Things to do in Seville: ten sights worth your time
Seville's great monuments are close together, but they are big, and in summer the heat sets limits. Below are ten sights, starting with the Alcázar, with the time each one takes, the best moment to go, the price and the free entry times that are worth planning around.
1Real Alcázar
Photo: Igor Passchier / Pexels, Pexels License
Seville's royal palace has housed kings since the Middle Ages, and its upper floor is still the Spanish royal family's residence in the city. The heart of it is the palace that Pedro I had built in the fourteenth century by craftsmen trained in the Islamic tradition: carved plaster, cedar ceilings and tiled walls around the Patio de las Doncellas, with its long sunken pool. Beyond the halls of later kings lie gardens of terraces, pavilions and fountains, and below them the vaulted rainwater cisterns known as the Baños de Doña María de Padilla. The Alcázar is a UNESCO World Heritage Site together with the cathedral and the Archivo de Indias. With room to roam in the gardens, it is also the easiest of the big sights to enjoy with children.
Time
2 to 3 h
Setting
Both
Best time
The first slot of the day, or late afternoon in winter
Getting there
Enter by the Puerta del León on Plaza del Triunfo, beside the cathedral
Tip: Book a timed ticket online for the opening slot. The upper royal rooms, the Cuarto Real Alto, are a separate ticket at €5.50, with visits from 10 am to 4 pm; the last entry on Mondays is free but has to be booked online.
€15.50, reduced €8 for over-65s and students aged 14 to 30, free under 13; the ticket also opens the Antiquarium and the Centro Cerámica Triana. Daily from 9.30 am, until 7 pm from April to September and 5 pm from October to March; closed 1 and 6 January, Good Friday and 25 December.
The cathedral was built on the site of the city's great mosque, and two pieces of the mosque survive: the Patio de los Naranjos, the old ablutions courtyard planted with orange trees, and the Giralda, the minaret that received a Renaissance belfry. You climb the Giralda by a series of ramps instead of stairs, and from the top the whole old town lies spread out below. Inside the cathedral, look for the gilded main altarpiece and for the tomb of Christopher Columbus, carried by four figures representing the old kingdoms of Castile, León, Aragon and Navarre.
Time
about 1 h 15 min
Setting
Indoor
Best time
At opening, or on Sunday afternoon
Getting there
Avenida de la Constitución, at the Archivo de Indias tram stop
Tip: Buying online is slightly cheaper and spares you the ticket-office queue. On Sundays a free visit is possible from 5 pm: the tickets are handed out at the Puerta del Príncipe office until closing.
€13 online, €14 at the ticket office, reduced €7 online for over-65s and students up to 25. Monday to Saturday 10.45 am to 6 pm, ticket office until 5 pm; Sunday 2.30 pm to 7 pm, ticket office until 6 pm.
The square stone building opposite the cathedral was raised in the sixteenth century as an exchange for the merchants of the Americas trade. Since the late eighteenth century it has held the archive of Spain's overseas empire: letters, maps, ship lists and plans of colonial cities. Upstairs, in long galleries with marble floors, a changing selection of documents is on display. It is a calm hour between the two busiest sights in Seville.
Time
30 to 45 min
Setting
Indoor
Best time
Between the Alcázar and the cathedral
Getting there
Avenida de la Constitución, opposite the cathedral
Tip: It is closed on Mondays and closes early on Sundays, so fit it into a weekday or Saturday.
Free. Tuesday to Saturday 9.30 am to 5 pm, Sundays and holidays 10 am to 2 pm, last entry half an hour before closing.
The old Jewish quarter behind the Alcázar is a maze of lanes so narrow that the balconies nearly touch, opening onto small squares with orange trees and tiled benches. Its pleasures are in the details: the Callejón del Agua along the Alcázar wall, Plaza de Doña Elvira, Plaza de Santa Cruz and the Jardines de Murillo at the edge of the quarter. It is free and has no fixed route; it is simply the way to walk between the sights.
Time
1 h to 1 h 30 min
Setting
Outdoor
Best time
Early morning or after sunset
Getting there
East of the Alcázar, on foot from Plaza del Triunfo
Tip: In the middle of the day the lanes fill with guided groups; come back after dark, when they empty and the squares turn into dining rooms.
