family travel guide
What can you say about Seville without visiting it? The poems of Federico García Lorca, the comedies of Pierre Augustin de Beaumarchais about the clever Figaro, and the tragic story of Carmen.
The list goes on and on, with nothing to say about the city itself. That's why Andalusia's centre is such a fascinating place to visit, sultry, smart and spirited. To ensure you get all the attractions, plan your Seville holiday with the kids using our recommendations.
But before describing family holidays, we should remind you that Seville has no sea. Not disappointed? Read more about why a trip to Seville is as good as lying on the beach.
Seville is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia. The city is located in the southwestern part of Spain, on the banks of the Guadalquivir River. The distance from Seville to Madrid is 535 km, to Barcelona — 996 km, Valencia — 654 km and Malaga — 206 km.
Legend has it that Hercules founded the first settlement on Seville's shores. The location was perfect: the land around the city was fertile, and the Guadalquivir River was navigable to the sea, even on modern ships. It is not known how Hercules named the settlement, but the city was later called Cefela (Phoenician), Ispalis (Roman), and Isbilla (Arabic) until it acquired its present name. Since its founding, Seville has become Spain's fourth most populous city. During the tourist season, the city's population at least doubles.
Planning a holiday in Seville is pleasant:
For the sake of this, you can refuse the sea. And even necessary: people usually come to Seville in the spring, when the beach season at seaside resorts is not yet open. On second thoughts, should kids come to Seville for the opera, the flamenco, the bullfighting and the architectural beauty? Suppose you could enjoy Rossini's Cinderella in an opera, the first flamenco in an amusement park, or the bullfight or bullfighting gymnastics in a bullfighting museum; then the kids would love it.
It's best to travel to Seville with school-aged children. Firstly, they can handle long excursions, and you don't have to interrupt them because they get bored and want to run around in the park.
Secondly, schoolchildren would love to go somewhere for spring break, especially as Seville is warm at that time. On the other hand, Seville has plenty of activities for the kids, so they'll love coming here with the little ones and alternating between excursions and effortless relaxation.
And here's what's more important: the time for a Seville trip must be carefully chosen, especially if you are travelling with a baby.
If you want to visit the Andalusian capital in summer, during your holiday at the seaside resorts, plan like a true Spaniard — with a siesta in mind. All activities should occur in the morning and evening, avoid excursions and walks in the heat of the day and relax with your child in a cool hotel room.
Choosing when to go to Seville takes work, even for the experienced traveller. Considering the city's climate, avoid the huge crowds that come to Seville for the holidays and, if possible, combine sightseeing with a trip to the sea.
We've compiled some information on Seville's top events and weather to help you decide which month to plan your seaside holiday with your baby. If you're going to Seville for a day or two while on holiday in the Costa del Sol resorts, planning your trip for June or September is best.
The reason is that in the second half of summer, the city's like a furnace, and only the most persistent tourist dares see the sights. Sevilleans try to spend July and August away from the city, on the coast, where the heat isn't so intense.
With increased hotel prices, the high season in Seville coincides with the summer. Prices also increase during the big holidays, including Christmas, New Year's Eve and Carnival in February.
If Seville is your main destination, spring is the best time. With mild, sunny weather, the fragrance of blossoming orange trees, and the pale lilac clouds of jacaranda, you can walk around the city all day.
It's a good idea to visit Seville with an infant in March and April because the city is already feeling the heat by May.
Seville's poor time of year is during the second half of autumn and winter when it rains a lot. Spring also sees the colourful Semana Santa and Corpus Christi celebrations and the Feria de Abril fair. April also marks the start of the bullfighting season. The abundance of festivities, meanwhile, can be considered a downside, with hundreds of thousands of tourists flocking to the city. For the Seville holidays, accommodation must be booked three months in advance.
Although Seville is about two hundred kilometres from the coast, its climate is Mediterranean. What you need to know about Seville's climate is that summers are sweltering, and even the low humidity doesn't make it any less hot.
