The city of Seville is a beautiful place, and is rich in culture, history and architecture. There are so many things to do in Seville – we spent 5 days there and never felt bored. The city was busy when we visited, but still felt so relaxed. It’s definitely somewhere I would travel to again. Here are some of the things you can do in Seville whilst visiting!
Join a Bike Tour or Free Walking Tour
Joining a tour when visiting a city is a great way to get a good insight into all the best places to visit and see. They’re usually run by locals so not only do you get to see all the top tourist areas, but they’ll also give you recommendations for things to do that are more local and less touristy.
The See By Bike Tour in Seville was brilliant, and we really enjoyed our tour around the city with Ivan! We got a written list of recommendations on a map when we did the bike tour, which was a lovely touch.
Seville Cathedral and Giralda Tower
Seville is full of religious buildings and there are so many that you can go inside to explore.
The Cathedral of Seville, St. Mary of the See, is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world. After the conquest of the city in 1248, the Almohad Mosque was converted into the cathedral of the archdiocese of Seville – as with many of the Muslim buildings. Due to construction and development over 500 years, the building shows a mixture of architectural styles. Many buildings around Seville show this change of architectural styles and it really is fascinating to see how everything changed through time.
Giralda Tower
If you like to see a city from above, climbing the Giralda tower is one of the top things to do in Seville. The Giralda is the bell tower of the Cathedral, standing at 97.5m in height. The Muslim body is the oldest part of it, started in 1184. In the 17th century, the Christian part was added by architect Hernán Ruiz.
The Giralda doesn’t have stairs – instead, it has 35 ramps. These are wide enough to have allowed the Sultan to ascend the tower whilst mounted on horseback! As with any city tower, it takes a little huffing and puffing to get to the top, but once there the views are incredible. Such a great panoramic shot of the city.
Top tip: Buy your tickets from the Church of Salvador for 8€. Your ticket includes a visit into this Church, which is a beautiful building in itself!
Plaza de España
The Plaza de España is a beautiful spot! The landmark Plaza is located in the center of Seville and the architecture is built within a semi-circle shape. It was a monumental entrance to the Ibero-American Exposition and has since been used for various public events. In fact, when we were in Seville there was a stage and seating set up in the area for a music festival.
The architecture is stunning, with the traditional blue and white ceramic on the bridges. There are two towers, one on either side of the building, and in front of the building is a 500-metre canal with four bridges across it. The part that I found most interesting was the 52 different fronts at the foot of the building where there are 52 mosaics with benches. These depict all 52 Spanish provinces. Really cool to look at!
Did you know? This location was used for when Anakin and Padmé arrive on Naboo in Star Wars Attack of the Clones.
Explore the Alcázar and Gardens
The Alcázar of Seville is made up of buildings from various eras, and it has always been used as lodgings for kings and people of importance. It was originally built as a Muslim fortress in 889CE on top of a pre-existing Roman temple, but it later became the Christian royal palace for the Nasrid dynasty.
Whilst the buildings themselves are beautiful and show such fascinating architectural design, the Alcázar Gardens are so incredible and probably the most interesting part of this attraction. Such a peaceful area with trees, fountains, and places to sit and relax. The Real Alcázar has been used in several film and TV productions and was the setting for the Water Gardens of Dorne in Game of Thrones.
See Las Setas – The Mushroom
One of the most modern-looking tourist attractions in the City of Seville. This is a wooden structure that is around 26 metres high. It was the winning project in a competition that Seville City Council ran. The upper level contains a lookout point, and you can pay to get up here and view the panoramic route. It only costs 2€ to go up there, so whilst it’s a very quick walk around the top, I think at that price it’s worth a go!
There is actually a tapas restaurant inside, and right at the bottom is the Antiquarium Museum which displays archaeological remains found there.
Visit the University of Seville
This is a fantastic building, and whilst you can only see a limited area (the courtyards) due to the University having students and lectures in there, it is great to see.
This building was originally Real Fabrica de Tabacos. It was built in the 18th century and used as a tobacco factory until the 1950s! Some of the cool architectural facts:
- It has a moat and drawbridges, thanks to being designed by military engineers.
- There is a prison! Used to confine workers when they broke the factory rules.
Visit the Seville Bullring
The Plaza de Toros de Sevilla is the largest arena for bullfighting in Spain, and it holds the largest bullfighting festival in the world in April. It can hold 13,000 spectators! Also here you can visit the Museum of Bullfighting. This isn’t something we did, but our bike tour guide said for those interested in bullfighting as a sport, it is an interesting visit.
If bullfighting isn’t your thing, don’t bother going!
Take a Day Trip to Cordoba
Seville is a beautiful city. One of the positives is that it is quite well linked to closeby cities and towns – Cordoba is just one of them! It took us less than an hour to get there on train, and we really enjoyed seeing somewhere different.
There’s plenty to do when visiting for a day trip in Cordoba – one of my favourite parts, and something I would go back for to see during the actual festival time, is the beautiful Patios de Cordoba Festival.
Where to Eat in Seville
We had plenty of good foods and wines in Seville, but these are the few that I actually noted down and would recommend! Arabesca was my number one, and if you were to only try one of these, I’d recommend you go for that one.
Top finds include:
- La Bodega de la Alfalfa for traditional Spanish tapas
- Middle Eastern Dishes from Arabesca – the platter is ideal for trying different dishes!
- Pasta dishes from Barra Baja
- Orange Wine from Taberna Alvaro Peregil
Things to do in Seville
Seville is also known as the “city of flamenco” but this isn’t something that we experienced whilst there, but there are SO many shows dotted about. If you’re a fan, it’s definitely something to check out if you’re looking for things to do in Seville!
