“¡Quien no ha visto Sevilla – no ha visto Maravilla!” (“he who has not seen Sevilla – has not seen a miracle”) is the famous Spanish saying about the capital city of Andalucia.

To me it’s a miracle that so many people living on the Costa del Sol have NOT been to Sevilla.  To me it’s a Spanish city to rival Barcelona in terms of wonderful things to see and do and it’s definitely one of my favourite cities in the world.

When many people think of Sevilla (or Seville, as the English like to call it – don’t ask me why!) they think of the clichés.  It’s the city of orange trees (true, but visit at the beginning of May when it’s the city of orange blossom), of Flamenco (true too, and most of Spain’s best artistes come from here) and of  Carmen.  Poor Carmen was a figment of French author Prosper Merimee’s imagination, but the tobacco factory is still there and the people of Sevilla have so taken Carmen’s story to heart that they’ve placed a statue of her outside the famous Maestranza bullring, where she supposedly met her end at the hands of her lover.

If you only come to Sevilla to visit the tourist parts you won’t be disappointed. The cathedral is the largest in Europe(and wonderfully cool on a hot day), the Real Alcázar is like a smaller version of the Alhambra and has lovely gardens and of course the maze-like streets of the Barrio Santa Cruz are as unique and charming as ever.  You can happily take the tourist bus around the city or a boat cruise on the Rio Guadalquivir along with the millions of other tourists who flock here every year, but Sevilla has so much more to offer its visitors.

If you know where to look (or book with Camino Holidays!) you can find more  interesting, beautiful and unique parts of Sevilla.  From the smaller palaces open to visitors to Sevilla’s Las Bellas Artes, (one of the 15 galleries based in this city) Spain’s most prestigious gallery after the Guggenheim and the Prado, you have many wonderful museums to choose from. My favourite is the Flamenco Museum in the heart of Santa Cruz, where not only can you enjoy the interactive exhibits, but you can catch one of the best Flamenco shows in town.

Sevilla is known as the city of a thousand shoe shops and the shopping is excellent here, from large branches of Spanish favourites El Corte  Ingles, Zara and Mango to a wealth of small independent shops.  If you like Spanish ceramics then the very best place to buy them in the world is their cultural heart – the barrio of Triana.  Here generations of artisan families have made them in the back, and sold them in the front!

What else – well, you should visit the trendy Alameda area, filled with great   little bars and restaurants, the Aire de Sevilla in the restored Arabic baths and now one of the most wonderful and unique day spas in Europe and the  Flamenco bars of Calle Betis at night.

Really this only scratches the surface of all there is to do in this legendary city.  So many places fail to live up to their reputation: Sevilla is one Spanish destination which surpasses it in every way!

Camino Holidays specialise in holidays in South West  Andalucia.  If you have any questions on this area they’d be happy to help and advise…

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