Spring is an excellent time to visit Seville. Visitors can arrive early in March when temperatures rise to +20-21 ° C. In April, the temperature rises to around +24°C; in May, the thermometer reads +30°C.
The warm days are followed by cold nights: Seville's spring temperatures drop to between +8ºC and -15ºC after sunset. Despite frequent rainfall, spring promises the best holidays in Seville with children as the gardens and parks are in bloom, the air is fresh and clear, and the puddles dry up within an hour after a rainstorm.
From early June to late September, the heat strikes the city. Day to day, thermometers read +33-34°C in June, +37-38°C in July and August (and that's not the limit), and +31-33°C in September. Closer to night, the temperature drops to +20-24°C.
It's not until October that the scorching days are over, although the thermometers are still hovering around +27-28°C. The nights get pretty cold, and once again, after the summer dryness, the rains begin.
The rainiest month in Seville is November. Despite the pleasant warmth of around +20°C, November's rains can disrupt tourists' plans.
Winter in the city is mild and sunny. Temperatures are between +15-17°C during the day and +7-9°C at night. It rains less than in autumn, and sometimes, as a miracle, something like snow falls from the sky.
Spanish cuisine is often referred to as Andalusian cuisine. The region is home to gazpacho soup, salmorejo, remojón salad, and potato tortilla. A tour of Seville flows seamlessly into restaurants and tapas bars, which is also a great way to get to know the city and the Andalusian cuisine.
It is also home to some of the best jamón and the famous sherry grapes. There are polvorones and honey crispy pestiños baked for Christmas. Arabic sweets are also very popular in Andalusia, and washing them down with mint tea is customary.
Everything you need for self-cooking can be bought in supermarkets of Spanish and international chains. Please note that they are all open on Sundays.
Sevilleans prefer to buy fresh fruit, vegetables, sausages, cheeses, fish and seafood at the markets. The city has about a dozen markets open on different days. The biggest one, Encarnación, is centrally located and open all week except Sundays. Also popular are the Feria and Puerta de la Carne.
Seville's public transport system consists of buses, metro and trams. The bus network covers the entire city. Seville’s bus system runs from around 06:00 to 23:30. Bus stops have timetables and information about when the next bus will arrive. Travellers particularly appreciate the C1 and C2 circular routes, which are suitable for quick sightseeing.
You can buy single tickets for €1.40 or Bonobus tickets that cut your fare in half.
There are no special fares for children. Tickets are sold at the driver's or the ticket office and can be purchased and refilled at TUSSAM outlets. Tourists can also take advantage of the 1- or 3-day passes that allow unlimited use of public transport in Seville. They cost €5 and €10 respectively. You can buy them only at the TUSSAM counters.
The Metrocentro line can also be seen as a sightseeing transport option. The fare depends on how many zones you're crossing (the maps are available on the Seville Metro website) and varies between 1.30 and 1.80 euros. With the Bonometro card, the fare drops between €0.82 and €1.35.
There is no transport around Seville at night, apart from a few night buses and the metro, which is open until 2:00 at weekends. However, tourists are advised to take a taxi at night for safety reasons.
Renting a car if you're only going to spend time in Seville is not advisable. Taxis are available at car parks or by phone. The fare is charged on the meter, about €3 per boarding and about €1 per kilometre. The city's streets are narrow, often one-way, the traffic is heavy, and car parks are jammed.
If you are travelling by car, we recommend using the interactive parking map on the city website.
Seville has easy and safe routes for cyclists. You can also use bicycles to get around Seville. There are dozens of Sevici municipal bike rentals, and the maze of central streets is much easier to navigate by bike than car.
The question of what to do in Seville with a child is easy to answer: there are huge theme parks in and around the city, two water parks, a zoo and aquarium, and many parks with playgrounds for children. The question is, how long should a family holiday be so that you can visit all this and still have time for excursions? At a conservative estimate, you'd need at least a week.
At least a day's sightseeing in the Andalusian capital is worthwhile.
