Long weekend in Seville

Holiday Ratings
Recommended days	3
Budget	£
Difficulty	Easy

This long weekend in Seville explored one of the beautiful Moorish capitals of Andalucia, the capital hopping from place to place as each fell to the Reconquista. The Moorish buildings blend in nicely with the later Christian buildings and it’s a lovely city to walk around. Nearby is Italica, an excavated Roman settlement with a huge amphitheatre and a favourite of the Spanish emperors.

We flew into Malaga as that was a lot easier from Bristol and then drove a few hours to Seville. For this visit we stayed in the Hilton, on the edge of the city. This made it easier to go and do sightseeing in the car and we then used the hotel shuttle to travel into Seville itself.

The car was actually a bit of a luxury as we only used it for one day, the other two were in Seville itself. My camera was being silly on this trip and the photos all have a weird tint to them!

Italica

Our first stop was the Roman ruins at Italica. This was the birthplace of both Trajan and Hadrian and a major Roman city but then gradually declined into a glorified quarry for people to loot for building materials.

The amphitheatre is impressively large and there are some excellent mosaics in some of the houses. The site is vast (it’s a city!) so remember to wear a hat and take plenty of water. It was actually used as a location for Game of Thrones too, season 7!

Carmona

While we were out with the car we also visited the historic town of Carmona. This was a mixed blessing as the streets were incredibly narrow in places and I was conscious we had an E class Merc on hire! After finding a parking space we explored the town on foot.

The old fortress palace has been converted into a Parador so we went onto the drinks terrace for some lunch and to take in the views that helped understand the strategic position of the town.

There is an excellent guide (which I wish I’d read before visiting!) but we meandered around the town just following interesting streets. The Alcazar and city gate were fascinating and there are more good views to be had from climbing these. Overall, another impressive Spanish town with lots of history crammed into it’s walls and no attempts at ‘redevelopment’.

Seville Cathedral

The next morning we took the hotel shuttle into Seville and started our exploration with the highlight, Seville Cathedral. This incorporates the Moorish minaret (La Giralda) which has a ramp all the way to the top so the old muzzein could ride his donkey when doing the call to prayer 5 times a day. After climbing up there once I can see his point!

When we came out of the cathedral the queues were already long so it’s wise to get there early or buy a Seville Pass from the nearby tourist office and skip the queue.

Seville Alcazar

Across the square is the Alcazar of Seville, another delicious Moorish creation that is in total contrast to the brutal and gaudy works of the Reconquista. It’s like the difference between elvish and dwarven buildings in Peter Jackson’s LotR. Parts of the Alcazar were closed off for filming Game of Thrones so we didn’t get to see it all but what we did see was certainly beautiful.

After lunch we then walked to the Torres del Oro and took a sightseeing cruise on the river. If I’m honest, there wasn’t much to see from the river but it was nice to be in a breeze and off our feet. We then headed back to our hotel for the evening after visiting the bull ring and a flamenco school that was closed but we did buy some tickets for the next evenings performance.

Plaza de Espana

After breakfast the next morning we decided to take a taxi to Plaza de Espana. This was an interesting decision as when the taxi arrived it had a huge scrape down the side and the seats and doors were held together with gaffer tape and the driver had a large knife on the passenger seat. Luckily it was pre Uber so there were no driver ratings apps! The Plaza is very impressive in a showy way but certainly warranted a visit and then headed back through the park to the main tourist area.

Casa de Pilates

Our next stop turned out to be my favourite in Seville, Casa de Pilates. This was built by a nobleman to emulate the Renaissance palaces of Italy and had a delightful Moorish garden and architecture.

Flamenco

Our final stop on this tour of Seville was the Flamenco performance. The taxi (a different one!) arrived at 7 and we drove straight to the venue – when we got there it was packed!

Firstly let me say I am a total cultural philistine. The show started off with some guitar solo, I thought a string was broken but that is obviously just me. Next came the singing, the person was immensely passionate but I had no idea if he was singing about falling in love or his dog dying – every bit sounded exactly the same.

The dancing was technically excellent but basically lots of noise and posturing and quite sad, despite all the bum wiggles and foot stomping the woman still danced to the mans tune. However the overall performance was impressive and I am very glad I went, it was certainly an experience!

So, that was our long weekend in Seville. An absolutely gorgeous city that is only spoiled for city breaks by the lack of flights from Bristol. A huge amount to see and easily walkable once you are in the centre.

2014