We’ve all heard the phrases ‘Paris is the city of love’ and the classic ‘Rome stole a pizza my heart,’ but have you ever heard the classic quote by Lord Byron, ‘Quien no ha visto Sevilla, no ha visto maravilla’ (He who has not seen Seville has not seen a marvel)? Whether you’re single or taken, Seville is the underrated city of love. It’s got the unforgettable atmosphere that Federico García Lorca claimed to be “full of fine archers”—an atmosphere that bounces between the clapping hands and clinking glasses all year round. It’s got the inherent singing of its people echoing through its narrow streets and wide boulevards. It’s got a special colour, as the song by Los Del Río goes; an orange-mustard, accent colour (#FFAB60) that splashes the city’s frames, corners, and fountains, like a gentle reminder that life is good and you are so terribly happy to be here. However, this isn’t your average tour-guide. I’d like to cram as much as I can about the gems of Seville, from what to see, do, drink, eat, where to dance, shop, get laser hair removal treatment, get tattooed, and married—all from the perspective of a half-local. I’m half-Irish, half-Spanish, and living in Kildare. While I may not be a Spanish resident, I travel to Seville at least three times a year on average to visit my mam’s side of the family. I sure have got the best of both worlds, but so can you.
Starting with where to stay, Onefam Hostel in Plaza Fernando de Herrera, 8, in the Old Town is a great match for students due to its generally reasonable cost, excellent location, and buzzing social aspect. They offer free sangria nights (Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays) as well as bar crawls. If you’re fancy, into football, or looking to treat your partner, you can stay at Hotel Los Lebreros. You might run into the Seville football team if you ever happen to book your stay on the same date as their next match. Their stadium, Ramón Sánchez Pizjuan, is just across the way.
Whenever I’m in Seville, I stay at my abuela’s house, who lives on the 15th floor with views of all of Seville. Skip the Arc de Triomphe or the Eiffel Tower and just send me a message instead to witness one of the most beautiful city skyline sunsets ever.
On a side note, Pelo Stop on Calle Luis Montoto (five minutes from my abuela’s) does affordable and efficient laser hair removal treatment, if that’s your thing.
La Giralda
I would always recommend people to visit Seville in the springtime and avoid the city from late May until August. In summer, Seville is known as the saucepan or oven of Andalucía (I have been stuck in my granny’s living room, the only one with AC, for the 6th day in a row during one of the worst heatwaves since 1975). Instead, I would especially recommend for you to come during Semana Santa, or Holy Week, where incense thickens the air with devotion and spirituality, Costaleros lift and carry heavy, gold and silver floats with carefully crafted sculptures depicting scenes from the Bible, and Nazarenos (not to be confused with the KKK, I beg you do your research before attending please) follow the processions in silence, often barefoot, and sometimes handing out sweets or spilling drops of candle wax on little childrens’ home-made tinfoil balls. My cousins and I used to compete over who could get the most wax and create the largest ball.
Even if you’re not religious, you will soon realise that Semana Santa is not only for Catholics, but for anyone who loves. It is not only a celebration of Jesus Christ’s life and death, but a week of passion, respect, and unity for all to enjoy, accompanied by marchas procesionales, or processional bands with cornets and drums. Remember to dress neatly when attending processions during Semana Santa; remain silent while the paso, or float, pauses for a break, and clap when it is lifted again.
In 2026, La Feria de Sevilla will commence just over two weeks after Semana Santa, right in the middle of exam season, and it lasts one week. If you were smart during OME and chose subjects that were not exam-based, perhaps this will be your year to attend Seville’s most iconic festival. La Feria consists of flamenco music, dancing sevillanas, sipping on the typical rebujito drink, moving in big crowds, eating tortilla de patata, enjoying a ride at the theme park, hopping from caseta to caseta, and, for the single ones, lots of flirting. If you remember that special colour I mentioned at the start, I’d like to add that you’ll find it on the grounds of La Feria, staining everyone’s soles and dying the sweeping skirts of flamenco dresses a dusty kind of gold. There’s nothing else in the world like this event. I hope to see you there in your suit or traje de gitana next year!
But Elena, what if it’s too expensive to visit Seville during Semana Santa or Feria? Luckily for you, Seville is beautiful all year round, and there is so much to see that you could return again and again and never stop falling in love. Maybe that’s why my dad, who was from Clondalkin in Dublin, got married to my mam in Seville’s Cathedral in October of 2002. Everyone who attended their wedding still talks about it to this day. You could try and get married in Seville this reading week too, if you’ve got a special someone in mind.
Incidentally, I met a couple from Trinity on the plane from Dublin to Seville earlier this year. I recognised the girl, who is in my course and was reading Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys, and I reintroduced myself. We started talking, and she told me it was her and her boyfriend’s first time visiting Seville. Imagining myself in their position, I was determined to ensure that they got the most out of their stay—I, who have always dreamt of taking a beloved with me there in hand. I thought perhaps the couple would end up marrying in the Cathedral like my parents did. As I wrote down a list of places and activities in the back of her book (which was for an upcoming Post-Colonial lit lecture), I remembered the rumours of Christopher Columbus’ ruins being buried in the Cathedral, and cringed at the contradiction of the moment. “Seville is so beautiful,” I told the beautiful couple, as I handed the girl her book by Rhys. The list went as follows:
- La Plaza de España
- La Torre del Oro
- La Giralda
- La Catedral
- El Patio de Banderas
- La Judería
- El Estadio Ramón Sánches Pizjuán
- Las Ruinas Itálicas
- El Reál Alcázar
- Las Setas
- El Parque de María Luisa
- Casa de Pilatos
- El Archivo de Indias
- El Museo de Bellas Artes
- Triana and El Puente de Triana
- Los Jardínes de Murillo
- La Universidad de Sevilla (El Rectorado)
- El Barrio de Santa Cruz
- La Alameda de Hércules and the bars around this area
- Las Ruinas Itálicas
All around these areas, you’ll also find delicious traditional and variety food and drinks spots to satisfy your hunger. And if you’d rather swallow books, some of my favourite second-hand-book shops include: Librería Delfos, Librería Boteros, and Los Terceros. Yay! New book! Now, where to read it? Have a sit down on a bench by La Giralda or in the Plaza Doña Elvira, beneath the shade of the famous, fragrant orange trees.
