Seville travel guide

Seville Travel Guide

Seville is one of the largest cities in Spain and home to a lot of culture. A trip to Seville is highly recommended if you like hot weather, classic culture, great food experiences and architectural sights. This article works as a general guide to Seville, where you can pick up some inspiration and practical advice for your journey.

Facts about Seville

Community: Andalusia
Rank: Capital
Population: 703.021 (4th in Spain)
UNESCO World Heritage sites: 3
Famous for: Architecture, birthplace of culture, only river port in Spain, hot weather

What you should know about Seville

Seville – known as Sevilla in Spanish – is the fourth largest city in Spain. Inside the city, it has roughly 700.000 inhabitants, but counting the full metro area, Seville is home to one and a half million people.

That makes it the largest city in Andalusia, where it also ranks as the capital.

The Roman name for Seville was Hispalis, and they intended it to be the capital of their Hispania region. However, the city was already founded by the Phoenicians under the name Hisbaal. The name changed here and there, particularly under the long Moorish rule, but returned to Sevilla under the Spanish language customs.

During the Moorish rule, Seville was first under the jurisdiction of Córdoba, but later became an independent city on its own. In 1248, Seville was incorporated into the Kingdom of Castille. From there, it grew to great prominence and had economic success for years.

A big reason for this economic success was the success of the Spanish Empire. Seville was a centre of culture and had great achievements in art and literature. It was an important port, and to this day it remains the only river port in Spain. Seville is located right at the Guadalquivir River and had great strategic importance for years. Today, Cádiz, another Andalusian city, has grown to be the main port of the region.

Due to its great culture, architecture and history, Seville is one of the most popular travel destinations in Spain. It’s the capital of the south of Spain and gets visited frequently by Spaniards and foreigners alike. Some visitors call it the greatest city they have ever visited.

How to get to Seville

It’s a bit harder to get to Seville compared to other Spanish cities such as Madrid and Barcelona. The reason is that the Seville airport is much smaller and has fewer connections.

However, it is possible to fly to Seville. San Pablo Airport serves as the main one, and it does have frequent Vueling and Ryanair flights. There are many flights between Seville and other Spanish cities. There are also plenty of connections between Seville and Porto (in northern Portugal).

A common way to get to and from Seville is by train. The Santa Justa Train Station is the main station, and it has the AVE high-speed train coming in from Madrid.

With bus or car, you can get to Seville from almost anywhere. Renting a car or driving your own is probably easiest as it gives you a free choice on where to go. The roads and freeways surrounding Seville are quite good, and although a bit crowded close to the city, it is generally an easy place to drive.

If you take the bus, you can reach Seville from most major Spanish cities and almost all Andalusian cities. You can also take the bus into southern Portugal, where the Algarve region is quite close.

Getting around in Seville

Seville has a small metro with 22 stations. An extension is in the works, tripling the travel opportunities with Seville’s light rail system. There are also buses and taxis driving around at all hours of the day. It is possible to rent a bike or a scooter.

But Seville has a nice size, so it is easily possible to walk around for the most part.

More about Seville

This article will be edited regularly with more information added.

Check some of our other articles that contain information about Seville.

And while you’re at it, feel free to read about the other Spanish travel destinations that we have covered!

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