Cadiz to Seville

Hi

We are in port in Cadiz from 8am-5pm

Could you tell me is it easy to go to Seville independently. We usually try and do everything ourselves, just worry Seville may be a bit far away

How long would you need to spend there to really appreciate it

Many thanks

With your short stay at port I'd do a tour that includes free time. It'll take an hour and a half at minimum to get there. And you want to be back at 4. Check with SpainDaytours. Personally we are doing this company in a couple weeks. Gets very good reviews.

Jerez is much closer than Seville and they offer great tours of their Sherry making facilities. We went to the makers of Drysack (Williams Humbert) and had a great tour. They even have a horse show. Seville is much further away and you really need much more time to see that beautiful city.

We have been to Seville on long driving trips (spent 4 nights in Seville) and have also gone there on the train from Cadiz during a port stop. However, our ship overnighted in Seville so we could get back late...and had no worries about missing the ship. The train ride is about 1:40 each way and there is usually 1 train an hour. The trains used to leave Cadiz at 40 min past the hour and if you have a really long port day it can be done. If time is tight it might make more sense to take a ship excursion (we hold our nose whenever we suggest an excursion). As to how much time you need in Seville, we think 3 days is about right :).

We do agree that Jerez is an easier option, but Jerez is certainly no Seville! But we do enjoy Jerez and you might enjoy touring one of the Sherry houses. If you do this, check it out in advance since some of them require advance reservations...while some others welcome all visitors.

Hank

Hi everyone

Thank you all for taking the time to get back to me.

As this is my first visit to Cadiz and I have read some lovely reports on it we are happy just to spend the day there.

We will save the trip to Seville for another time.

I was just about to suggest staying in Cadiz. Plenty of things to see and do there in a day. I visit Spanish friends every year in Seville and don't think a short day trip would do it justice.

With your short stay at port I'd do a tour that includes free time. It'll take an hour and a half at minimum to get there. And you want to be back at 4. Check with SpainDaytours. Personally we are doing this company in a couple weeks. Gets very good reviews.

We used Spain Tours and they were excellent. I dont remember the cost but it was less than $100/pp. Their guides were very good as well.

For a day tour of Cadiz I consider $100 very expensive. What was the cost in Euros, which is the currency of Spain. I imagine for that price it was a tour just for the two of you including lunch?

There is a HOHO bus in Cadiz, I would do that.

I wouldn't pay for a tour of Cadiz, but that's just me, I guess. We used Spain Day Tours from Motril to Granada for the Alhambra, and they were excellent. However, I just feel an escorted tour isn't needed in Cadiz. Cadiz is a lovely city with much to see in the old part (where you'll dock) but with some research, a map, and some wandering, you don't really need a tour. Of course, you'll probably learn a lot more with a tour. As for the HOHO, I haven't used it in 2 trips to Cadiz, but with that, I suspect you'll end up doing a lot of walking, as I doubt it goes into the old part of the city much. Many of the streets are just too narrow. The first time I visited Cadiz, asked about the public bus (little mini buses; can catch one close to the port) and used that to circle old Cadiz, getting off when I saw something that interested me. Of course, again, with that method of sightseeing, you probably won't learn much unless you have a guide book with you and a good map. My focus is more experiencing the city and taking photographs, so I'm OK with not knowing every small detail about what I'm viewing.

Nelderwoman, we took the bus to Seville and the train back while on our cruise about 2 weeks ago. Both were around 1 hour 40 minutes each way. We personally felt it was worthwhile to spend that much time traveling, but others may disagree. Since we had been there 8 years ago, we decided to see things this time we hadn't seen before. We went to Plaza Espana (beautiful) and had a short lunch near there, and then took a cab to "the mushrooms" - a modern art installation kind of near the train station. It was 104 degrees so we decided after a little bit more wandering that we had seen enough for one hot day and took the train back. We were only in port from 11 AM to 11 PM but we had plenty of time to see what we wanted to see (though limited), get back by 7 or so, eat a quick dinner, and then go back out to explore Cadiz. I came back right before it got totally dark and in plenty of time for departure at 11 PM. We could have done more in Seville if we had wanted, but my husband tires easily, and even I tired a bit earlier than expected due to the heat/humidity, but still felt it was worthwhile to go. If you decide you want to go to Seville (and it really is a beautiful city), email me at howardruthalliejoey@gmail.com and I'll give you tips on how to do it. Some info I found on various sites about the bus was out of date. It now leaves from a very humble "station" near the train station - about a 10-15 minute walk from where cruise ships normally dock. The bus goes closer to the old part of Seville than the train and is about the same price. It was a comfortable ride that went fairly quickly through fairly brown land, interspersed with some white villages.