If you happen to be in Seville on a Thursday and you are either an antique lover, a Pinterest baby, a very thoughtful gift-giver, or all three, then don’t miss ‘El Jueves’: a flea market which takes place in the mornings to afternoons around La Calle Feria and where you can buy bric a bric ranging from dead cheap to dead expensive.
If you’re into slightly over-priced-but-oh-it’s-so-cute-and-I’ll-never-find-a-pair-of-patchwork-boots-like-these-again then you can check out the vintage stores around the area such as Mosaico, Wonder Vintage, Rómula Vintage, and Nonna’s Vintage. Give your successful legs a break after your errands and stop for a coffee and a sweet treat at the lovely La Cacharrería, on Calle Regina.
Mam and dad, the newlyweds, in the Cathedral of Seville on the 30th of November, 2002
Some more food spots I tend to repeat at include:
- Taberna Belmonte, Calle Mateos Gago (tapas, €-€€)
- Pizztaglio, Plaza de Jesús de la Pasión (pizza slices to-go, €)
- Llaollao, Nervión/La Avenida de la Constitución (frozen yogurt chain, €)
- El Depikofino, La Buhaira (tapas, €€)
- Bodega los Soportales, Plaza del Salvador (drinks and some tapas, €)
Why not decorate your arm with your partner’s name or something (don’t) at Uffizi Studios? Based in La Macarena, the brilliant staff at Uffizi specialise in fine line art. They’re pretty spenny (€€€) but their quality is worth the investment in my opinion. Plus, the studio and staff have great vibes.
In case you thought Seville couldn’t get any better, let me tell you about its amazing nightlife: Some of my favourite places I’ve gone out to with my friends have included La Alameda (a plaza with different bars and a mixed atmosphere, most popular for its alternative crowd) and Monasterio (a nightclub called Monastery, yes). Bonus points if you’re still out by the time the birds start chirping, the churros shop is opening, and you cop yourself some churros con chocolate. That’s how a real Spaniard does it, if you’re looking to immerse yourself in the culture. For those of you who aren’t bothered to go all out but want to enjoy a bit of dembow and reggaeton music by the Guadalquivir River, I would recommend El Muelle and Manhattan. These two terrace bars are just on the opposite side of the bridge from Puerta Jerez and combine club and bar vibes. Why not try some Cruzcampo, a tinto de Verano con limón, or a Puerta de Indias with Fanta de Limón (or preferably an off-brand alternative because we should all be boycotting in 2025)?
Speaking of the metro, Seville is very well connected in terms of public transport. The underground runs from 6:30am-11pm Monday-Thursday, 6:30am-2am Fridays and holiday eves, 7:30am-2am Saturdays, and 7:30am-11pm Sundays and festive days. To and from the airport, you’ve got the affordable EA bus that runs very frequently every day of the year from 5:20am until 1am. If you have a couple of days to spare, you could take a train from Santa Justa to another city of your choice. There are public bicycles and e-scooters available to rent everywhere as Seville has a magnificent bicycle lane. The tramline has also been extended so that now it runs from Nervión to the city centre, where it finally stops at Plaza Nueva. My cousin (the one I always get terribly drunk with), her new boyfriend and I took this tramline to go to mass one Sunday at La Iglesia de La Real Parroquia de Santa María Magdalena where I did confession for the first time in about nine years (as you can tell, my cousin’s new boyfriend has been a great influence on us). I was fascinated by the ornamentation all around the fresco-filled church that dates back to the 17th century.
If you’d like a shopping day, I will also recommend keeping straight once you cross over from the last tram stop, towards La Calle Sierpes. Some of my favourite shops around this area include Natura, Kiko, Renatta & Go, Subdued, and United Colours of Benetton. The last three can be super pricey, but when they have sales, you can get some seriously good deals for great quality. The other day, I found my dream, a staple pair of boot-cut jeans at Benetton reduced by 50% for just €25! Other shops you might not find at home which I would recommend my girls to visit include El Corte Inglés ($-$$), Brownie (€€), Noon (€€), La Casa del Libro (€-€€), Maripaz (€-€€), Tezenis (€-€€), Calzedonia (€€) and Intimissi (€€). If you know me at all, I love a good, cheap, second-hand shop, but there are not as many of these in Seville as there are in Dublin. However, I would recommend you pop into any Humana, where you can find pieces for as little as one euro (I found my next T-Ball dress in the Humana on Menéndez Pelayo Avenue).
Seville’s official motto is ‘NO8DO,’ which dates back to as early as the 13th century. Long story short, it means ‘NO-madeja-DO,’ or ‘Seville has not abandoned me.’ Once you leave Seville, Seville will never leave you: it’s got an incredibly rich culture, history, spirituality, nightlife, good cuisine, art, architecture, and the beautiful weather. It’s a place from which to post loving cards, watch the sun set like no other, and fan yourself and your partner between bites of tapas, bread, and affordable wine. I’ve experienced Seville’s beauty a hundred times before with friends, family, alone, and with strangers. If you get to live it with your love, I’ll envy you. I’ll never stop bragging about having half a heart in Seville. Perhaps I’ll take my other half with me there some day too.