This palace of the Dukes of Medinaceli mixes Mudéjar plasterwork, Gothic balustrades and Renaissance marble around a main courtyard lined with Roman statues. The walls are covered in sixteenth-century tiles, and the gardens are as much a part of the visit as the rooms. It is less crowded than the Alcázar, and a good choice for a slower morning.
Time
1 h to 1 h 30 min
Setting
Both
Best time
Morning, before the light becomes harsh
Getting there
Plaza de Pilatos, a short walk north-east of Santa Cruz
Tip: The ground floor and gardens are enough for most visitors; the upper floor adds furnished rooms and paintings for an extra charge.
Ground floor €12, upper floor €6 extra, free for children up to 11. Daily 9 am to 6 pm.
Seville's modern landmark is a vast timber canopy over Plaza de la Encarnación, which locals call the mushrooms. A walkway winds over its roof, and from it the Giralda and the church domes of the old town stand out against the sky. Below street level is the Antiquarium, with Roman and Moorish remains found during the building work.
Time
30 min to 1 h
Setting
Outdoor
Best time
Sunset and the evening
Getting there
Plaza de la Encarnación, on foot north of the cathedral along Calle Sierpes
Tip: The general ticket at €16 covers the walkway, the film Feeling Sevilla and the Aurora light show. It is open daily from 9.30 am until 1 am, and in summer the roof is far more pleasant after dark than at midday.
Aníbal González designed this vast half-circle of brick, tiles and towers for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929. A canal crossed by tiled bridges runs along the front, and in the alcoves along the walls each Spanish province has its own bench, with a tiled map and a scene from its history. The square stands at the edge of the Parque de María Luisa, whose shaded paths make it easy to combine the two.
Time
30 min to 1 h
Setting
Outdoor
Best time
Early morning or the last hour of daylight
Getting there
Parque de María Luisa, a walk south of the cathedral, or the tram to Prado de San Sebastián
Tip: There is little shade on the square itself; in summer come early in the morning or in the evening, when the brick glows orange.
Free. Open from 8 am until midnight from April to October and until 10 pm from November to March.
Photo: Marian Florinel Condruz / Pexels, Pexels License
The twelve-sided tower on the riverbank was built in the early thirteenth century to guard the port, when Seville was still ruled by the Almohads. Today it houses a small naval museum with ship models, charts and instruments, and a terrace with a view along the Guadalquivir.
Time
30 min
Setting
Both
Best time
Combined with the river walk
Getting there
Paseo de Cristóbal Colón, on the river between the cathedral and the bullring
Tip: The museum is small, so the view from the terrace is the main reason to go in; walk the riverbank from here to the bullring.
Free, with a suggested donation of €3. Monday to Friday 9.30 am to 7 pm, weekends and holidays from 10.30 am.
The Plaza de Toros de la Real Maestranza, with its white arcades and ochre trim, is one of the oldest bullrings in Spain. The guided visit leads through the stands, the chapel and the museum of the Real Maestranza de Caballería, the riding society that still owns the ring. It is a tour of the building and its history, not of a bullfight, and works well on the river walk between the Torre del Oro and Triana.
Time
45 min to 1 h
Setting
Both
Best time
Wednesday afternoon, when entry is free
Getting there
Paseo de Cristóbal Colón, in El Arenal
Tip: On Wednesdays the visit is free from 5.30 pm in summer and from 3.30 pm in winter. On bullfight days the visits end at 3 pm.
€12, reduced €7 for over-65s, students aged 17 to 25 and young people aged 12 to 16, €4 for children aged 7 to 11. Daily, in summer 9.30 am to 9.30 pm, in winter 9 am to 7.30 pm.
Across the Triana bridge, Seville's old district of potters, sailors and flamenco has its own pace. The Mercado de Triana stands on the ruins of the Castillo de San Jorge, once the seat of the Inquisition, and is full of stalls and tapas counters. In the former Santa Ana tile factory, the Centro Cerámica Triana shows the kilns and the story of the local ceramics, and the shops on Calle Alfarería and Calle Antillano Campos still sell tiles. In the evening, the place to be is Calle Betis on the riverbank.
Time
1 h 30 min to 2 h
Setting
Both
Best time
Afternoon and evening
Getting there
Over the Triana bridge from El Arenal
Tip: Keep your Alcázar ticket: it opens the Centro Cerámica Triana, which is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 7 pm.
The district is free to walk around. The Centro Cerámica Triana is included in the Alcázar ticket.
