Voya’s guide to southern Seville, Southern Spain’s stunning city.

 

Seville is the capital of the south of Spain’s Andalusia region and is famous for flamenco dancing, oranges and excellent tapas! The city is made up of eleven districts and thanks to a host of transport options is really easy to navigate. If you’re happy to discover the city on foot, we recommend staying in the Casco Antiguo region which is a very central base for accessing all sides of the city. Alternatively, if walking isn’t for you, you can hop on one of the many trams or buses, or even hire a bike which are available to rent all over the city. Seville is nice and flat so is perfect for cycling!

Seville is spoilt with many wonderful landmarks - probably the most famous are the very impressive gothic ‘Seville Cathedral’ which contains the tomb of Christopher Columbus, and the elaborate Alcazar, which you may recognise from ‘Game of Thrones’ as many scenes were shot here. The Alcazar is a former Moorish palace with stunning gardens - it's well worth a visit. While you’re in the neighbourhood, be sure to take a trip to the ‘Barrio Santa Cruz’, the ‘Jewish Quarter’, which is just on the outskirts of the gardens. Here you can navigate a maze of colourful, extremely narrow and bustling streets, with plenty of authentic Tapas bars on every corner. We stopped at Las Terasas, a very old charming bar with an impressive selection of Jaman and traditional tapas dishes.

Unlike many of Seville’s main sights, the Metropol parasol, commonly known as ‘Las Setasa’ or ‘The Mushrooms’ isn’t steeped in the same rich history. However, it offers something quite contrasting. The very modern, imposing wooden structure looms over the streets below and casts beautiful criss-cross shadows on the traditional architecture surrounding it, unlike anything you’ve seen before. For just 3 euros you can take the lift to the top for great views of the city and some super instagrammable snaps!

You can’t visit Seville and miss out on Flamenco. Andalusia is where Flamenco originated from and the dance is still very-much alive there. You’ll notice there are many Flamenco theatres to visit, each offering something slightly different, from traditional to contemporary Flamenco shows. Most theatres have a few shows per evening lasting around an hour and you can expect to pay up to 20 euros a ticket. We opted for Casa del Flamenco and the intimate and authentic show did not disappoint!

CLIMATE                                                           

Seville has a Mediterranean climate, with extremely hot, dry summers and mild wet winters. The average annual temperature is around 25 degrees but summer (May-October) sees temperatures exceed 40 degrees. We visited off-season in March which saw cooler temperatures of around 27 degrees - perfect for exploring.

LANGUAGE 

Unsurprisingly, Spanish is the language most commonly spoken. You’ll get by quite well with English alone, but it’s definitely worth brushing up your basic Spanish phrases. Here are a few basics to get you started:

• Hello: hola (oh-lah)
• Good morning: Buenos días (bway-nos dee-ahs)
• Good afternoon: Buenas tardes (bway-nahs tar-des)
• Please: Por favor (por fav-ore)
• Thank you: Gracias (gra-see-uhs)


VOYA FAVOURITE PLACES TO VISIT INCLUDE

If you want to escape the hustle and bustle of the streets, head over to the ‘Plaza de Espana’. This beautifully tiled park is just a stone’s throw away from the centre. You could easily spend a day here marvelling at the impressive tiled architecture, bridges and canal.

VOYA FAVOURITE PLACES TO STAY INCLUDE

If you’re looking for a luxury stay, check out the EME Cathedral Hotel which is right next to the Cathedral and has an excellent rooftop bar. (You don’t have to be a guest to use the rooftop bar and the Cathedral lit-up at night is a spectacular sight) For a more budget-friendly stay check out Hotel America Seville, the deluxe rooms with private terraces are incredible value.

VOYA FAVOURITE DISHES TO TRY

Seville has an incredible offering of Tapas restaurants and dishes, you really are spoilt for choice! Though it’s difficult to select just a few, some of our highlights were the mushroom cake at Espacio Eslava, the slow cooked pigs cheek at La Azotea and the deep fried fish at La Cantina, situated at Feria Market.

VOYA FAVOURITE LOOKS TO PACK