A Weekend in Seville: What to See and What to Skip

Two days is enough to see the best of Seville if you are disciplined about it. Spend Saturday on the big three in the old centre – the Real Alcázar, the Cathedral and the Giralda – and Sunday on Plaza de España, María Luisa Park and Triana across the river. Book the Alcázar before you fly, walk everywhere, eat late, and skip the flamenco-dinner packages and horse-carriage rides. Everything below is within a flat, walkable few kilometres, so you will not need a car or a taxi once you are in town.

Prices and opening times below were checked in September 2026 against the official sites where possible. They change, so confirm before you go.

Before you go: timing and getting in

When to visit

Go in spring or autumn if you have any choice. October averages highs of around 27°C, which is ideal for walking all day. July and August are a different city: afternoon temperatures regularly go above 40°C, the streets empty between 2pm and 7pm, and a packed two-day itinerary becomes an endurance test. If summer is your only option, sightsee from opening time until about 1pm, disappear for the afternoon, and come back out after dark.

November is cooler (highs around 20°C) with more rain days, and still perfectly pleasant. Semana Santa and the April Feria are spectacular but hotel prices spike and the centre is gridlocked – treat those as a different kind of trip, not a relaxed weekend.

From the airport

The TUSSAM airport bus (line EA) runs from the terminal via Santa Justa station into the centre. The official fare is €6 single or €8 return (TUSSAM tariff, checked 2026). If you arrive by train, Santa Justa is about a 25-minute walk from the Cathedral, or a short bus ride. Ordinary city bus tickets are €1.40, but in the old centre you will rarely need one.

Day one: the old centre

Morning: the Real Alcázar

This is the one thing in Seville you must book in advance. Entry is by timed slot, the good morning slots go days ahead in busy periods, and the queue for walk-up tickets is a poor use of a short weekend. Take the first slot you can get: the gardens are at their best before the tour groups arrive and before the heat builds.

Allow two and a half to three hours. The Mudéjar palace of Pedro I is the highlight – the Patio de las Doncellas and the Salón de Embajadores are worth lingering over – but do not rush the gardens, which are bigger than first-timers expect. If you have already seen the Alhambra, you will notice the family resemblance; if you are planning to, our guide to visiting the Alhambra in Granada explains why seeing both is not overkill.

Midday: the Cathedral and the Giralda

The Cathedral is a two-minute walk from the Alcázar exit. It is enormous – one of the largest Gothic cathedrals in the world – and holds what is claimed to be the tomb of Christopher Columbus. The general ticket includes the climb up the Giralda, which uses ramps rather than stairs (they were built so a rider could go up on horseback), and it also covers the Church of El Salvador, which is worth using later in the day.

Give it about 90 minutes including the tower. Buy online: it is cheaper and you skip the ticket-office queue.

Afternoon: Barrio Santa Cruz and Casa de Pilatos

Barrio Santa Cruz, the old Jewish quarter, starts right behind the Alcázar walls. Wander without a map for an hour – the lanes are narrow and shaded, which matters in warm weather. Then walk north to Casa de Pilatos, a sixteenth-century palace with superb tiles and courtyards and a fraction of the Alcázar's crowds. If you only have energy for one more palace, make it this one rather than a second look at anything else.

Evening: Las Setas and dinner

The Metropol Parasol – known to everyone as Las Setas, "the mushrooms" – is a giant wooden canopy over Plaza de la Encarnación, with a walkway on top. It is best at sunset. Is it worth the money? Honestly, it is marginal: the view is good, but at €16 it costs more than the Cathedral, and you have already been up the Giralda. Go if you like modern architecture or want the sunset photo; skip it if you are watching the budget.

Seville eats late. Restaurants fill from about 9pm, and tapas bars stay busy well past that. Stand at the bar, order a few plates at a time and move on – that is how locals do it. If you want a head start on what to order, our list of Spanish foods you must try covers the classics you will see on every Seville menu.

