minamax10

Greetings to you all!

Seeing that Seville’s Top 2 attractions are the Alcazar and the Cathedral, I wonder if it’d be wiser to do them on separate days? So, does this itinerary make sense? Or am I missing something important ? I really want to get some variety and not do similar in style places. And the group is much smaller than initially expected – 7 of us altogether (65-78yrs old). An hour-by-hour itinerary is something that I feel more comfortable with even if things change later on

Day 1 /
18.00h arrive from Cordoba (Gran Melia Colon 3 nights)
20.30h tapas dinner at Enrique Becerra (walk)

Day 2 / Walking Tour + Horse carriage ride / Alcazar Day
09.00h walk to Alcazar via the Bullring + Torre del Ore (photo stops)
09.45h -11.45h Visit the Alcazar (possibly including a tour of the Royal Apartment @10.30h)
11.45h -13.30h Walking tour of Santa Cruz
13.30-15.00h Lunch at Vineria San Telmo
15.00h Walk back to the Cathedral area for a horse-buggy ride
15.15-16.00h Horse carriage ride through Maria Luisa park + Plaza Espana (ca. 45-60min)
16.30h Return to the hotel to rest
18.45h Walk to Casa de la Memoria (to get good seats)
19.30-20.30h Flamenco show
20.30h Dinner at Cuna 2 Restaurant near the flamenco venue
22.30h Return to the hotel
*** That seems to be like a LOT of walking for one day . Anyway, to remedy that ?


Day 3 / Walking Tour / Cathedral Day
09.15h Depart hotel to Palacio Palacio de las Dueñas via Metrópol Parasol photo-stop
10.00-11.00h Palacio Palacio de las Dueñas
11.15h -11.45h Iglesia del Salvador Church
12.00-13.00h Cathedral (about 45-60min?)
13.00-13.30h Giralda climb to the top for the views (about 30-40min?)
13.30-15.00h Lunch at Restaurant San Marco (basically basically for the ambiance of the old Arab Baths... still a bit on the fence about this choice)
Free time
-- do some shopping around Santa Cruz + Calle Sierpes + El Corte Igles
-- rest at the hotel
-- finish packing
19.00h Tapas Challenge (age appropriate? ) Try the bar at Eslava + Al Azotea (Calle Jesús del Gran Poder)

How does this sound?

RonZ

https://oberonsaas.com/realalcazarse...sitageneraldos

I suspect you are aware of this, but at the Iglesia del Salvador Church you will buy a joint ticket including the Cathedral, allowing you to skip the line.

minamax10

Thank you Ron! That was one of the reasons indeed

kimhe

After the Cathedral/La Giralda, you could also have lunch in even closer by Cervecería Giralda. Have had great meals here, and also in a former Arab bath-house from the 12th century.
http://www.cerveceriagiralda.com/
http://azahar-sevilla.com/sevilletap...ceria-giralda/

jpie

Also FYI eslava also serves lunch which might be easier than dinner.

minamax10

Kimhe: Cervecería Giralda looks charming and very traditional. Bookmarking it as another option.

Jpie: wish Eslava was closer to the main attraction sites--we would have tried it for lunch.

Regarding the whole itinerary flow, any other comments or advice?

Robert2016

I recommend the tour of the Royal Apartments at the Alcázar.

To get front row seats at the Casa de la Memoria, buy your tickets ahead of time (non-numbered seats) online, then be at the outside around 7:00 pm. Ticket holders will stand in line outside until the venue opens, then if you're at the front of the line, you can snag the seats in the first or second row.

Cuna 2 is right next to Casa de la Memoria, so no walking.

I'd allow at least an hour at the Cathedral, but with the combo tickets purchased ahead of time at the Iglesia del Salvador to avoid the long lines.

About a half hour for the Giralda. I'm sure you know that you ascend via a ramp rather than stairs, so it's relatively easy going.

Lunch could be anywhere in the cathedral area.

Calle Mateo Gagos is tourist central and restaurant row, one after the other.
We were there in February staying in the maze just one minute from Mateos Gago and had breakfast every morning and a late night tapa and glass of wine at Cerverceria Giralda every night-- a classic.

If you're on the fence about San Marcos:
it gives you the ambience of the ancient baths.