Delete - duplicate post - sorry!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=44039770#post44039770

The link above is to something I just wrote up on how to get from Cadiz Port to Seville.

Happy travels!

I would also not pay for a tour of Cadiz. The town is small, walkable and has little of interest for the visitor - unless you want to stop in at Zara or Juicy Couture chain shops. I have been to Cadiz four times, walked the entire town and say there is little memorable to see or impart. Even the so-called Roman ruins & cathedral are meh.

You can enjoy a good fish lunch at El Farro at the far end of town, one of the best restaurants on the coast of Spain. Cadiz' large food market (when open) smack dab in the center of the historical area is interesting to wander through and see the produce and meats- for ten minutes. Some sections of town are seedy and there are shady characters about so be mindful.

Taking the train to/from Seville is a breeze. Trains run frequently and the station is an easy walk of ten minutes from the port. You can see the station from your ship. Seville has much more to offer a day visitor than Cadiz - history, religious sites, food, an far more impressive setting make a day in Seville far more interesting and appealing than dawdling in a Podunk place like Cadiz.

I disagree that Cadiz is a podunk place, although the Roman ruins are certainly missable! However, it's good to have differing opinions on here so cruisers can read all and make up their minds whether it's worthwhile to spend time, money and effort on the train or bus to Seville (or other destinations).

Just wanted to mention that the bus station is right next to the train station, so the walk is the same from the port. Older maps of Cadiz, by the way, may show the bus station on the other side of the port from where most cruise ships dock, making it look quicker to walk to the bus station. That is no longer the case, as the two "stations" are pretty much side by side now.

We were just there a week and half ago. We booked a tour with Spain Day Tours. Fantastic service and great tour staff. For the money and what you will see and learn with stops and walking tour, I would go that route especially with your port time. You'll be worrying about watching the time and delays getting back to the ship. This company did all the planning and colck watching. So fun and easy. Skip any boat tours. Too large of groups.

With your time in port definitely do an organized tour. We just returned from our cruise and we were in port from 8AM to 11PM. We did a ships tour to Seville which we were very pleased with, then came back to the ship briefly to drop off our bags, and then walked all over Cadiz on our own.

The full day tours are about 8 hours long as the drive to and from Seville is at least 1 1/5 hours long and included a bathroom break on the way.

I am sorry I posted something incorrect above...the drive to Seville on the bus is over 1 1/2 hours long each way, probably closer to two when you factored in the bathroom stop.

So...take the train! Direct, shorter commute time, runs all day. Cadiz & Seville stations are centrally located - Cadiz station is a 10 minute easy walk to/from the small port.

Sunsetbeachgal, thanks for clarifying that. I assumed you meant 1 1/2 hour, but others may not have known. Even the TGComes bus takes 1 hour 45 mins. and it only makes one short stop in another part of Cadiz before heading to Sevilla! Most of the RENFE trains take 1 hour 40 mins. (either to San Bernardo station or main Santa Justa station). Since the train and bus are now side by side, the walk to catch either is about the same. Therefore, either trip takes about 2 hours - and the price is very similar (maybe 26 euros round trip). Of course, then you may need to factor in some time (and maybe money) to get to the central part of Sevilla from where the bus or train stops. (They DO stop at different places. I give the edge to the bus for convenience, but it depends upon what you want to see. Of course, the train has a bathroom, and possibly a drink/snack machine on board, so that might be a plus to some!)

The way I see it, if you want to learn a lot about Sevilla and not have to worry about logistics or possibly missing departure of the ship, a tour is the way to go. If you don't want to pay much and are willing to do a tour yourself with your own itinerary or guide book, you can easily do a short or long tour in Sevilla with a little planning and a lot less money.