Holy Week 2026 - Seville?

Posted by jgagnongross on 06/04/25 02:30 PM

Good Morning -
We are organizing a trip over my children's April break and due to the proximity thinking of 5 nights in Seville arrive April 2, 3, 4, 5 (Easter), 6. We will depart on the 6th for Granada. We will use Seville as a home base and do the local sites but also go to Cadiz or Malaga, Cordoba and possible one other location. We are flying in/ out of Madrid.

I'm learning Holy week in Seville is busy. Like HOW busy? We are New Yorkers from Brooklyn so understand crowded trains and such but don't do NY's eve in Times Sq or anything - lol. Can we still eat out and see things? Or will we be miserable? Any first hand accounts?

Posted by ekscrunchy

new york

06/04/25 02:56 PM

484 posts

Busy like Eastern Parkway on Labor Day.
It's something to see, but you would have to deal with street closings and crowds, and high prices at hotels.
I think it's worth going, but book your hotel a soon as possible, even now if you know your dates. Once you do the, a good hotel will be helpful in explaining the route of the processions and places to view them. If you really want to have a great view, you might look for a hotel on the route of one of the processions. (I'm not sure how to do this, other than finding an online map of the routes, or asking the hotels...I know that the hotel I stayed at last March was on a procession route...). Give me an idea of what type of hotel you want and I might be able to give you some tips...

If you have not bought the tix yet, why not fly into Sevilla and out of Granada?

Posted by joanne1108

06/05/25 03:25 AM

461 posts

If you're going to be in Seville during Holy Week you should be going to see Holy Week not for any other reason. Seeing Holy Week is a trip of a lifetime, embrace it. If you are not interested in Holy Week (tons of people, traffic jams of people, blocked off streets, cabs that can't go where you want/need to go, high prices, crazy busy) then pick another place to travel. For me it was heaven, something I wanted to do for at least 10 years, and I would do it again in a minute. I did see people upset that they could not get down the sidewalk for their dinner reservation, because of crowds. I felt sorry for them, they had no idea they were missing one of the best experiences they would ever see. J

Posted by dacase90

06/05/25 11:25 AM

126 posts

I knew Holy Week was a big deal, but I really wasn't expecting how big a deal. Anywhere from 6 to 8 processions occurring simultaneously along different routes, lasting up to 12 hours. Most of the processions start in the afternoon. The tourist offices offer booklets that provide details on the processions including routes and times. Granada had an mobile app that you can download and monitor the processions real time.

It really was one of the highlights of our trip.

Posted by Mardee

Duluth🌲

06/05/25 01:25 PM

9415 posts

I was in Seville (and several other places) beginning with the start of Semana Santa until after Easter about 18 years ago, and it is definitely crowded and busy. But as the others have said, embrace the crowds and the processions and the chaos. It's amazing and you will never experience anything like this again.

Do your research ahead of time. You can usually find out the schedule and route of the processions ahead of time. Make sure you get to see some of it, but knowing the schedules also gives you a chance to get outside the congestion and find quieter places.