Short Breaks in Seville

Seville is over 2000 years old having been founded in mythology by Hercules. It was occupied by the Romans who built the original city walls which were then built on by the Moors who ruled Seville and the Andalician region for over 500 years. The city of Seville therefore has a strong Arab influence in its architecture even with some buildings built after the end of Moorish rule in 1248. The most notable buildings in Seville are the Alcázar and the Cathedral, both UNESCO listed. Other sites include the Palace of San Telmo, Torre del Oro, and Plaza de Espana.

Seville saw rapid growth from the 15^th century with the discoveries of the New World having been awarded sole rights to import goods from the newly discovered colonies. This was considered to be Seville’s “Golden Age” which was then broken when their monopoly was broken by the new port at Cadiz in the late 16^th Century. There was a period of economic decline from the 18^th century when the River Guadalquivir silted up.

The Tapas scene is strong in Seville, so you are bound to indulge in the evenings when out and about town. Try some of the local oranges; used normally for marmalade due to their strong taste, they give a real kick.

Getting to Seville
BA / Iberia no longer operate a direct service to Seville. Instead you must fly to Madrid, wait a couple of hours and get on to a flight from Madrid to Seville. Ryanair flies direct but you need to get to Stansted, which is a downer for many, and they are evening flights out and back. Our choice is to take Easyjet from London Gatwick where you can get an 08:00 morning flight out and a 12:25 flight back. Other options are to fly to Jerez, which is one hour away or even to Malaga or Faro, both 2.5 hours away. Use our Spain Flights page to run a search of all the options. 

Rail travellers can reach Seville via the new ultra-modern AVE high-speed rail system from Madrid which takes about 2.5 hours. To reach Madrid from the UK you can take the Elipsos Trainhotel from Paris to travel overnight. The connecting Eurostar to Paris needs to be booked with about 1.5 hours free after arrival for you to transfer over to Gare d’Austerlitz.

Arriving in Seville
Seville Airport deals mostly with Spanish Internal flights so is not that well geared up for international passengers, but is small and easy to use. Getting into the city is quick and easy, the Buses from the airport to the City Center run every 30 minutes between 6:15 and 23:00. The journey takes between 20-30 minutes and a single ticket costs €2.30. It’s a journey of just 10kms. Expect a taxi to take about 20 minutes and cost €15-25 depending on the time of day.

Getting around in Seville
Seville has a modern tram and Metro system but as with all cities in Europe the main sites are in the centre and are easily reachable on foot. Following the trend in bike hire, you can rent a bike in Seville on-street as you can in Paris and London. Consider getting a Seville Card for discounted access to museums.