Historic Seville
Summary
When you think of the major historic cities of the world, you naturally think of the likes of Rome, Paris, Barcelona, Istanbul, Jerusalem, Delhi, Beijing etc., but not necessarily Seville in that top bracket. Yet it really should be – consider a few factors:
1. Huge variety of history – whilst many of the major European cities have ebbed and flowed in influence, Seville, from the time of the Romans, Goths, Muslim-rule, Catillian conquest, and through to its position as the commercial capital of the Spanish Empire in the Age of Discovery, has remained a key city – that is a serious variety of history in one place!
2. Major attractions – Seville Cathedral, The Royal Palace Alcazar and the General Archives of the Indies are all UNESCO World Heritage Sites. And then you have the likes of the Plaza de Toros (Spain’s oldest and premier bullring), magnificent Plaza de Espana and the other myriad of chrurchs, palaces and museums
3. Compact – unlike some of other major Historical Cities, the historic sites are all super close together, with most sites within 500m
4. The Old Town is magical – the old medieval lanes of the Historic area offer an Old Town that is not only pretty, but also has that wonderful combination of having a buzz, but being easily able to escape the crowds and find small deserted laned all to yourself
From an experience point of view, it’s acually the Old Town that makes Seville feel special . . . and very real in many ways. As long as you can manage your expectations for fellow tourist numbers at the key attractions and avoid the intense heat of the summer, Seville is a “must visit” in what is the must visit region of Spain (Andalucia)
highlights
#1 Wandering through the narrow, jolting streets of the Old Town. One of the best in the world, with its compact world-class attractions and general buzz of the place
#2 The magnificent combination of Christian and Islamic architecture and carvings in the Real Alcazar Palace - you can see why they filmed Game of Thrones here!
#3 Being in awe at Seville Cathedral - the 4th largest in the world and the largest Gothic Cathedral. You'll spend a good 30mins just staring up at the incredible domes, pillars and rooftop
#4 Spending some time wandering, sitting and having a drink in the luscious gardens of the Real Alcazar Palace complex
#5 Taking the tour around the Plaza de Toros Bullring - Spain's oldest and considered to be the premier spot for all things bull fighting. Whilst many of us have different views as to whether it should be allowed, the history is fascinating
#6 Seeing the enormously grand Plaza de Espana. Built for the Latin American World Expo, thye spared no expense
#7 Viisting Christopher Columbus' Tomb in the Cathedral
#8 The food, bars and restaurants! Adalucia has some fantastic restaurants and, as you'd expect, nails the tapas . . . but don't go until after 8pm as they like their siestas! Our favourites were La Malvaloca purely for the food and La Terraza de EME for the views
Experiences nearby
The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences
Other beautiful Historic Towns
Score Detail
Background - how many times have you asked someone what a travel experience was like and the response was "amazing" or "awesome"? That response is nice to know, but it makes it hard to differentiate that experience compared to others. That is exactly what these scores are trying to do - differentiate the experience by giving a score out of 10 based on 6 categories and then giving an overall experience score
This overall experience score is calculated by: take the highest of the "Culture" or "Nature" score (1-10) + "Fun factor" (1-10) + "Avoiding the crowds" (1-10) + highest of the "Unique" or "World Famous score" (1-10). Then convert into a score out of 100
Extra detail - the logic being that I find all of the 6 individual scores important, but I don't want to mark an experience down just because it doesn't cover both "Culture" and "Nature", or because it isn't both "World Famous" and "Unique". Take the examples of Safari in The Serengeti and walking through Rome - they both appeal at opposite ends of the nature / culture spectrum, and you can have a fantastic time without needing to appeal to both sides. So, their overall scores aren't penalized for their lack of one or the other, and I've done the same for "World Famous" vs "Unique". But . . . I do think that the "Fun factor" of an experience is important, irrelevant of other factors, and so is "Avoiding the Crowds" (or where there are crowds that add to the experience). So, both of these scores are standalone