Newbee traveler here..My husband and our 17 yr old son are traveling to Spain. Is it worth it to pay 120 Euros for a tour of the Alcazar & Cathedral in Seville, as opposed to seeing them without the tour? if so what is the best way to book a legitimate tour that's not a tourist trap? Do these tours need to be booked in advance? Do the entry tickets need advanced booking? Also I'm assuming that a Seville card doesn't pay if we're only in Seville for 2 days, do you agree? Thanks!
Worth it, no. Both sights have audio guides available and you can wander at leisure. I think at least one of the big walking tour companies has group tours.
However, to get the best experience, you do need to buy a paper guidebook from an author you trust and whose publishing style you like. Seville is an accessible and welcoming city that is easy to explore on your own. About cards and passes, I would only comment on how convenient it is to be able to hop on and off local municipal busses when your legs get tired. (I DON'T mean HOHO busses, which I despise.) Many Americans have no experience with public transportation, and don't think about this.
Rick recommends Conception Delgado's tours of Sevilla. I have done the City Tour with her and was great! She also does Cathedral and Alcazar tours for 10 euro each. plus the admission cost. I believe this is a much better option for a significantly lower price. You can reach her at [email protected] or 616-501-100.
If they are history buffs then you want to go to the third spot in the same area, which many non-students skip, called the Archivo de Los Indios -- understand that to Sevillanos, the entire New World was the Indies, and this was where they kept the records.
There might not be tours or pamphlets available in English, but that shouldn't stop a history buff anyway.
Actually, if you're only doing two days there, you'll need to skip over anything but the highlights...
Take buses in Seville? No. With 2 days, you have time for the main sights and all are walking distance from each other. The only possible "outlier" is Plaza de Espana. One trip by tram or bus.
My husband and I used the self guided tour in the RS book and found that useful. Agree that private tour of the two are probably unneccesary, especially with audio guides as an option.
In regards to lines, we went to the Alcazar in the afternoon and waited about 30 minutes in line. Not bad but there's no shading and a teenage girl passed out from the heat right in front of us! You can also buy tickets here from the Alcazar (official site): https://oberonsaas.com/realalcazarsevilla/visitageneraldos
For the Cathedral, we didn't buy tickets in advance so we can have flexibility in our schedule. But the RS2016 book offered a really great tip to beat the lines. I just posted this on another thread:
When you're at the Seville Cathedral, make sure to follow Rick's advice of buying the combo ticket at the Church of the Savior a few blocks away, then literally walking past every one in line for the Cathedral to the area where tickets are sold. Just show your ticket to the security person there and they'll let you in. On the way, ignore all the dirty looks from the people waiting in the outrageous line.
That one tip was worth the cost of the book alone :)
