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Roddy, Pauline and Graeme – Four nights five full days in the Andalucía capital – 19/6/23 to 23/6/23

We booked our Ryanair flights via eDreams for £180 return. The Ibis Styles Santa Justa hotel was booked for 4 nights through Hotels.com.  We purchased the Seville pass for around £51 provides skip-the-queue access to the Alcazar Royal Palace and Seville Cathedral with discounts available for other attractions. It also provides access to the Hop on Hop of bus for 24 hours.  

Monday 19 June

We departed Edinburgh on Monday 19 June at 06.30 and arrived in Seville for 10.30 (flight time 3 hours). To avoid expensive airport transfers we took the EA bus into Seville. The journey took around 30 minutes and we had a 5 minute walk to the hotel. After unpacking we headed out to see some sights. The first stop was Plaza de Espana, situated around a 15 minute walk from the hotel. The square is located in María Luisa Park. After our visit we went to the Cafe Restaurante D’oro, although it only has a 1.8 rating on Google, which we were unaware of at the time we had beers and some nice tapas. My son Graeme and I are now addicted to the various croquette tapas available at many bars and restaurants. Following taps we visited Giolatto for an ice cream. Seville has many Gelaterias and the prices are very reasonable. For a bit of nostalgia we then ventured to Bar Cafe Eureka in Alemeda de Hercules. Graeme and I had been here the previous year for the Europa League Final between Rangers FC and Eintracht Frankfurt. We returned to our hotel around 17.00 for a short rest and to get ready for dinner at Paulo’s, a local Italian restaurant, which we would highly recommend. We had an early night after a long day.

Tuesday 20 June

We started the day with a very decent continental breakfast at our hotel.  We had booked our visit to the Royal Alcazar for 10.30. We would recommend a visit here.  As we booked online we skipped the lengthy queues for tickets. We had a little difficulty finding the entrance as Google Maps directs you near the University entrance.  The rooms in the palace are magnificent, particularly the displays of the ceramic roof tiles.  However,  the gardens are the best part if the visit.  There are several peacocks wandering around,  there was one with it’s chick.  We spent a few hours at the Alcazar, but you could spend all day,  don’t get list in the maze.

In the evening we took an uber to the Merchant bar which is the Irish bar in the centre of Seville. Scotland where playing Georgia in the Euro 2024 qualifiers at Hampden park that evening. The game was due to start at 8:45, however, the match was stopped after six minutes with Scotland leading 1-0 due to the rain. The match restarted at 10:30 and it was good that the pub remained open so we could see the Scotland win 2-0.

It was after midnight when the game finished under took us about 45 minutes to walk back to the hotel. The city was still very busy at that time in the early morning so we stopped for some ice cream on the way.

Wednesday 21 June

We had booked a visit for Seville Cathedral at 11.20 so we had our breakfast a little later. The cathedral is a magnificent piece of architecture. The inside is just as spectacular as the outside. We went up to the top of the tower to see the view. It was about 40 floors up a ramp (no stairs). It was exhausting climbing up but well worth it when you get there. I am not religious and although the cathedral interior is beautiful it does anger me a little that the church in general decorate cathedrals in lashings of gold and silver while preaching how we should all help people less fortunate. Hypocritical in my book but perhaps not the book they go by.

We went to another highly recommended bar for lunch. Petra is just across the street from Bar Alfalfa. Although the tapas was very nice we preferred Bar Alfalfa. The rest of the afternoon was spent exploring more of the narrow lanes through out the city, stopping frequently for beers and sangria. The temperature was ramping up as the week progressed. We had planned to visit Malaga on the Thursday but all the buses were booked. People were probably heading to the coast where it was about 10°C cooler att around 27°C. We visited Setas de Sevilla which is a modern piece of architecture in the city centre. It has great views of the city.

In the evening we walked to the Tirana district on the other side of the river. There is a distinct contrast to how Tirana feels and looks compared to the west side of the river. We had a look at menus outside several restaurants and finally opted for Restaurante Don Cammillo e Peppone. We enjoyed a really good meal and drinks. After dinner we headed back across the river taking the opportunity to take photos of the bridges. Before heading back to the hotel we stopped off at Bar Colon 5 for a drink and played Uno for a little while. It was then a 20 minute walk back to our hotel for a good night’s sleep after a long day.

Thursday 22 June

We had a late breakfast then made our way up to the hotel’s rooftop pool and bar. We spent most of the day up there. The drinks and food at the hotel are good quality and surprisingly priced for a hotel. The pool is small but adequate for a dip to cool you down in the 40°C heat.

In the late afternoon we went for a short walk to see the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium where the Ka Liga team Seville play. They are 22/23 Europa League champions.

We had another stroll around the city in the evening. You would think the temperature would have dropped but it actually went up. We decided to eat inside where it is cooler. We stopped at VIRIATO Guevara & Lynch, again the food was great.

Friday 23 June

Our last day.  The flight wasn’t until 22.30 in the evening so we had a late breakfast before packing and checking out at Noon. We left out bags at the hotel. This was by far the hottest day and it was almost unbearable. It was around 45°C. We spent the afternoon trying to find shaded lanes and alleys as being in the direct sun was not pleasant. Needless to say we stopped off a few times for refreshments.

It was back to the hotel for about 17.00 where we sat in the foyer cooling off. We were going to get the bus to the airport but didn’t fancy the walk to the bus stop, so we got an Uber for €18.  We had some food in the airport. Our flight was a little late leaving so we didn’t get back to Edinburgh until 02.00.

Summary

A great place to visit. You could probably do it in 3 days if you get up early and crammed everything in. We would recommend the city pass but not the bus. The Ibis Styles hotel is very good. Best time to go probably March, September when it’s a little cooler.