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Spain
This enormous park is my favourite place to relax on a sunny Seville day. It’s a bit of a way from the main attractions – if you’re in a rush then head to the more central María Luisa park. With Alamillo Park’s wide boulevards, lakes and lawns there’s loads of space for cycling, rollerblading or just lazing peacefully with a book. There is also a large bar/restaurant. Families gather there for parties, setting up camp all day with picnics, games and wine flowing freely. There are often fairs and free concerts, and on my first trip I even happened upon a dog show taking place in one corner. The children will love the miniature railway and, if you fancy it, you can even try out cableskiing.
www.parquedelalamillo.org/
Google map: bit.ly/10i7fQG
*Eloise is our Been there local for Seville. You can read her bio here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/seville-local-eloise-horsfield and follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/EloiseHorsfield You can also catch her on Twitter at @EloiseHorsefield
This traditional stand up tapas bar is located on Plaza Alfalfa. Above the door is a colourful tiled arch depicting a beach scene.
A very popular place with both locals and visitors alike and it quickly fills up as soon as the door opens. Offers superb value for money & allows you to try traditional Andalusian-style tapas at great prices.
A novel tapa for me was the Iberian pork liver, served cold in an olive oil marinade. The tortilla portions were massive. Staff friendly and attentive.
There are tables at the back, but most opt to stand while eating tapas and watching the football on the TV and the activity on the street outside.
Calle Alfalfa, 4 41004 Seville, Spain
Google map: bit.ly/pdCHCA
Opens: noon - 4pm & 8pm - midnight daily.
Good vibe around the Plaza Alfalfa with plenty of good tapas bars (La Bodega & Bar Alfalfa), cafes and alternative shops.
Plaza Alfalfa
Located very centrally north of the cathedral.
Google map: bit.ly/p7SK5I
Bodega Santa Cruz (aka Las Columnas) is a great find, just around the corner from the Giralda.
An authentic tapas bar where the good humoured bar staff chalk up your tab on the bar counter.
Food while cheap is good, and we ended up frequenting this place a few times during our stay in Seville.
Some seats outside.
C/Rodrigo Caro 1 (very near cathedral)
Open 7am - midnight daily.
Google map: bit.ly/q4Nee4
An absolute gem. One of the oldest tapas bars in Seville, with a bar on the site since the late 17th century. Popular with tourists and locals alike.
Dark wood panels with seating at a minimum but great food and a great atmosphere.
You stand at the bar and order and your tab is chalked on the bar counter to keep track.
Food really good quality and not that expensive. The espinacas con garbanzos (spinach with chickpeas is particularly to be recommended.
You can book a seat at the back for the dinner menu but we much preferred the tapas menu at the bar, so much so that we returned a number of times during our stay in Seville.
While we were there there we encountered an elderly gentleman named Valentino who writes poetry on napkins and hands to people in the bar. If you do see him, buy him a glass of beer for his trouble.
We first heard about this place on Rick Stein's TV programme 'Spain'.
www.elrinconcillo.es/en/home.html
C/ Gerona 40 near Plaza Ponce de Leon
+34 954 22 31 83
Open until late every day
Google map: bit.ly/o0Hn7B
See bar featured at the start of this Youtube video on Rick Stein's Spain:.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fuiDcJyXfE&feature=related
An outdoor cinema (most films are in Spanish though). The hot days are here, and nothing beats being outside in the evenings when the temperatures have dropped. The film list is quite complete with some of the biggies in this year's Oscars. Entry is €3, and there is a bar with cheap drinks and snacks (bottle of beer €1, and big bag of crisps €1).
Avenida Menéndez Pelayo, 32, 41004 Sevilla
Film times: www.asomatealpatio.es/
Google map: bit.ly/qUzYeE
Blanco Cerrillo is one of the oldest bars in Seville. Very simple and no fuss. It is perfect for eating fried fish tapas, and the adobo is loved by the locals. It gets very packed and the tables outside (and any convenient space to place a tapa and beer) are usually occupied. Once inside though, you can normally holler your order and then inch your way to the bar. It is equipped with a team of three or four older waiters who are constantly shouting out the orders to the kitchen crew "'obo", "eroneeeeh" (boquerones). Something that I loved here before the smoking ban was that one of them had a little ciggy nooky-hole and would serve you and go back for a crafty drag every once in a while - now he swigs from a Cruzcampo botellín instead (a small bottle of Cruzcampo). Tapas are well-priced at only €1.50 a pop.
Calle Doctor Jimenez Diaz, 16, 41008 Seville, Spain
+34 954351008
Google map:bit.ly/yD8Ow2
Go to Horno de San Buenaventura for breakfast.
We stayed in a hotel nearby where the breakfast was 20 euros each. As a family of four we decided to explore an alternative and found this great place. Great food, great value and the best coffee we have had in Spain.
The cost for the four of us was only about 16 euros.
Avenida la Constitución 16. Sevilla, 41002
Teléfono.: 95.422.18.19
Google map: tinyurl.com/ycumrpp
All around the city there are bike stations where you can rent a bike. The scheme is the same as the one running in Paris.
Use the touchscreen at the station to subscribe. You will need a credit card to do so. To subscribe costs €5 a week, and you can use the bike for 30 minutes without paying extra. Easy enough in Seville where it rarely takes more than 20 to get from one side of the centre to the other. If you do go over the 30 minute time, you will be charged about a Euro for 30 minutes.
