Getting the best from Seville stop

[cruisinclined]

This has probably featured in previous discussions but is imminent for us. A few days in Seville are part of an upcoming cruise. A long awaited and anticipated visit to Seville and we hope for very warm but not severe temperatures in early June - depends on our luck! Could be 35C we have heard.

We hear that there is a 20/30 min walk from the ship to the centre and ask, for older passengers, whether that is doable both ways or do we consider taxi travel?

We walk an hour plus a day in temperate climes but Seville will doubtless be more of a challenge. Is it flat or uphill?

We appreciate the key things to visit but are interested in your experience and any tips plus any less well known locations you recommend.

Any lunch tips? We tend to eat lightly lunchtime but like Spanish food.

Plus other things you think we ought to hear about.

Looking forward to your advice.

 

[wjfan417]

16 minutes ago, cruisinclined said:

This has probably featured in previous discussions but is imminent for us. A few days in Seville are part of an upcoming cruise. A long awaited and anticipated visit to Seville and we hope for very warm but not severe temperatures in early June - depends on our luck! Could be 35C we have heard.

We hear that there is a 20/30 min walk from the ship to the centre and ask, for older passengers, whether that is doable both ways or do we consider taxi travel?

We walk an hour plus a day in temperate climes but Seville will doubtless be more of a challenge. Is it flat or uphill?

We appreciate the key things to visit but are interested in your experience and any tips plus any less well known locations you recommend.

Any lunch tips? We tend to eat lightly lunchtime but like Spanish food.

Plus other things you think we ought to hear about.

Looking forward to your advice.

 

Seville is pretty flat and easy to walk. Both times we’ve been there, either my husband or I had some foot issues but didn’t have any problems there. We walked to the Alcazar and cathedral, as well as the park with the beautiful tiles.

[Grandma Cruising]

2 hours ago, wjfan417 said:

Seville is pretty flat and easy to walk. Both times we’ve been there, either my husband or I had some foot issues but didn’t have any problems there. We walked to the Alcazar and cathedral, as well as the park with the beautiful tiles.

We had a lovely tapas lunch in Seville at a little bar near the Cathedral. The Croquettes (cheese, ham, fish) were delicious

[curmudgeon98]

I would agree with very flat, and docking is quite central (opposite Parque de Maria Luisa).  Maybe a mile to the cathedral, a bit less to the Alcazar and pedestrian area of the old town.  It wasn't hot when we were there a few years ago in April (it was quite rainy in fact).  There are quite a few trees along the way for shade, but wide-brimmed hats might be helpful in summer.

[alcpa1]

We have just returned from The Journey with 2 nights in Seville.

Seville is just beautiful and easily walkable. The ship docks next to the aquarium and both are in a park like setting. You can walk to the Cathedral and the Spanish Square but more central Seville is quite a hike and while all of the neighborhoods looked fine I would advise a taxi due to distances and traffic. Crossing some of the wide boulevards and watching out for the motor bikes and crazy drivers would provide a challenge.

While many of our port stops from Lisbon to Barcelona were in the low to mid 60's (farenheit) Seville was hovering in the 80's. Because it is so far inland we also didn't enjoy the ocean breezes. 

Enjoy Seville. It is truly beautiful.

[uktog]

The beautiful park across from where the ship docks is a good route back from town as it has lots of seats if you’re tired. Likewise cutting down to the river bank and using that route. It’s a brilliant walkable city all flat 

[Mrs Miggins]

Thank you everyone for your helpful replies.  We will be there in June.   Whilst I will be happy to spend all day walking DH is not so keen or able.   Were there taxis available ship side ?  I imagine they would be readily available in the Town Centre or perhaps Uber ?

The current state of the website is not helpful as we havent booked a Shore Excursion and I can't now see what is available - others on our roll call have booked SpainDayTours but I really do prefer to DIY if possible.

[uktog]

1 minute ago, Mrs Miggins said:

Thank you everyone for your helpful replies.  We will be there in June.   Whilst I will be happy to spend all day walking DH is not so keen or able.   Were there taxis available ship side ?  I imagine they would be readily available in the Town Centre or perhaps Uber ?

The current state of the website is not helpful as we havent booked a Shore Excursion and I can't now see what is available - others on our roll call have booked SpainDayTours but I really do prefer to DIY if possible.