Sit on the first floor of the Bus Touristic, in a horse-drawn carriage or on the deck of the Guadalquivir River Tram and admire the palace-like buildings, temples, fountains and bridges.
Walk through the narrow streets of the old Casco Antiguo and discover the remains of the ramparts. The Santa Cruz neighbourhood is fun for teens, with its beautifully decorated altarpiece, the Giralda Tower and the Alcázar Palace as world-famous landmarks. Plaza de España, which looks like an illustrated encyclopaedia of the country's history, is worth a visit.
Piazza Española and the Alcázar of Seville may also be of interest to a child, as it was the setting for Star Wars and Game of Thrones. Whether your child wants to visit the planet Naboo or the Kingdom of Dorn, you can find it all right on the streets of Seville.
Isla Magica is an amusement park that everyone who comes to Seville with a child would love to visit. It offers a full range of attractions for children: rides, a water park, water shows, pirate shows and fireworks. The park is located on the island of La Cartuja, with a planetarium and a botanical garden. Isla Magica opens in early April and runs until the end of September.
A visit to Magic Island will take a full day. Another day should be allotted for a visit to the aquarium and the surrounding area.
Seville's Zoo is 15 km from the city. The animals have a natural habitat and a real wildlife experience in La Reserva Park, 50 km from Seville. Activities include a safari and sea lion shows, paintball and canoeing. A much closer water park is Aquopolis, a 20-minute drive from the centre of Seville.
Seville's parks and gardens are surprisingly lovely and, most importantly, adapted to be a place to take your child for a walk. One of the biggest green areas in the city is Maria Luisa Park, adjacent to the Plaza de España. Everyone usually rushes to the lotus pond to admire the delicate flowers, but that's not the park's only attraction.
A small orange orchard has been planted next to the Cathedral. The gardens surrounding the Alcázar have a green labyrinth for children. The Murillo Gardens are also close by. Characteristically, there are hardly any playgrounds in the parks — usually in courtyards and streets. The Guadalquivir promenade just outside the centre has some very quirky playgrounds. In the heat, you can spend time with your children in the shopping centres, and they have playrooms.
In summer, getting away from the sweltering heat of Seville to the sea is a pleasure like no other. While the Costa del Sol resorts are a good 3 hours drive away, Cadiz is half as fast. Another point of interest is that Cadiz is on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. During July and September, the water in the ocean heats up to +22-24°C, and the air temperature does not exceed +30°C.
The beaches in Cadiz are sandy, with an even, clear day and well-equipped beaches. They are all Blue Flag rated, and the only drawback is overcrowding during the high season.
Museumgoers will love exploring the options for what to see in Seville. History, architecture, art, science — you can arrange themed days or choose what you want to show your child.
Seville's Must see is the Archaeological Museum, which offers a new look at ancient shards and rubble. It is possible thanks to the work of restorers who have reconstructed sculptures from fragmentary fragments, assembling the skeleton of a prehistoric lizard from individual bones.
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You can be transported back to ancient times by visiting the archaeological park "Roman Italica" in Seville with a child. The buildings, built over 2,000 years ago, have not survived, but the floor mosaics have survived and even today look exquisite.
Of course, one of the most interesting places for children in Seville is the Science House. The monumental Peruvian pavilion is devoted to exhibitions on the nature of Andalusia.
The beauty of this museum is the unusual presentation of information, with comic strips on the stands, puzzles of the exhibits and the possibility to touch everything with your hands. A holiday in Seville with children can also include visiting the Military Museum. In addition to the usual museum displays, the Seville museum has its army of tin soldiers.
Seville has a painting collection as extensive as the Prado Museum in Madrid. The Museo de Bellas Artes, housed in a former monastery, boasts paintings by Velazquez, Murillo and other painters of the Seville school.
For those fascinated by the art of flamenco, visit the museum dedicated to the history and traditions of this dance. Flamenco can be seen in various locations, such as the Teatro Lope de Vega, Isla Magica, tablaos, and even in the streets. The Seville festivals, such as the lively April Fair, are also not without flamenco. Note that tablaos are not always open to families with small children.
