Hi lrice!
Would you be willing to rent a car for a day for your day trip to Arcos? We have done that several times on our trips when we weren’t using a rental car on a daily basis. For example, we rented a car for a day on Santorini and on Naxos. I guess the only problem with doing that in Seville is that, depending on where you pick up the rental car, you might have to drive through the city which could be tricky. But a rental car would certainly be easier to visit Arcos.

If you feel that arriving at 11:14 and leaving at 4 pm will give you enough time to see the upper part of town, photograph and have some tapas for lunch, then just take the very inexpensive bus ride , under 10 euros each way. Rick Steves is enchanted by Arcos but the town can actually be seen in a few hours . There is a mini shuttle bus that runs from the lower (not so interesting) lower town to the upper town where you will want to snap photos of the gorgeous views of the countryside looming below. Arcos has a very dramatic perch, like Ronda. Maybe have a coffee on the terrace of the Parador ( I’ve overnighted there) which has lovely views from its balcony rooms.
There will also be taxis to take you up to the Plaza.
If you do choose to rent the car, pick it up at Santa Justa rail so as to avoid driving through the Moorish maze of historic Sevilla. The route will take you directly south and the drive will take about 1 hr. 15.

Lrice,
In this quite long thread of back and forth with packmybags, in posts 7 and 8 I describe Arcos.
Andalusia 12 day trip in March - itinerary and hotel input needed

Just a note or two-
I love Toc al Mar, in the Aiguablava cove, directly on the beach. According to its web page, it's open in December for lunch during the week and Fri/Sat for dinner, but one can't make reservations online between December 10 and February 2---don't know why.

Disfrutar will not be open on New Year's Eve, according to its calendar. This year's tasting menu is priced at 255, with wine pairing for 125.

Tickets is no longer Tickets. It´s now called "Teatro Kitchen and Bar". It changed hands in March of 2022.

Hi!
We're back from an awesome trip to Andalucia and Catalonia, with a couple of quick days in Madrid thrown in for good measure. A heartfelt thank you to everyone here for their advise!!

Mid-December, bound for Seville: It had been two years since our last trip to Andalucia, also in December, but at a very ruinous time with the Covid Omicron strain running wild. Back then we were so happy when we checked into the Mercer Hotel in Seville and to learn that we were the only guests in this boutique and beautiful property, a haven in a harried time. This time was no different--we were greeted by our names and welcomed with a glass of cava! It had been a long journey: Miami-Madrid-Seville, but not an overly exhausting one thanks to the Time Shifter app that we use regularly to mitigate jet-lag. The app works like a charm and I highly recommend it! The Mercer and their staff always deliver!

It was already 13:30. So after quickly freshening up, and after trying and failiing to get a lunch table at La Barra Inchausti for our first meal, the hotel suggested we try El Pesquero, a seafood specialist, in the Mercado Arenal nearby. This proved to be an amazing recommendation and my fears of a mediocre first meal quickly dissipated. We chose to stand at the bar from where we had a good view of all the shellfish and fish behind the counter as well as of the various dishes coming out of the kitchen. On display were carabineros (bright red prawns), cigalas/langostinos, gambas de Huelva, berberechos (cockles), coquinas (baby clams).... In short, everything we wanted! We started with something warm and hearty, a very flavorful sopa del dia of seafood broth with chickpeas, shrimp and mint. Then some coveted gambas de Huelva boiled and commonly served cold (I'd have preferred warm) and an order of fried puntillitas (tiny baby squid). My wife has Celiac and thus ordered another sopa del dia of squid with chickpeas. Satiated, we walked back for a nap after a surprisingly strong start.

For dinner, we'd reserved Sobretablas, which had eluded us on our last trip. We decided to walk, to stretch our legs but to also see this stunning city in its orange evening glow. Few places are as encantadadora as Seville is in December! Past the CROWDS BY THE CATEDRAL, then the Alfonso XIII lit up for Christmas, on through the quiet Parque Maria Louisa and the gleaming, stunning Plaza de España within where high schoolers were singing carols. After some stops for pics and an apertif, we reached Sobretablas in the El Porvenir neighborhood. I don't know if choosing the Tasting Menu was a mistake. It was a long meal--the amuse bouche forgotten by the time the besotted mignardises arrive--made delightful by the service, but these wouldn't be our best remembered bites in Seville. Hopes were high for the next day, a Sunday.

Sunday, a late start: We hadn't felt it, but I suppose we were tired. We had easily hit 15,000 steps the previous day. We'd booked La Cochera del Abuelo for lunch due to a throughly satisfying meal there on our last trip. Again, after a saunter around the orange trees and chariots by the Catedral, we walked past the Corte Ingles, the always packed Bar Dos de Mayo (which we will try next time), Plaza San Lorenza and the Escuela de Clown!!... until we arrived at Cochera, which looks and feels like eating in someone's home. We got the same table as our last time. We chose the salmon marinated in beet juice, the ajo blanco (An Andalucian almond and garlic soup or white gazpacho), mushrooms of the day (today lengua de buey mushrooms whereas they were Nizcalo mushrooms on our last trip) and a stew of seafood and beans (gazpachuelo malagueño con lubina y gambas), the chef's signature that's been on the menu forever. All fantastic and hearty with warm service. Perhaps we could have had one more dish, but we had La Azotea coming up for dinner and we wanted to have a good appetite after our 3 visits on our last trip + a stop at their Tienda across the street for a tapa.

After some sight seeing in the afternoon, and a brief rest, we set off eagerly like hungry hounds that can sniff their way to a good bone, or well, truffles! La Azotea on Conde de Barajas was a true gem (coquinas with baby alcachofas, navajas con favas, puntillatas, carabineros, chopitos a la plancha, higado de corvina and so much more), on our last visit and our pace picked up as we got closer. Surely a glass or cava was in order to begin the feast! As we sipped and perused the menu, the cava went flat. On this Sunday, there were no coquinas, no alcachofas, no carabineros, no puntillatas and very few gluten free options. The owner, Juan, who we'd gotten to know on our last trip was not there. I had a rabbit ribs with fries, which were merely fine, my wife had to make do with the special of the day: a grilled snapper with grilled veggies but sans any sauce and a tapa of anchovy on toast with eggplant. I know there are a lot of Azotea fans here. I don't know what happened. Maybe it was a Sunday night, although the place was full. I suggest people check the online menu is all I can say. We left hungry looking for another place open on a Sunday.

Luckily, we found Zelai open where we had a tasty cauliflower and oxtail croquetas which were excellent! With that, I'll say good night until my next post.

May I suggest you submit your trip report separately from this planning thread?

natylou Thank you! I will do so.