If you're interested in something new and innovative:
Petit Comité at Calle Dos de Mayo gives you updated, modern cuisine and impeccable service, a sophisticated ambience, as well as a well chosen wine list, fair prices, few tourists and a well-heeled local crowd, which makes for interesting people watching. And table seating in 3 cozy dining rooms for a relaxed atmosphere.

You can't book online but your concierge can call, if you're interested.
It's not really a tapas bar at all, as the bar in front is a service bar.
I'd call it a gastro bar/bistro, serving really interesting, very modern small plates.
It's a 4-minute walk from the cathedral.
http://azahar-sevilla.com/sevilletap.../petit-comite/

But if you're looking for traditional fare housed in an old Arab bath house, that it's not.

Christina

I don't think it makes any difference if you do the cathedral and alcazar the same day or two different days, it's just up to you. I would do them the same day because they are practically right next to each other, but we don't have the same wish list of things to see. I consider many other things in Seville just as interesting as the Alcazar, for example, and I don't even care about the bullring, although I've been by it numerous times, just never went into it if they have a tour or something (I really don't know).

Last time I was there, I did a river cruise, for example, quite enjoyed that. I also liked the museums in the Parque de Maria Louisa (especially popular arts and traditions, I always love to visit local ethnographic museums) and the Plaza Espana. And of course, the main fine arts museum is very good, I consider it a top attraction, and the Toro del Oro on the river which has a small maritime museum in it. One of my favorites is the small Flamenco museum in the Santa Cruz quarter, it was fantastic. http://www.museoflamenco.com/

You are walking a lot more than I probably would (I don't go up in towers, either, but would probably not walk from your hotel to the Alcazar via the bullring--going from your hotel to Casa de la Memoria by the quickest route isn't so bad, about 700 meters, but you intend to do that walk three times that day, I believe, as well as the morning walk to the Alcazar AND a two hour walking tour in the middle of the day). Well, if you can handle all that walking, more power to you, I'd be dead and wouldn't enjoy the performance at end of day or want to walk to/from it from my hotel. ANd you have some 78 year olds on this trek?

Yes, you can remedy it by not walking by the river in the morning which is out of the way, and not taking a 2 hour walking tour of the Santa Cruz quarter (that seems really long to me, given it's not that big, although I'm sure you can be seeing lots of things). I just don't see the necessity for that walking tour. At least you can take a taxi to your hotel from Plaza Espana, I guess that is your plan?

I use the buses in Seville when I'm there (although they can't go into some of the smaller areas, of course, but your hotel isn't in that kind of area), and last time, I think I did use the hop-on/off bus one day which has a very good route and is convenient in Seville as they don't really have much of a metro to speak of and the bus routes can be tricky to find and figure out. http://www.sevillaguia.com/sevillagu...topbustour.asp

I also loved the Navigation Pavillon over on the other side of the river, not far from Triana. I also got to it by the tourbus circuit. It is a great building and modern, much different than the small maritime museum in the tower. But I think the sea and flamenco are important to Seville history and I like to visit museums like that.
http://www.seville-traveller.com/pab...la-navegacion/

It's hard to say, but what I might do to hit the highlights and not walk so much would be the first day just walk to the Alcazar not via the river and bullring but shorter route, maybe through Plaza Nueva, and just visit the Alcazar and cathedral that day, walking through Santa Cruz on your own. Because going to the top of it (away from river), you aren't that far from your hotel.

Second day I'd maybe do a river cruise and/or the hopon/off bus, which has a route along the river and the bullring, etc. That bus does have a stop right across the street from the cruise point (which is at the Torre del Oro), so you can go on the cruise and then do the bus circuit the rest of the day as you wish, which includes Plaza Espana, at your leisure, and maybe end up with the shopping near your hotel. I wouldn't do a single carriage ride but I dislike that concept, and even if I didn't, it wouldn't really appeal to me as a way to spend time nor do I think you see much in any good way (and in the broiling sun, no thanks). If you have folks who love that stuff, sure, not sure when you are going, if it's going to be really hot or not.

The cruise is only 1 hr, not sure if you read Spanish, but this is info http://www.sevillaguia.com/sevillagu...docruceros.asp

Or this gives you some good photos. I didn't reserve in advance. http://crucerosensevilla.com/

minamax10

Thank you for taking so much of your time to review and comment Robert and Christina! You’ve given me a lot to consider.