The bullfighting museum, adjacent to the Plaza de Toros de Maestranza, the oldest arena in Spain, is not to be missed. You will listen to the guide's narration in the arena, imagining the exit of the torero and the fight with the bull, more like a dance.
If you have more free time, the Pabellon de la Navegacion, built for the Expo '92, is worth visiting. The history of navigation as a story of human communication told through multimedia and interactive exhibits sounds intriguing and makes a lasting impression. There are also temporary exhibitions in the pavilion: one subject was the voyage of the Titanic, and another was Van Gogh's paintings.
The best options for children in Seville are for school kids. If you need to get younger children interested in a guided tour, you can use the tricks on the museums' websites. The Seville Cathedral site, for instance, offers a children's booklet with pictures of the history and a booklet with activities for a museum quest. The text, however, is only available in Spanish.
Seville covers a reasonably large area and consists of 11 districts. Travellers usually look for accommodation in Seville's central districts, but there are a few things to consider when choosing where to stay with children.
Staying in the historic centre makes sense if you are short on time and want to see more sights. Casco Antiguo hotels are often located in old buildings, which helps you get into the city's spirit. However, they are not the best option for accommodation in Seville with children.
They do not have a lift, often do not have air conditioning, and the bathrooms can be small. Another drawback is that the ringing of the bells of the many surrounding churches augments the usual street noise. Living on the outskirts of Seville's historic district is a little quieter, closer to the seafront.
A respectable district a little away from some attractions and right next to others. One of the best places to stay in Seville with young children, with plenty of parks and playgrounds. The Especial Aeropuerto bus stop to the airport is close to Plaza España.
The area is just across the river Guadalquivir from the historic centre. The hotels are state-of-the-art, but finding a quiet place to stay takes time and effort. When choosing accommodation, you should ask whether there is a nightclub nearby.
Like Triana, it is located on the right bank of the Guadalquivir. It is a long way from the centre but is home to the Isla Magica theme park. However, this is where the amusement park, Isla Magica, is located. It has Good transport links to the city centre. The disadvantages of the area are no big shops and only a few hotels to choose from.
Renting accommodation near Seville is only worthwhile if you travel by car and plan to spend a relatively long time in the city. There are also hotels and apartments in the smaller towns nearby. They cost less than in the old city but are about the same as in Triana.
The choice of hotels in Seville will please any traveller, whether you're a luxury seeker or an undemanding one. The city has some chic 5* and solid 4* hotels, though most hotels are three-star. Everywhere the level of service is as advertised; for the most part, hotels limit themselves to providing their guests with comfortable sleeping conditions. Swimming pools, playgrounds and mini-clubs are scarce in Seville.
For an independent holiday in Seville with children, you can choose apartments. They have the advantage of a kitchen where meals can be prepared for the little travellers.
Aeropuerto de Sevilla-San Pablo International Airport receives flights from several European countries. The most common options are connecting flights in Madrid or Málaga. Flight schedules are available on the airport's website.
Ways to get to Seville from the airport:
Other nearby airports: Jerez de la Frontera (90 km to Seville) and Malaga (206 km to Seville).
From the Costa del Sol and Costa de Almeria resorts, you can travel to Malaga and, from there, take a bus to Seville. Buses arrive at one of the bus stations: Prado de San Sebastián or Plaza de Armas. Flight timetables and ticket prices are on the ALSA website: https://www.alsa.com.
The AVE runs high-speed trains from Madrid, Malaga and Córdoba to Seville. The Santa Justa train station is located close to the city centre. For timetables and ticket prices, see the Spanish railway company RENFE website: https://www.renfe.com/.
You can rent a car if you plan to combine a beach holiday with trips around Andalusia. You can rent a car at the airport, from car rental companies or online.
The ways to get Seville:
The official Seville website has a map showing parking availability.
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