Seville is such a flat city that cycling is easy. And with the hot weather (up to 45 degrees C. in the summer), cycling and the breeze is a lot more comfortable than walking.
There is a downside. Sevici is very popular with residents, tourists, and sadly vandals. Occasionally, either the station is empty, or the bikes have been vandalised. Also you may get to the bike station to return your bike and discover it is full. Log in with your code you were given when you subscribed and you will be able to get another 15 minutes to go to another station. There is a map available on the screen.
When the Euro was introduced to Spain this was generally seen as an excuse by most bars and restaurants to bump up the prices ...
Not here.
Not only is Eslava one of the cheapest places for tapas (still only about €1.80 as opposed to €3.00 for most places now), it is also one of the best. And boy does it get crowded because of it! But that is part of the charm.
And if this wasn't good enough, the staff are consistently, friendly, attentive, knowledgeable and professional. It works like a machine. Remember, Seville and customer service do not always go together.
There are a few tables but you cannot book. Just turn up, say how many you are, then wait with a glass of beer or wine. Alternatively, eat at the bar.
There is a restaurant, but it's the same food in bigger portions.
The tapas are interesting, and well prepared. My personal favourite is Pork Loin with dill sauce "Lomo con salsa eneldo".
As many a Sevillano waiter discovered when I lived there, I have high standards.
But Bar Eslava is divine.
Every time.
I was in Seville in Andalucía and took a walking and bike tour with a company called Really Discover. For €20-25 a person you not only get to know about the history and culture of the city, but they use the time with you to recommend the great, cheap tapas bars; flamenco shows which don't cost an arm and a leg and are more authentic; monuments that have free entry at certain times, etc etc... A really good investment.
Seville is a great weekend away on budget with both Ryainair and Clickair flying daily from London. A group of three of us stayed at Pension Vergara for €20 each per night. The location was right in the old quarter, close to all the major sights. For a great cheap eat, head to the local market where locals stand around eating freshly cooked seafood and sipping beers from the market bar 'La Cantina'. The food was much better than most of the tapas bars in town.
Pension Vergara c/ Ximenez de Enciso, n0 11 | Barrio de Santa Cruz, Seville 41004, Spain www.pensionvergara.com/
La Cantina - Mercado calle Feria
www.sevilla5.com/activities/goingout/mercado-feria.html
A budget hotel in the old quarter with a stunning roof terrace - look out over the city and Giralda tower with a cold beer or two. In August the rooms are 68 euros, air-conditioned with modern bathrooms, and of course you're perfectly placed for exploring. Friendly young receptionists with solid insider knowledge and happy to share it.
C/Doncellas 15
Tel: (34) 954 53 94 13
www.patiosantacruz.com
The bus goes to the edge of the old city for just over two euros. The taxi system has a fixed price (only for the airport, mind!) that will see no change from a twenty euro note, regardless of distance travelled. Outrageous!
Seville. Airport. Stop immediately outside departures hall.
A great place to get a cheap bite to eat. With a great selection of montaditos and a fair selection of cold tapas as well, it's a lively venue that always reminds me of an old municipal swimming pool. The main seating area is a series of tiled banks beyond the bar. It's very noisy but that's half the fun. If you're feeling greedy head down the road a few doors to the bar with the Chocolate y Churros sign hanging outside. The churros there are as good as you'll get in Seville and the background din of gossiping local senoras is the perfect accompaniment to the stodgy churros and thick, rich chocolate.
c/ San Eloy 9;
www.sevilla5.com/eat-drink/saneloy.html
9 San Eloy
An incredibly popular tapas bar on the edge of the Santa Cruz district, Las Coloniales is one of the best and cheapest places to eat in Seville. When you arrive you have to write your name and the number in your party on a small blackboard and your name is called when a table is free. It's located on the edge of the leafy (for Seville) Plaza Cristo de Burgos, which is handy as you have somewhere shady to sit whilst you wait. The food is uniformly good and the tapas sizes are exceptional for the price. Two people can have a decent meal with a couple of drinks for little over ten euros. One of the best things on the menu are the quail eggs and chorizo on fried bread, which is like a sausage and egg sarnie in the sun. You can't go wrong with the staples either. The Solomillo al Whisky is as good as you can get in Seville. On Sunday afternoons the plaza is full of Spanish families eating ice cream from the Heladeria across the road. Seville is full of Heladerias and though this one is probably the most expensive it's also the best.
Plaza Cristo de Burgos, 19 - east of the main El Corte Ingles, just past Plaze de Encarnacion.
Simple, clean and perfectly placed in the Santa Cruz district near the cathedral. More importantly, it has air con and is cheap (from €55 for a double). I've stayed here over the past 10 years, and have never felt the urge to put up anywhere fancier.
C/Mateos Gago
Tel: 00 34 954 211 170
www.hostalgoyasevilla.com
A straightforward, good value budget option - the all day menu del dia at 7 euros is excellent and the setting ideal. Take a table outside under the orange trees to watch the world go by on the busy plaza. Refreshingly, the menu makes clear what is included in the menu del dia - with a wide selection of racions, service, drink etc - a pleasant change to other places which may try it on with additional charges (I feel bound at this point to condemn El Cai in Arenal who added 8 euros for 2 lemonades and 5 euros for 2 sachets of olive oil!).
Santa Maria la Blanca, Santa Cruz
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