Sightseeing Plan for Seville and Possible Day Trip

That schedule may be doable, but it appears to leave precious little time for walking around.

The Alcazar is really large; I suspect I spent more than 2 hours there, but I'm not certain. When do you plan to have lunch on Day 1?

You haven't listed the Casa de Pilatos or the Palacio de las Duenas, both of which I liked a lot. Full disclosure: I am especially fond of Moorish/Mudejar architecture, to the point that I'll pay to go inside just about any building where that is possible. But I thought those two places were pretty spectacular.

Arcos and Ronda are both worthwhile, but they are time-consuming to reach, plus you'd have to spend time dealing with the car-rental company. Personally, I'd rather spend that time in Seville.

Carmona is a lot closer and would be an option for a half-day trip by bus, giving you more time in Seville.

Chris - I would like to suggest a day trip to Cordoba. It's one of the most scenic Andalusian towns in the region. Plenty to do there and plenty to see. You can get there by train from Seville's Santa Justa train station.

Another optional day trip can be to Jerez de la Frontera. You can exolore the cherry wine bodegas there and other attractions. You don't really need a car on your 3rd day.

Chris - There is a new monument is Seville that is worth seeing. It's called Metropol Parasol. A mushroom type of monument park above the city. It's a great place for taking selfies and getting a bird's eye view of wonderful Seville Paranomically.

https://setasdesevilla.com

If you are not already going to Cordoba for a few nights, definitely do it as a day trip above all else!

If you have Cordoba covered, then you could visit the Ancient Roman city of Italica, (the home town of 3 Roman Emperors) very easy to do as a day trip with the local bus (30-40 min). It was also recently a Game of Thrones filming location.

After half a day at Italica, then complement with a visit to the Archeological Museum of Sevilla, where many of the important local treasures of antiquity are displayed, including from the lost Ancient Greek city of Tartessos.

It looks a little ambitious. It doesn't seem to leave much time for meandering around the city.

You might enjoy the Macarena church and the Triana area. We didn't get inside the Macarena church because their hours were not the same as the guidebook, but it's supposed to be a very nice church.

We were actually going to do the same thing, ie rent a car and go to Arcos or Ronda. At the last minute we cancelled the car because we were having so much fun in Seville.

There are quite a few good restaurants in the Barrio Santa Cruz area on Calle Mateus Gago.

I found Jerez disappointing. Cordoba is not a town but a city of 326,000. I do like Carmona and Italica (easier to do both in one day with a car), but Carmona is ... not touristy, but ... prepared ... for tourists. Arcos alone may be doable, but not Ronda as a daytrip.

In Sevilla, a visit to the bull ring is very interesting. Not for a bull fight but to tour the ring and museum. Centrally located. Don’t miss Cordoba!

I might also add in Seville, make time to attend an evening Flamenco show. It is a unique experience which highlights Andalusian culture. Book in advance.

Los Gallos is a well known Flamenco hot spot - http://www.tablaolosgallos.com/en/

Thanks so much to everyone for your comments and suggestions. I have added the recommendations to my information on Seville. Tha Metropol Pasasol (Las Setas de la Encarnación) looks fascinating and I've added it in at sunset one evening.

Is it necessary to book one of the flamenco shows ahead or is it safe to wait until we are in Seville? We'll be there Nov 6 - 8 so I hope it won't be terribly crowded.

Having given it more thought, we think we'll pass on the car rental and day trip to Arcos but Cremona looks lovely so we may do a quick bus trip there and back. That doesn't look like something that has to be booked ahead so we'll see how much we love hanging out in Seville. Italica looks interesting but having done a 3 1/2 week tour of more ruins than I can count on our recent trip to Italy, Greece, and Turkey, I'm ruined on viewing any more ruins at the moment. Cathedrals, on the other hand, I never tire of!

We will be going to Cordoba after Seville and have a hotel and a tour of the Mezquita booked there.

acravens - I had to smile when I saw your question about when we would have lunch on the first day in Seville as my husband sometimes jokes that I try to starve him on our travels by not including lunch in the trip planning. I would rather grab something quick and have more time to sight see than sit at lunch, especially given that it seems to take an interminable amount of time to eat at a sit-down restaurant in Europe compared to what we are used to in the US. That said, I have actually written in a lunch break most days on this trip.

Chris - You can wait until you are in Seville to book a Flamenco show. I am very sure you will enjoy the Metropol Parasol. It is selfie heaven above the city with wonderful views.

And since you have your heart set on going to Arcos and not renting a car then you have a few alternatives.

Here are two options:

1) Take the train to Jerez. It takes about an hour; there are several trains in the morning and trains back to Seville every hour until 9.15 p.m. According to the Samar bus website, there's a bus from Jerez to Arcos at 8.00 am, 9.00 am and then not until 12.00. There are a number of buses in the afternoon, the last one that would get you back in time for the return train to Seville leaves at 7.45 pm. The bus takes about 45 minutes each way.

2) Use the LOS AMARILLLOS bus from Prado de San Sebastian bus terminal in Seville. The bus goes via a few outlying towns and villages before reaching Arcos after 2 hours. You can pay the driver at Prado bus station or buy a ticket at the window in booking hall.

https://www.checkmybus.com/coach-providers/los-amarillos-sl

https://www.checkmybus.com/cremona/sevilla

My late mother used to have the same complaint--not because of a tight schedule (we mostly just wandered around looking at things), but because I refused to eat somewhere I deemed "touristy".

I prioritize sightseeing so a nice, sit-down lunch is at high risk of being cut when the schedule gets tight. However, the Spanish dinner schedule, which seems to extend from 10 PM to midnight, is a big problem for me. It's extremely difficult to find a place to eat before 9 PM unless you just do tapas. In Spain more than any other country, it's great to have a real lunch.

Los Amarillos seems to have gone out of business. A lot of its routes seem to have been picked up by Damas.

I have a church tip for you. I made a point of going to the Basilica of San Juan de Dios in Granada because of a gushing report on this forum, and I found it to be fully justified--assuming you like over-the-top Baroque. That basilica is borderline unbelievable.