There were a few taxis at times and mid morning little horse drawn rides also arrived. I’d recommend the ship’s excursion to Cordoba it was well organised and seemed better than the independent ones on the voyage we did last year. The local private guides were variable the usual issue  many left and did not return post covid and some new ones weren’t suited to the task. Hope you get excursions to view and book online soon 

[englishlee]

Got back from an Azamara cruise which spent 1nt/2 days in Seville, also did a similar itinerary last year. There were very few taxis available alongside the ship at any time and most of the time none at all, so don't plan on picking up one from the port. From the city centre it was quite easy, there were taxi ranks at a number of places so shouldn't be an issue.

It was hot when we were there, 83f/28c, by June it'll be quite a bit warmer 35c is quite likely, last June it was 40c for 7 consecutive days, and not much cooler either side.

If you plan to see the Alcazar I suggest you book tickets in advance preferably with a skip the line facility. The queues when we were in Seville were very long and we heard some say that they couldnt but tickets as that days allocation had been sold (not sure if they are still operating capacity restrictions). It is a great city, no hills of any note but it does get busy, and the park opposite the ship, which leads to the Plaza de Espana is a delightful place to spend an hour or two wandering around. Can recommend visiting the Bullring which is a 20-30 minute walk along the riverfront from the ship.

[G2G]

10 hours ago, Mrs Miggins said:

Thank you everyone for your helpful replies.  We will be there in June.   Whilst I will be happy to spend all day walking DH is not so keen or able.   Were there taxis available ship side ?  I imagine they would be readily available in the Town Centre or perhaps Uber ?

The current state of the website is not helpful as we havent booked a Shore Excursion and I can't now see what is available - others on our roll call have booked SpainDayTours but I really do prefer to DIY if possible.

when I did the same trip last year I asked the front desk to order a taxi for me as there were none outside. I had maybe a 15 minute wait on the first day less on the second.

[G2G]

On one of the days, I took a Taxi to the railway station and went to Cordoba as I have been to Seville a number of times before. Azamara offered an excursion there but it was very expensive.

[cruiseaholic78]

22 hours ago, uktog said:

The beautiful park across from where the ship docks is a good route back from town as it has lots of seats if you’re tired. Likewise cutting down to the river bank and using that route. It’s a brilliant walkable city all flat 

The park leads to the Playa de Espana which is incredible, the (free) Military Museum there is also worth a visit.

My lunch tip is The Terrace cafe overlooking the city and the river it doesn’t get much better than that!

[Dynacruiser]

Tips for taxi/uber in Sevilla and other Spanish cities:

Just returned from an Azamara trip, so from personal recent experience:

1) uber worked great in Sevilla

• App required passport number when using first time in Spain.  But nobody checks if the number is correct.
• We usually entered nearby restaurants for place of origin and destination, instead of typing an address.   Maquiavelo restaurant is next to the Sevilla port. 
• Wait time was usually <10 min 
• Be aware, uber in some cities was not widely available, apparently due to complaints from taxis.  So, conditions in Sevilla when you visit may be different.  In Valencia we waited about 1 hr for uber at midnight.  
• Uber was very affordable and all drivers were very polite. 
  2) Taxis
• Widely available but you may have to get on a busy street and flag them. The restaurant can also call you a radio taxi. 
• Likely your driver wont speak English and may not understand your pronunciation of Spanish words.   

3) public transport

• if you speak Spanish, this may be a good option. 
  4) Download cabify app
• Cabify is a Madrid-based app, similar to uber.  
• in some cities we could not find uber and locals told us that they prefer cabify because its not a “foreign app”.
• Cabify app makes you wait 1 hour after you first enter your credit card to use it (!@#.).  So download it as soon as you first enter Spain and enter your c card immediately. 
• When we were finally able to use it we found lots of drivers nearby, faster than uber (didnt try it in Sevilla). 

Other transportation tips:

• The port address on the azamara info is not always something taxi drivers or apps recognize. 
• Take a clear panoramic picture of a landmark where the cruise port is.   We had to show our pictures to a driver in Valencia because he wasn't sure which part of the port we were going to. 
• Save a pin or screenshot of the cruise map location. 
• You and your companion should carry your phone and perhaps a spare battery if spending all day outside. 
• Clearly write the name of the ship and nearby landmark to give to a taxi driver if you dont speak the language  Ex. “Crucero Azamara. Restaurante Maquiavelo”. A local may not understand your accent. 
• Carry local cash or an atm card 

Sevilla is walkable but only you know your level of fitness.  After 16k steps, we gave up and used uber or whatever we could find. 
 

Hope this  helpful.   Enjoy Spain!

 

 

Edited April 12, 2023 by Dynacruiser

[cruisinclined]

On 4/11/2023 at 2:02 PM, englishlee said:

Got back from an Azamara cruise which spent 1nt/2 days in Seville, also did a similar itinerary last year. There were very few taxis available alongside the ship at any time and most of the time none at all, so don't plan on picking up one from the port. From the city centre it was quite easy, there were taxi ranks at a number of places so shouldn't be an issue.

