Sevilla in January Trip Report

We decided to spend a week in Sevilla in January as part of a longer trip to Spain. We chose Sevilla in the hope of milder temperatures and, since it is a destination which is becoming increasingly crowded, quiet low-season streets.

We found an apartment in Calle Esteban, not far from Casa de Pilatos. This was within the historical centre so quite convenient, and about a 15 minute walk from Santa Justa train station. We arrived by Avant train from Madrid and walked to the apartment from the station. The apartment, while not unpleasant and with a nice view of the church in front, was cold, and the air-conditioning, even after they had got it working, never really warmed it up. I was aware of this risk before booking and careful with all the apartments we booked, but this was the only one where it was a problem. On the other hand it stated there was ‘heating’ as well as A/C (there wasn't), and none of the other winter guests had complained about heating so….

The weather the first three days was really quite chilly in the early morning (warm jacket and scarf weather) and pleasant the rest of the day – meaning warm enough to stroll with a light jacket and to remove it to sit in the sun in Plaza de Espana. We then had one afternoon of quite heavy rain and the other days were mild and damp with a few showers and sunny spells. There were lots of people around during the weekend but on working days the centre was quite quiet and Barrio Santa Cruz absolutely deserted. If I returned at the same time of year I would choose an apartment nearer to Parque Maria Luisa and Plaza Espana as that was the most pleasant area for strolling, as well as along the river. 

We had already visited Sevilla in 2011 and so had seen the Alcazar so that was the only monument I didn’t see this time. Spain has a policy on edificios BIC (Bien de Interés Cultural) which aims to ensure that these buildings, which receive financing from the State, are free to the public at least four times a month. Most of these occasions are available to all EU citizens although there are some notable and understandable exceptions  - the Alhambra of Granada only for local residents, for example.

Interpretation varies but you can be reasonably sure that for the vast majority of monuments, if you are on a ‘slow travel’ holiday, you are likely to be able to visit free at some point during the week if you are a EU citizen and this was true of Sevilla too. Sevilla is fantastic for strolling around but there’s a lot to visit ‘inside’ as well, another reason which makes it an ideal ‘winter’ destination. For more about what to visit free and when, click here.

During our week in Sevilla in January we visited:

Day 1 The river, Palacio Telmo, Jardines de Murillo, Real Fabrica de Tabacos

Day 2 Mercado de Triana, Parque Maria Luisa, Plaza Espana

Day 3 Markets and Parque Maria Luisa, Plaza Espana again

Day 4 Casa de Pilatos, Palacio de las Duenas, Hospital los Venerables

Day 5 Barrio Santa Cruz, Archivio de las Indias, Capilla di San Jose, Torre d’Oro

Day 6 Catedral, Plaza de Toros

Day 7 Museo Bellas Artes

Day 8 Palacio de la Condesa de Lebrija

On the plan, but which we didn’t manage (Andrea was ill for four of the days): Hospital de La Caridad, Museo de Artes y Costumbres Populares and a few other minor places. We are slow travellers and our plans for the week also included buying local food in the markets, cooking and going out for sherry and tapas. Apart from the fact that Andrea wasn’t too well, the markets in the centre which we visited are geared towards gastronomy rather than buying food to cook, although we found that the Mas supermarkets had an excellent range of local products (fish, meat, fruit and veg, cheese). On the other hand, local food markets - Mercados de abastos, used to be places where ‘ordinary’ people did their shopping. Now that they have been largely gentrified it’s perhaps inevitable that ‘living like a local’ means going to the supermarket like the other locals?

I enjoyed the week in Sevilla. My aim was to see the Palacios I hadn’t seen on my previous visit and some museums and I managed that, and Plaza de Espana and Parque Maria Luisa are as superb as I remembered. The cold apartment and Andrea getting some sort of bronchitis (I fear the two were linked) took a little off the shine, and I found navigating the narrow streets of the centre - those which weren't pedestrianised, on and off narrow pavements with impatient cars (I'm hard of hearing) not very relaxing in the long run. I probably wouldn't stay longer than a week, whereas I would  in Madrid.