Gavin

I realize that Sevilla is not a car friendly city and so we have decided to go without a car when we visit there and and for the remainder of the trip. I have the choice of dropping the rental car at either the train station or at the airport. Which makes more sense? I presume the airport has easier access from the point of view of being easy to find and not having to deal with confusing city streets. Am I right?

Julie

Almost always the airport is an easier place to drop a car than somewhere within the city. I am not familiar with how far the airport is from downtown Sevilla but we have dropped cars twice at the Santa Justa train station and it is possible if you get yourself a really good map. We use the city maps in the Michelin red guide to Spain and managed to find the place without two much trouble this second time though I admit that our first drop several years ago was pretty hairraising. So Santa Justa station doable but airport most likely better if it's not too far from town. IMO

Gavin

Thanks Julie.

olga

<BR>Dear Gavin,<BR><BR>The train station is easy to find, specially if you are arriving from Madrid or Cordoba. It´s right at the entrance to the city. Anyway, there is a ringroad that surrounds the whole city - called SE-30 - that you get to when you enter town from any direction. Just get on it and take the exit for Kansas City Avenue/Santa Justa, and the station will be on your right at the end of that road. It´s a big and flat modern building and has a sign across<BR>the top that says Sevilla Santa Justa.<BR><BR>Dropping the car at the airport has basically the same difficulty, but then you have to take a taxi into town, which will be about 20 Euros.<BR>

gail

Olga: many thanks for your informative posts on traveling in Spain.<BR>I'll be renting a house south of Granada in March and we want to go to Sevilla for 2 days. We will have a rental car for the 2 wks we're in Spain but don't want to have to drive it inside SEvilla. Can you suggest a place to drop off the car and park it safely for 2 days; then we'd pick it back up and drive back to the house we're renting. Do you think leaving it at the train station is reasonable? <BR>Muchas gracias pro su ayuda.

Gavin

Thank you Olga.

Art

Gail Driving in Sevilla is not as bad as many other cities. Our hotel had parking so we parked it there while in Seville.<BR>Gavin, I agree with dropping it at the train station. You will be close to the downtown and won't have to worry about gettint you and your luggage from the airport to downtown.<BR>

olga

<BR>Gail, I think leaving it at the train station is fine, and even better if you leave it at any of the underground car parks all over town. Parking costs about the same wether you use one of these public car parks or a hotel parking, it´s around 14$ a night.<BR><BR>The difficulty of driving around Seville is subjective, like everything I guess, and it also depends on the location of your hotel. But in my experience working in a hotel in downtown Seville and dealing with frustrated guests on arrival and having lived in the U.S. and knowing the signage and the simple layout of streets there, I recomend not driving into town yourself.<BR><BR>Another option that many guest use is hiring a cab to lead you to the hotel, they are cheap and everywhere. Getting out of town is easier because the hotel reception can give you specific directions. You can also request directions e-mailed or faxed to you by the hotel before your trip.<BR><BR>

gail

Hi. We're staying at Las Casas de la Juderia and I know I've read posts about the difficulty of getting close to it by car. If we approach on the SE30 ring road you mentioned, will there be signs for the underground parking garages and is there a particular exit and/or garage you'd suggest considering where we're going?<BR>I generally avoid driving in cities (even Boston) and think we can walk anywhere we'd like to go (part of the fun of being there). Thanks very much.

olga

<BR>Gail, there are electronic signs at the entrances to Seville that point you to the public parkings and even show if they are full or not. <BR><BR>However, if you are going to Juderia and are coming from the directions Madrid/Cordoba or Malaga/Granada it's not hard to get to the main avenue by Juderia, where one of the main public parkings is. In the signs it's posted as Cano y Cueto or Jardines de Murillo -sorry, I can't recall- and even if the signs say it's full you can go there and call the hotel -payphones by the parking- and their porter will meet you there and park your car in one of the hotels own private spaces in that parking. The advantage to this as opposed to parking it there yourself is that the hotel is very lenient on letting you keep the parking space late on your departure date for no extra charge if you plan on lingering in Seville a little. Plus, the porter carries your luggage in a cart for the 2 minute walk to the hotel.<BR>If you decide to do this, e-mail me and I can send you specific driving directions to that parking.<BR><BR>What is really complicated in Juderia is to aproach the hotel directly down the maze of narrow, one-way streets and to try to pull it into the small alley. They only have a few parking spaces down there. Anyway, the hotel's valet drivers take care of that for you and they will fetch your car from the main parking and bring it around to the Hotel door for you o cart your luggage back there.

gail

Olga: this is incredibly helpful -- muchisimas gracias. I'll email you directly for the directions.<BR>