It was hot when we were there, 83f/28c, by June it'll be quite a bit warmer 35c is quite likely, last June it was 40c for 7 consecutive days, and not much cooler either side.

If you plan to see the Alcazar I suggest you book tickets in advance preferably with a skip the line facility. The queues when we were in Seville were very long and we heard some say that they couldnt but tickets as that days allocation had been sold (not sure if they are still operating capacity restrictions). It is a great city, no hills of any note but it does get busy, and the park opposite the ship, which leads to the Plaza de Espana is a delightful place to spend an hour or two wandering around. Can recommend visiting the Bullring which is a 20-30 minute walk along the riverfront from the ship.

I will try to book the Alcazar today. I assume there will be queues for the cathedral too. Will check out the bullring, very topical in Spain these days.

[cruisinclined]

On 4/11/2023 at 6:48 PM, G2G said:

On one of the days, I took a Taxi to the railway station and went to Cordoba as I have been to Seville a number of times before. Azamara offered an excursion there but it was very expensive.

That's a very good tip for next time we go (if we do). Would love to visit Cordoba (and Toledo), assume about a hour away by train?

[cruisinclined]

 

On 4/12/2023 at 6:34 AM, cruiseaholic78 said:

The park leads to the Playa de Espana which is incredible, the (free) Military Museum there is also worth a visit.

My lunch tip is The Terrace cafe overlooking the city and the river it doesn’t get much better than that!

 

On 4/12/2023 at 6:34 AM, cruiseaholic78 said:

The park leads to the Playa de Espana which is incredible, the (free) Military Museum there is also worth a visit.

My lunch tip is The Terrace cafe overlooking the city and the river it doesn’t get much better than that!

Lovely photos. How do we locate Terrace café?

Edited April 13, 2023 by cruisinclined
mistake

[englishlee]

15 minutes ago, cruisinclined said:

I will try to book the Alcazar today. I assume there will be queues for the cathedral too. Will check out the bullring, very topical in Spain these days.

The Cathedral was closed when we were there in preparation I assume for Semana Santa, so I don't know about queues. The Bullring has an interesting museum attached, the entrance fee for the bullring and museum is 6 Euro's (senior rate). Cordoba is well worth a visit if you have the time but there is a lot to see and do in both places (Seville and Cordoba) so may be better to concentrate on one in order not to exhaust yourselves. It is about 45 minutes by fast train (best to book). Toledo is much further away - it's just outside of Madrid, so not really feasible from Seville in a day. 

Suggest if you want to see Cordoba do it as a long weekend . It's very easy to get to from Malaga by rail and there are often cheapish flights from the UK to Malaga.

[G2G]

18 minutes ago, cruisinclined said:

That's a very good tip for next time we go (if we do). Would love to visit Cordoba (and Toledo), assume about a hour away by train?

It’s just less than an hour away. We were there for 3 days, so I did one day in Cordoba which was fabulous & one day down to Cadiz which was ok. 

There is a lot to see in Seville and the Tapas are excellent, enjoy your trip. 

[G2G]

1 minute ago, G2G said:

It’s just less than an hour away. We were there for 3 days, so I did one day in Cordoba which was fabulous & one day down to Cadiz which was ok. 

There is a lot to see in Seville and the Tapas are excellent, enjoy your trip. 

I pre-booked my train, the Spanish rail system is very efficient 

[cruisinclined]

1 hour ago, englishlee said:

The Cathedral was closed when we were there in preparation I assume for Semana Santa, so I don't know about queues. The Bullring has an interesting museum attached, the entrance fee for the bullring and museum is 6 Euro's (senior rate). Cordoba is well worth a visit if you have the time but there is a lot to see and do in both places (Seville and Cordoba) so may be better to concentrate on one in order not to exhaust yourselves. It is about 45 minutes by fast train (best to book). Toledo is much further away - it's just outside of Madrid, so not really feasible from Seville in a day. 

Suggest if you want to see Cordoba do it as a long weekend . It's very easy to get to from Malaga by rail and there are often cheapish flights from the UK to Malaga.

Great advice thank you. I was in Spain in my late teens staying with a family in 1960 in Franco's days, very different and much poorer then. Catholic Church much more powerful in Spain then too. 

 

Toledo just an aspiration and, as you say, a bit too far from Sevilla but Spanish trains today are magnificent and swift!, In 1960 they were on a narrower gauge track from the rest of Europe so you changed train and track at the border at Hendaye in the north..