, so I figured I would share what we did while we visited this beautiful city! I think Spring was a great time to visit Seville because the weather was perfect – not too hot, not too cold. I did hear that this city can get uncomfortably warm in the summer!
Seville is an amazing city with a lot of charm. If you are planning to visit Southern Spain, make sure Seville is on your list for at least a couple of days.
Day 1: Plaza de Espana, Walking Tour of Seville, Triana, Rooftop Drinks and Flamenco
11 AM
We arrived in Seville mid-morning and took a quick cab to our hotel. We stayed at the AC Hotel Ciudad de Sevilla, and I would not recommend (feel free to send me an e-mail if you need to know why).
We first walked over to Plaza de Espana to take in the amazing architecture. This place was absolutely incredible! You will want to take a million photos while you are here. You can also take a little row boat along the canal under the bridges.
12:30 PM
We really wanted to get something to eat before walking around the remainder of the day, so we grabbed a couple of tapas at a restaurant that was across from the university. We didn’t have our bearings of the city at this point, so I don’t think we went to the most authentic tapas restaurant, but it was still nice to sit down and grab a couple of bites to eat!
1:30 PM
We spent a lot of time just walking around Seville and taking in all of the sites. While walking around, we saw Torre del Oro, the Cathedral, and several other cute buildings. Barrio Santa Cruz is a beautiful part of Seville that we discovered, so we ended up gravitating towards that for the reminder of the time. There are several cute restaurants and boutique hotels in this neighborhood and it just had a really warm feel to it.
3:00 PM
We decided that we were thirsty for an adult beverage by the time we hit mid-afternoon. We heard that Hotel Dona Maria was a great place to stop for a rooftop drink! We had the most amazing mojitos and it was really relaxing. They had both shade and sun spots, so it would be comfortable for anytime of day. I also noticed that there was a pool area for the guests that were staying at the hotel.
4:00 PM
We made our way over to the Triana neighborhood of Seville in the late afternoon. A couple of friends had recommended this area to me, so I figured we would check it out.
Triana is across the river from where we were in Barrio Santa Cruz, but it wasn’t a bad walk. We first stopped in the market – Mercado de Triana. I think we must have hit it at a bad time because a lot of vendors were closed at this time. Nonetheless, it was still a cute little market where you can get a wide variety of food.
We spent the rest of the time in Triana walking down some of the main streets. We finally stumbled into a tapas bar called Volapie for a quick glass of vino tinto and olives.
6:00 PM
We had a little bit of time to kill before our Flamenco show, so we kept on walking to try to discover more fun things in the city. Of course, we ended up having yet another cocktail! This time, we made our way back across the river to this super fancy hotel. Hotel Alfonso XIII is a gorgeous hotel located in the middle of Seville and it was a great place for a patio drink. Apparently, this is where the King stays when he visits Seville! If you have the money, I would highly recommend staying in this hotel because the location was great.
7:30 PM
It was finally time for the flamenco show! This is what I was looking forward to most in Seville, so I was eager to see some of these dance moves. We pre-booked a show at Casa de la Memoria and it did not disappoint. The dancers, singers and musicians were all wonderful and everything seemed super authentic. This show did not include dinner, but we didn’t feel like that was a problem. A flamenco show is definitely a MUST DO while in Spain.
9:00 PM
We made our way back to Barrio Santa Cruz for dinner. For some reason, Italian food sounded good to us, so we were searching on Yelp to see what was good. We saw that Ostería L’Oca Giuliva was highly rated, so we gave that a shot. Unfortunately, when we first walked in, they had no room for us. However, as we walked away, a couple was leaving from a table on the patio. Score! So, we did end up getting to eat at this restaurant, and I am so glad we did. It was fantastic! We ordered an amazing appetizer with vegetables and burrata. For dinner, we ordered some pasta and pizza. It was all so delicious!