Thank you Robert :
Yes, I think I will add the Royal apartment tour. I hadn’t realized that it only takes about 30min, so that should not be too hard to manage. I think in the end we’ll allocate about 2-2.5 hours for the Alcazar, and since after that there’s no concrete itinerary till our lunch reservation at Vineria San Telmo at 13.30h, we should be okay on time.

One of the best things about Cuna 2 restaurant (aside from the fact that it looks beautiful and has positive reviews) is its location.

I haven’t seen Petit Comite until you mentioned it. Now reading up on it, it looks like a nice intimate place. Found them on FaceBook and there are beautiful photos of the food and the restaurant itself. Keeping it as an option.

I should have mentioned before that I’m very peculiar about restaurant choices. I obsessively spend days (more like weeks looking for the perfect place. Also, within reason, I don’t mind spending more on food when we travel. I mean after all, we only get to have 8 lunches and 8 dinners there. I want to have a mix of traditional, modern, fancy, and possessing ambiance we cannot find in Tokyo. Balancing say a fancy and upscale lunch with a more traditional and casual diner choice. And vice versa. The ambiance at San Marco with its white tablecloths and ancient stonewalls looked beautiful and upscale. Seeing that for diner that evening we are venturing to Eslava and Al Azotea tapas …with no reservation!

http://azahar-sevilla.com is a great resource. Thank you.

Thank you Christina:
I really appreciate your input. I went back to Google maps just to see how much actual walking is involved and to compare it to other days from our previous trips. I think one of the most strenuous days we had was in Barcelona where we did the day on foot. Just point-to-point distances added up to over 4km, and that didn’t include the walking inside the museums etc. But that was indeed a long day.

With Seville, I kept seeing comments that mostly sightseeing is done on foot. I kind of assumed the streets are really narrow and in fact we’d lose more time circling in cars instead of walking. But I’d actually have preferred the comfort of a chartered minibus, just to make things smoother. I did hear though that a rented minibus might be useless in Seville. So maybe we indeed should take more taxis.

I think based on your suggestion, it would be better to take a taxi from the hotel to the Alcazar (so we could save strength for a long day ahead). And back from Plaza de Espana to the hotel area.

Regarding the horse-carriage ride. It’s one of those things that I always try to add if the location allows. The only trip I lucked out on the horses was to Madrid-Barcelona. Turns out that there are no horse carriages in those cities. I also think a 45min ride after lunch would be a nice way to slow down and just relax while enjoying the sites in passing. That said, yes, I am not quite sure how hot it can get around 3pm in Seville in early October.

Thank you for the heads up on Flamenco museum. It could be a nice short stop, but I am not sure where to fit it in. It definitely should be visited before the flamenco show, so it needs to be done on our 1st day, but it’s a bit away from the Alcazar / Cathedral / Santa Cruz area. And it doesn’t open till 10 am, so cannot be done before the Alcazar.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Art Museum opens at 9am. And since our hotel is just a few min walk from there, that could be another 1-hour visit to consider.

Lastly, the 2-hour tour in Santa Cruz area. I think I have made a slight mistake there. Looking through different posts related to the Santa Cruz walking tour itineraries, I realize that most of them actually include Cathedral and Alcazar (exteriors). Which means that other spots in Santa Cruz would not take 2 hours.

Maybe my other option (if we only do Alcazar and save Cathedral for the next day) is to take a horse-carriage after finishing the tour of the Alcazar. And disembark near Vineria San Telmo. Then after lunch explore the Santa Cruz area a little more. And depending on the energy level, do the Flamenco Museum on the way to the hotel. Also, using taxis to get to / from the Flamenco show in the evening.

kimhe

You stay very close to one of my absolute favourite tapas bars in town, El Cairo. A genuine local tapas bar and restaurant that serves traditional quality food. They make delicious "arroz" (Sevilla style paella) for lunch, and also lots of other goodies. The best way to enjoy El Cairo is IMO not to sit down for a relatively expensive dinner, but to join the crowd of locals in the bar area for next to free tapas and drinks around lunch-time or at night. And you could have a plate of the fantastic cured ham (ibérico de bellota), costs some 20€ + (nothing unusual), and this can come as a surprise to some tourists who are used to pay far less for a plate of standard serrano ham. Look very much forward to go back here for a Sunday lunch in a couple of months. http://azahar-sevilla.com/sevilletap...2/03/el-cairo/

Use taxis as much as possible, very affordable, and Sevilla is fairly large.

