If you’re visiting Seville for the first time, then you are in for a treat! You’ll discover a beautiful city with heaps of history, stunning architecture, incredible food, and strong traditions. In addition, it’s very easy to explore and find your way around. Based on my first visit to the city, here are 10 Good Reasons to love Seville, plus some practical information to help you plan your visit.
Table of Contents
10 Good Reasons to love Seville
Oranges
Although I’d heard of Seville oranges, for some reason I hadn’t expected to see oranges hanging in the trees all over the city – 25,000 orange trees, apparently more than in any other city in the world.
When we visited in November, the oranges were yellow and unripe, but by January they are usually ripe and filling the air with wonderful citrus scents. The oranges are harvested in late February or early March.
If you visit when the oranges are falling off the trees, don’t be tempted to eat them as they are very bitter, which is why they make excellent marmalade!
Interestingly, we learnt on our cooking course at the Triana Market, that as a nation the Spanish don’t really eat bitter marmalade like the Brits, preferring to use the oranges for oils, perfumes, cooking, orange wine instead. At least we get the exports in the UK – I love Seville and I love Marmalade, yum!
Seville Yellow
There are so many buildings painted in a deep yellow in Seville, a colour deeply rooted in the history and culture of the city, and the central stripe on the Spanish flag.
The colour is said to represent warmth, joy, and energy, and I think it does – you instantly feel happier or energised when surrounded by such a strong colour. As a result, many of the buildings are very striking here.
UNSESCO Heritage Buildings & Moorish Architecture
Seville has 3 UNESCO World Heritage Site buildings in the centre of the city:
- The Real Alcázar – Royal palace complex (and gardens made to resemble paradise on earth).
- Cathedral and Giralda (Bell Tower), and
- General Archive of the Indies.
For many years, the province of Andalusia was under the rule of the Moors, Muslims from North Africa who brought their own style of architecture to the region. When the Christians took over, they kept some of the buildings and Moorish features which you ca see in the city, for example:
- Seville’s Alcázar Palace complex is just breath-taking and cleverly combines both Christian and Islamic architecture in a resultant style known as Mudéjar.
- The Giralda (Bell Tower of the Cathedral) has a Moorish base and Renaissance top. It was once a mosque.
- The Torre del Oro is another Moorish designed structure in Seville which sits prime position on the River Guadalquivir.
The Alcázar was particularly beautiful and is a ‘don’t miss’ on your trip to Seville.
Terrific tiles
There is a long tradition of ceramics production in Seville, mainly centred around the working-class neighbourhood of Triana. The area has been a hot spot for potters and the production of Azulejos tiles (ceramics with blue painting designs) since the 12th century when the city was under Moorish rule.
Islamic tiles are notable for their geometric shapes and key colours – green, black, blue, white, and yellow. The Christian tiles produced in Triana had representations of people, places, or plants rather than geometric designs and featured other colours.
You’ll see the tiles all over the city, such as at the stunning Plaza de España and in the Alcázar Royal Palace. If you want to know more, visit the Museum of Ceramics (Centro de la Ceramica) in Triana. The ceramic tiles are a reason to love Seville, and love Spain!
Walkable city
You can take a boat trip down the Guadalquivir River, ride in a horse and carriage, catch a metro or a tram but the best way to explore is on foot and Seville is a very walkable city.
My self-guided walking tour of Seville is a great introduction to some of the main sights of the city, leaving plenty of time for coffee and ice-cream stops if required.
Flamenco fun
Flamenco is said to have been born in the Triana neighbourhood of Seville and as a result there are many excellent flamenco bars to visit and see a show. The intensity of the dance performance and the accompanying guitar playing is something else. Even if you can’t understand the Spanish to know what they are singing about, the performances are still very powerful and transcend words.
Alternatively, visit the Museo del Baile Flamenco in Santa Cruz for an expert display of this dance art form, and a glass of sangria!
Tapas treats
Seville is awash with options for top quality tapas treats, so make sure to try out a few tapas bars on your trip, and sample lots of different types of tapas dishes.
There are so many options to try, that you could make it a full-time project for your time in Seville. Have fun joining the locals and ‘tapear’ – go from bar to bar for drinks and tapas on the tapas trail.
Rooftop bars
There are many rooftop bars in Seville, the perfect place to catch a breeze at the end of a hot day and enjoy some views over the city. We visited the rooftop bar at the Hotel Casa de Indias which has a lovely view over the Setas de Seville (‘mushrooms’).
Another noteworthy rooftop bar is the Pura Vida Terraza which overlooks the Cathedral’s Giralda (Bell Tower) and has speciality flamenco performers on some nights.
Monastery Biscuits
Several of the monasteries in Seville, offer the same of biscuits baked by the resident Nuns which you can buy at certain times of the day.
There is a rather secretive system of purchase where you: place your money on a revolving wooden shelf, turn it 180 degrees, wait, and then hopefully the shelf will revolve back to reveal your purchased biscuits.
We succeeded in buying biscuits this way at the Monasterio de San Leandro in the Santa Cruz neighbourhood.
Perfect to visit with friends
Seville is a great place to visit with friends as eating out tapas-style is a very communal experience and perfect for sharing. Couple that with sunset drinks at one of the rooftop bars and you have a wonderful evening for chilling and chatting with friends. For more excitement, add a visit to a flamenco show or take a flamenco lesson for a few laughs.
Other ideas include sharing a horse and carriage for a tour around town, joining a bike tour of the city or taking a paella making class in the Triana Market. There are plenty of experiences to share with your friends, make great memories and help you love Seville!
Practicalities - good to know before visiting Seville
Where is Seville?
Seville is the largest city and capital city of Andalusia, a large province in the south of Spain. It sits on the banks of the Guadalquivir River.
Time Zone – GMT +2 hours.
When to go?
Seville has distinct seasons but if you don’t like it too hot then avoid the Summer in Seville when temperatures are routinely above 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) which is challenging for city sightseeing.
The Shoulder Seasons of Spring (March – May) and Autumn (September – October) offer milder weather although it should still be sunny and warm. We visited in the first week of November and enjoyed several sunny days (no coat required) and then one rainy day.
Festivals – although it will be busy, there are two festivals in Seville when the city is alive with people and events. These are Semana Santa (Holy Week) and the Feria de Abril (April Fair). If you visit during Feria de Abril then you should consider wearing a traditional Spanish flamenco style dress to avoid being the odd one out!
Getting around
We found the city to be very walkable, but then we had a hotel right in the centre near most of the attractions. Should you need it then Seville has a tram and Metro system, so it is very easy to get around.
Siesta Time and late eating
As is the tradition in Spain, the locals will typically take a siesta between 2pm and 5pm, when they will nap, relax and avoid the hottest part of the day in the summer months. This means that some smaller businesses and shops may be shut during this time, but not the main tourist attractions which tend to remain open.
As a result of the siesta period, dinner is typically eaten later in the day, between 9.00pm and midnight. This works in favour of early eaters (like the Brits) as you should be able to book easily at opening time, although there may be less atmosphere if eating before the locals join in!
Final thoughts…
There were many reasons to love Seville, and to date it is my favourite Spanish city that I’ve visited. Did I mention that you can pop into the churches to seek sanctuary from the heat and admire the art? Or hear the horses’ clip clopping around the streets – carriages?
Next time, I might try to visit during the Feria de Abril and dust my dancing shoes off…
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