Scenes from a Stroll Around Sevilla, Spain

Let me tell all you travelers a little something right now. If you are not too pressed for time, think about utilizing semi-nearby airports (those that are within a 2-4 hour radius) to get from Point A to Point B. This can be a great way to not only save money, but also squeeze one more city and/or country into your plans which was the case with me and Seville this past September.

This all came about while I was booking flights for my Blonde Gypsy Portugal trip. I couldn’t find reasonably priced tickets from any of the airports in the Algarve to Barcelona for TBEX so I pulled up a map to see what my other options were. It looked like Seville was fairly close and since it is the fourth largest city in Spain, I figured it probably had a fair amount of flights to the rest of country. Turned out I was right. There were tons of flights and most of them were much cheaper for the date that I needed even when figuring in a bus ticket from Faro (which by the way costs around 16 euros and takes two hours).

And so, just like that, I finally made it to Sevilla. Capital of Andalucia and one of the most beautiful cities in Spain.

I wish I could give you more advice for visiting this exceptionally beautiful city, but all I did was walk around and take photos of its exterior. Didn’t visit any museums, didn’t go into any churches or the main cathedral, can’t remember the name of any places I ate at except for one – the tapas bar Coloniales at Plaza Cristo de Burgos. Since I only had two nights and one full day, I decided to just look at it/soak it all in – the sounds, the smells, the people – and not worry about hitting all of its main sights. I will be back sometime, I’m sure of it.

Seville is where things get real, the Spanish-est of them all. This is definitely the place in Spain one should consider spending an extended period of time if they want to be in a bigger city but still immersed in what some would describe as ‘real’ Spanish culture. After all, this is region is where flamenco and bullfighting originated. Barcelona is sexy, visiting Madrid is fun – but I think this could be my new favorite big city in Spain.

36 hours in Seville was definitely not enough time to see everything, but it was perfect for an introduction which was all I was really looking for at that point. Had heard so many good things about it but never envisioned myself going out of the way to see it since I’ve been so hell-bent on conquering the East. Thankfully thinking just a little outside of the box gave me the opportunity – would have been a shame to have missed out on such a pleasant stroll around Sevilla, Spain.