I will also recommend to see the Hospital de la Caridad, it might give you the ultimate Sevilla experience. The 17th century repenting benefactor/co-founder Miguel de Mañara was - according to himself - and previous to his 'awakening', "the most evil man that ever lived". All the paintings he commisioned from some of the most famous golden-age arists (Murillo, Valdés Leal, Zurbarán etc.) for the hospital and it's adjoining church dealt with the theme of death and redemption. The hospital, the church, the paintings and Mañara's grave are all in Calle Temprado, 3 close to the Maestranza theater and the Torre del Oro.
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/spain/seville/sights/411842

Among many other paintings you'll find Valdés Leal's famous In Ictu Oculi and Finis Gloariae Mundi here (1671-1672):
In ictu oculi (In the blink of an eye): http://www.artehistoria.jcyl.es/v2/obras/10662.htm
Finis Gloriae Mundi: http://www.artehistoria.jcyl.es/v2/obras/10663.htm

minamax10

Thank you Kimhe! The links to the paintings didn't work, but I tracked the titles on line. wow...dark! But amazing. In the short description on lonelyplanet site, it says that some of the original paintings didn't survive the Napoleon invasion. Do you know which paintings are the replicas?

El Cairo is indeed only about 5min walk from our hotel. If not for anything else, the plate of jamon would be worth the walk Just out of curiosity. The ham that you mentioned (ibérico de bellota), that would be the best sort of jamon that we can find in Spain? I mean I understand that there are different grades and some are much more expensive, so would that be (ibérico de bellota)? I'd love to try the real stuff as long as we are there.

Elizabeth_S

If you can I'd have a reservation at Vineria San Telmo. We were there in March and they were turning people away at lunch. Food was delicious!

minamax10

Thank you Elizabeth. I got in touch with the restaurant and booked a table for us. Looking forward to an amazing lunch!

kimhe

Yes, Jamón Ibérico de Bellota (from acorn/bellota fed pigs) is the top notch, the finest jamón you get anywhere. Even in the food markets the highest quality Ibérico de Bellota cost some 150€-200€ pr. kilo and double the price of an otherwise excellent Jamón Ibérico. Varying degrees of perfection also within the Ibérico de Bellota catogory, but all are delicious, and the one they serve in El Cairo is outstanding (you can get excellent bellota ham all around Sevilla, but El Cairo is my favourite place for a moment of ham devotion in Sevilla). Cutting the ham correctly is also an art form (as so many things in Spain), and the best cutters have trained for years. http://www.jamon.com/iberico.html
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeands...co-spanish-ham

And no, I don't recall which paintings are the replicas, you'll have to find out ;-) And here is a fine intro to the life of Miguel de Mañara and the Sevilla of his time, "the century of splendour and decadence, the sunrise and sunset". As said, the Hospital de Caridad is as Sevilla as it gets even though it's not on many tourists route. http://www.santa-caridad.es/en/vener...fe-and-legacy/

minamax10

Kimhe, thank you for the links to the articles about jamon! Can't decide whether there is more science or art in producing the best jamon. Now I really cannot wait to try Jamón Ibérico de Bellota. I wonder if during our last trip to Spain in 2014 we actually had it or had some other lower graded ham. Whether it was the best of them all or not, it was still so darn delicious! I will try to see if we can pop in into El Cairo before our evening meal. I think the amazing ham can be best appreciated on an empty stomach!

kimhe

<I will try to see if we can pop in into El Cairo before our evening meal. I think the amazing ham can be best appreciated on an empty stomach!>

That's the way to do it, groups of friends and families do it exactly this way: buy a couple of plates and share and have a glass or two, a great and relaxing way to start the evening before going out for dinner.

minamax10

That sounds perfect Kimhe

kimhe

And just found out that the ham cutter/Cortador de Jamón in El Cairo represented Sevilla in the II Andalucian Cortadores de Jamón Ibérico de Bellota competition in 2009. The ham cutter at El cairo didn't win the competition, but it more than suggest that they mean business with their jamón here ;-) http://www.diariodesevilla.es/articl...r/bandera.html