dyscover

Our visit to Sevilla and Cordoba coincides with Semana Santa next month, and we have some queries regarding our visit. We will be staying at a hotel on the Isla de Cartuja, arriving at about 7.00pm on Maundy Thursday.

1. How much should we budget for a taxi from the train station to our hotel ?

2. When should we target leaving the hotel to make our way to see the Madruga processions later that night ?

3. What would be a good vantage point to catch the processions ? I understand that seats will be long sold out but anyplace we can see things reasonably well that are comparatively less crowded, or is around the Cathedral the best bet ?

4. Given that we may be quite tired after a long flight, how easy would it be to extricate oneself from the crowds and make our way back to the hotel by cab should we feel the need to do so ?

5. We would like to experience at least one Turkish bath. Options are to do it in Sevilla, Cordoba, or Granada. Any particular preferences ?

6. We will be doing a daytrip tp Cordoba from Sevilla. Is it true that the Mezquita is free for entry in the morning before 10.00am ?

Any help/advice on the above will be most appreciated. Thank you.

kenderina

I'll try to resume some answers

1. No idea, but I bet traffic is going to be bad given that all the city centre will be closed for it...

2. Do you want a very personal suggestion ? Have dinner at your hotel and go to bed...wake up at 4 or 5 AM and the procession will be at their best, it's not called "La Madrugá" for nothing...(that means in English "the dawn" )

3. For the previous answer to work out..ask your hotel at what time more or less the procession join and at what point..they should give you an answer

4. Difficult...very difficult, again ask your hotel before you go

5. Sorry, I don't know Never thought on going for a turkish bath here in Spain.

6. I've never heard of that. If you travel on Sunday, remember there are masses (catholic) at midday so the opening hours are different...

Hope you enjoy the madness of Seville in Holy Week , just don't think very much about it and just flow with the crowds...

kenderina

I forgot one thing...listen to the singers, it will be probably the most felt flamenco you are going to hear

kelliebellie

We are also going to be there then. Have you found a website (in English!) listing the schedule of what is going on? We will be there at the very beginning of the week.

Christina

I was in Seville a couple years ago at that time, although I left only a couple days into the week. For the taxi, that would normally be around 25 euro fare. I don't know if those activities will affect that, I suppose they might if it takes longer. Just be sure you have plenty of money on you, don't try to get by without hardly any.

I did a day trip to Cordoba from Seville, also, and it's a very nice city. I think you are confused about the entry and fee. Don't go Sunday morning because you think it's free, it's only free in one area because it's closed to tourists due to Sunday services -- so the cathedral area only is free to those going to them. The rest of it isn't open until 1 pm or later on Sunday, as I recall.

kenderina

According to a website (in Spanish) dedicated to Seville's Semana Santa the schedules of the processions and their itineraries is going to be decided on March 18 Only processions are going on..

kelliebellie

Cool thanks. They don't seem to plan too much in advance there, do they?

kenderina

No, it's against the rules of the true Spaniard

ComfyShoes

Kend, Nothing wrong with that

kenderina

Not wrong..but sometimes makes you worry too much, a tiny bit of organization wouldn't harm us, I think

ComfyShoes

Well, variety is a spice of life. Just being facetious

Actually, irrespective of the impressions typically given of mediterranean countries, at least from a business standpoint, they are at least as efficient as elsewhere (or they won't stay in business... someone would acquire'em).

kenderina

Yes, efficiency is a completely different thing !! I don't know how, but we manage to do it fine at last.
But, for example...I don't know anyone here who plans their trips a year in advance...at the most, two months..but last minute offers are made for us, really. Travel agents are full of them because they know is what most people here search for

ComfyShoes

In other words, you are proud of your culture that apparently has time to enjoy it all, and yet have right priorities. As you should

Last post on the topic otherwise dyscover may get us banned for chatting on her thread.

dyscover

Hey no problems guys, chat away all you like.

Thanks for all that info Kenderina, as usual, spot on. I love the suggestion of going to bed and getting up for the processions, only question is will things already be so crowded that we will not be able to get where we want and find a decent place to watch from. But I get the gist of what you are saying in terms of go with the flow, so I will hope that the hotel will be able to guide me properly.

I know I did manage to find a site in Spanish by the council of the brotherhoods that participate in the processions and what I was able to gather was that they would be finalising procession details mid to third week March, so thats bang on too. I guess we will start seeing other websites uploading this data in English after that, because as of now I have not found anything online for this year. I hope this helps kelliebellie.

Christina, thanks so much, we will be visiting Cordoba on Saturday, so no Sunday problems. I just caught something on some site that said that the Mesquita was free for entry in the morning before tourist visits began, so was curious about this. But will budget for the entry fees.

Regarding the Arabic baths, caught some good reviews for the Aire de Seville and the Banys Arabys in Granada too. Seemed interesting.

Thanks so much all for helping, any other tips/recos/advice most appreciated. Thanks again.

kelliebellie

Oh yeah, about the baths. I think we are going to try to do this one in Cordoba. It looks really cool.

http://www.hammamspain.com/cordoba/index_i.html

Have a great trip!

kja

I'm not sure, dyscover, but I don't think the Mezquita is open to tourists on Sunday morning - rather, as I understand it, the Cathedral inside it is open for services. You might want to check on that!

kenderina

I'm sure you will be able to see at the very least, one procession..there are six that night and the itineraries are very long According to last year schedules the longest procession (and the first one to begin) began at 12:30 AM and finished at 2 PM and the others began at 1 or 2 AM and finished around 4 PM, so you will have plenty of opportunities to see one even quite near to your hotel, just don't worry and as I said before..go with the flow and have a good time !!

dyscover

Hey kelliebellie, thats the site that I saw and got me thinking about doing this is the first place ! FYI the Sevilla one can be seen on www.airedesevilla.com (only Spanish).

Kenderina, I'm liking your advice more and more, I have a wishlist of being able to see at least the two biggies of El Silencio and La Macarena, but I'm sure that whatever we do get to see is going to be unforgettable. I hope we catch at least one of the impromptu "saetas".

Thank you so much.

kelliebellie

Cool, thanks!

cmeyer54

We had the absolute pleasure of being in Madrid and Seville for Semana Santa two years ago. The crowds in Madrid for the processions were huge - we stayed at the Westin and were able as guests to stand on their steps and watch. We left for Seville on the Saturday before Easter and spent Easter Sunday in Seville. There are no real church services, just the processions which seemed to be about 2 hours apart. We stood just across the street from the Alfonso XIII hotel and had a wonderful view. The processions also go right thru the cathedral but don't know if you can sit there. Folks do have reserved chairs on the streets and in a central area but those are bought and paid for well in advance. Our hotel had a complete booklet with all the Semana Santa info - times, locations, etc and I'm sure yours will as well. It is unforgettable!