Day two: Plaza de España and Triana

Morning: Plaza de España and María Luisa Park

Plaza de España was built for the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition and it is as theatrical in person as in photos: a huge semicircle of brick and tiles, with a tiled alcove for each Spanish province. It is free and open from early morning until midnight. Go early – by 11am it is full of tour groups, and the light is harsher.

María Luisa Park, next door, is the city's best shade on a hot day. Walk through it rather than taking a carriage (see below).

Midday: along the river to Triana

Walk north along the Guadalquivir past the Torre del Oro, the thirteenth-century watchtower that now holds a small maritime museum, then cross the Puente de Isabel II into Triana. This is the old potters' and sailors' quarter, and it still feels more like a neighbourhood than a stage set.

Start at the Mercado de Triana at the foot of the bridge: a working market with tapas counters inside. Then walk Calle San Jorge and Calle Alfarería, where the ceramics workshops are. Calle Betis, facing the river, is the place for a drink with a view of the old city.

Afternoon: pick one

• Archivo de Indias – free, closed on Mondays, and quietly impressive: the archive of Spain's American empire in a Renaissance building next to the Cathedral.
• Palacio de las Dueñas – a lived-in aristocratic palace with lovely gardens, and calmer than anything on day one.
• A long lunch – a perfectly valid choice. Sunday lunch is the main event of the Spanish week.

Two-day itinerary at a glance

What it costs: entry prices in 2026

Alcázar and Cathedral prices are from the official sites; the others are from a local price listing updated in June 2026. The Alcázar is open 9.30am–5pm from October to March and 9.30am–7pm from April to September, and it starts clearing visitors 45 minutes before closing, so do not book the last slot of the day.

The free slots are real, but they are short and fill fast. On a two-day trip, paying for a morning slot is usually the better trade.

What to skip

Horse-drawn carriages

They line up by the Cathedral and at Plaza de España. You pay a lot to see, slowly, things that are a pleasant 15-minute walk apart, and the welfare of the horses in summer heat is a genuine concern. Walk.

Flamenco dinner-show packages

The big combined dinner-and-show venues aimed at coach groups give you mediocre food and a polished but impersonal show. See flamenco in a small, dedicated venue or a Triana bar instead, and eat separately. You will spend less and enjoy both more.

Restaurants with photo menus on the Cathedral square

The terraces facing the Cathedral and the Giralda charge for the view. Walk five minutes into Santa Cruz or towards the Alfalfa area and you will eat better for less. A laminated menu in six languages with photos is the giveaway.

Queueing for tickets on the day

This is the single biggest time sink in Seville. An hour in the Alcázar queue is an hour out of a 48-hour trip.

Eating and drinking in Seville

Seville is a tapas city in the old sense: small plates, often cheap, eaten standing up. Look for espinacas con garbanzos (spinach and chickpeas with cumin), salmorejo (a thicker, colder cousin of gazpacho), pringá (slow-cooked meats in a small bread roll) and anything fried – pescaíto frito is an Andalusian speciality. Carrillada, braised pork cheek, is on nearly every menu and rarely disappoints.

El Rinconcillo, near the Church of Santa Catalina, is often cited as the city's oldest bar and is worth one drink for the room alone. For wine, ask for a chilled fino or manzanilla from nearby Jerez and Sanlúcar – our guide to what to drink in Spain explains the styles. In hot weather, tinto de verano (red wine with lemon soda) is what locals drink, not sangria.

If you have a third day

Seville is a good base for day trips. Córdoba is well under an hour away by high-speed train, and its Mezquita is on the same level as anything you will see in Seville. Cádiz is roughly an hour and a half to two hours by train and makes a lovely contrast: a compact, sea-bound old town – see our guide to Cádiz's historic sites. For the white villages such as Ronda, a car makes much more sense than public transport; our notes on renting a car in Spain cover what to check before you sign.

But if two days is all you have, do not try to squeeze in a day trip. Seville rewards slowing down: a late lunch, a walk along the river as the heat drops, and one more round at the bar.