Day 2: El Real Alcazar, Cathedral, Bell Tower, Gelato, and Shopping
10 AM
We woke up and decided it would be a good idea to grab some coffee before we got going for the day. We stopped in La Azotea for a quick cup of coffee. It was a cute little coffee shop in the Barrio Santa Cruz neighborhood.
11:30 AM
After many struggles the previous day, we finally were able to visit El Real Alcazar! This is one of the most talked about places to visit in Seville, so I knew we couldn’t leave without seeing this popular attraction. We actually ended up paying more for a guided tour because that was the only way we could get in!
Once we got inside, everything was absolutely breathtaking. The architecture is so fascinating, and I loved all of the tile colors and patterns. We ended up ditching our guided tour after about 20 minutes because we wanted to go at our own pace and spend more time in gardens outside. If you visit the Alcazar, make sure to save enough time to visit the gardens. There is so much to see outside and it is all beautiful! You will want to stay forever.
1:30 PM
We were starving after the Alcazar tour, so we walked to a nearby tapas restaurant for lunch. We ended up stumbling into Bar Catedral for lunch, and we both thought it was great. It was the perfect stop for a quick lunch.
2:30 PM
The Cathedral was right around the corner, so we decided to hop in line for tickets. We only waited about 10-15 minutes in line, so there was no need to pre-book tickets for this attraction.
The Cathedral was huge and absolutely breathtaking, as most of them are. I am always fascinated that humans were able to construct these amazing buildings hundreds of years ago. They didn’t have the technology and resources that we have today, so I am always curious how they did it!
We decided to climb up to the top of the bell tower and it was well worth it. The views are incredible and you can see all of Seville from the top. It is only about 35 flights up, so if you aren’t sick or something, I think you could make the trek.
3:30 PM
Gelato time! We thought we deserved a quick bite of gelato after burning a few calories at the bell tower. I got a mint chip cone and Alex got a coffee flavored gelato. It was the perfect treat on a warm day in Seville.
4:00 PM
We started to walk around town a little bit more, but we were getting so warm! We saw a couple enjoying a mojito outside, so we immediately craved a cold drink. We decided to check out the rooftop bar at the EME Hotel – La Terraza Restaurante. We actually discovered this place when we were at the top of the Cathedral Bell Tower. It is amazing what you can find when you can see out over the entire city!
5:30 PM
We thought it would be fun to continue to walk around Seville and maybe do a little shopping. We hadn’t gone inside any stores, so we wanted to see what kind of stuff they were selling. I actually ended up finding a super cute purse!
We also found a couple of super cute alleyways, so we were having fun just getting a little lost and taking pictures! Seville is just such a charming city and all of the buildings are adorable. I don’t think it is possible to get a bad picture.
8:00 PM
After all of the walking during our second day in Seville, we stumbled upon a really neat place for dinner called El Pasaje. This place served a lot of the traditional tapas, but they also had a ton of dishes from other cultures. I would say it was a fusion restaurant of sorts. We ordered several amazing dishes including a fabulous tikka masala over black rice. It was so different!
We thought about staying out later for another drink or two, but we decided it would be best if we just went to bed. I guess we aren’t really into the party scene!
That concludes what we did during our two days in Seville! Overall, I was super impressed with this city and how nice it was. Again, I really do think Seville is a must when visiting Spain.
Here are a few other tips and things we learned along the way:
- Try to stay in a boutique hotel near the Barrio Santa Cruz neighborhood
- Most of the city can be done by foot, but cabs are available if you need transportation.
- There was a lot of Italian food in Seville, so be sure to venture into that cuisine for at least one meal.
- Rooftop bars seemed to be extremely popular, so add that to your list if you like cocktails.
- El Real Alcazar is an amazing attraction, but it is so difficult to get tickets.
- Book your tickets in advance! If the website doesn’t allow you to book them in advance, I would recommend paying a little more and doing one of the guided tours.
Other Spain Resources:
I hope this guide helps if you plan on visiting Seville anytime in the near future. As always, let me know if you have any questions. (For reference, we visited in early May of 2018)
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