Extended Winter Stay Seville

Seville is a good choice. Since it is the capitol of the region Andalucia there is variety and easy day trips
We went from there to Cadiz on New years Day 2019; it was 70 and sunny.

It is also a good spot for rail connections! We are staying there for 3 extra nights after RS Spain.

Hi Mike: I toured Andalucia on my own a few years back & am going to Spain again next March. As mentioned, the rail connections are great - make sure you go to Ronda & Toledo - they are so beautiful. As to the booking sites, I'm a fan of Airbnb. All places I've stayed were as advertised but one in Bali. In Bali the owner let me check out early & refunded the unused nights. As a bonus, Airbnb sent me a voucher for a couple hundred dollars for the inconvenience (this was in 2014). Just make sure you read the cancellation policy closely as the cancellation policies are set by the owner. I have never booked on VRBO so cannot comment.

As to Booking.com, I had a problem while in Tartu, Estonia. I specifically booked a place with 2 beds & when we arrived there was 1 bed. Establishment would do nothing, Booking.com would do nothing. Both said if we checked out, no refund was forthcoming. Then, in 2020, I was one 1000's trying to get home to Canada at the outbreak of the pandemic. To this day, all my emails & voice messages to Booking.com have gone unanswered. I needed documentation to prove I did not receive travel vouchers for my trip cancellation insurance. Luckily I wrote directly to the establishments and they responded - Booking.com was no help whatsoever. If looking for a hotel, I (and Rick) recommend booking directly with the property - generally always the best price & they will answer an email. Hope this may be helpful. Ten un buen viaje!

Thanks Gail. If you were to pick an area of Seville to stay for a while, where would it be?

We are currently visiting Seville and are staying (5 nights) in the neighborhood near the “mushrooms”, around the end of bus line #32. It is at the edge of busy core, away from noises but just 10 to 15 minutes walking to most attraction sites (e.g. Alcazar, Cathedral, …) in the south. It is very clean (like most of Seville) with lots small neighborhood shops, and 2 big grocery stores within 1 or 2 minutes walk. eg. We were out of milk yesterday morning, I walked out and back with one less than 7 minutes later after visiting 3 stores ( the small shop also out of milk, one big one not open yet).

I use Booking.com for all our Europe travels (5 weeks France in 2017, 5 weeks Italy 2019, 5 weeks now Portugal and Spain) and never had any issue. I found the description and reviews on Airbnb not accurate and reliable sometimes and was turned off by that. BTW, on Booking.com, I always choose places rating 9+ with lots good reviews and we only book apartment with kitchen, not hotels unless it is for one night stay.

Since you are staying in Seville for about 6 weeks, I would suggest taking the train or ALSA bus to visit Cordoba and Granada and spend 2 or 3 nights in each place. March will be warmer so that would be a good time to go. Granada will be cooler/colder since it is in the mountains so make sure you have appropriate clothing. Cordoba has the Mezquita and Granada has the Alhambra. Seville, Cordoba, and Granada are the jewels of Andalucia, and they are all very different from each other, architecturally, visually, and with a different ambience and vibe. So you get a lot of variety in addition to seeing major cultural and historical sites.

Thanks for the insights Emily and Al, and Kmkwoo

If you don't choose to spend one or more nights in Cordoba, you may well want to make at least two day trips there.

I also recommend a day trip to Carmona, a bit over an hour away by bus. (Seville has two bus stations, so you must always check to see which one handles buses to your destination.) There are other good day-trip options.

I'd definitely want to spend a night or more in Toledo if venturing that far north. Getting to Toledo from Seville involves a train to Madrid (overshooting Toledo) and a transfer to another train heading back south. And you have to do the same thing in reverse when you return to Seville. The through tickets sold by Renfe take at least 3 hr. 44 min. one way. That doesn't leave enough time to really explore beautiful, historic Toledo. The latter is quite hilly, incidentally--another reason to allow plenty of time there. Toledo is likely to be quite a bit colder than Seville. Note that the Seville-Madrid (and Madrid-Seville) parts of the rail trip would be cheaper if the tickets were purchased well in advance. Those fares can escalate quite a bit as the travel date approaches. The cost is another reason I'd want to head to Toledo for more than just a few hours.