Seville snapshot

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The Spanish city of Seville, it was once said, is famous for oranges and women. It's also known for its three great monuments – the Cathedral, the Giralda Tower and the Alcazar.

Sited on the Guadalquivir River, Seville is home to the largest church in the world – the Cathedral, built in a hundred years from 1402. New measurements have pushed it above St Peter’s in Rome in volume. The Cathedral also features the remains of Christopher Columbus, although there are doubts about their authenticity.

The Giralda Tower, Seville’s most beautiful building, lies next to the Cathedral and dominates the city’s skyline. It was named after its weather vane, or giraldillo. Built by the Moors in 1184-96, it was once the world's tallest building.

Atmospheric city

The Alcazar, the palace of Pedro the Cruel, dates back to the 1350s, although the site was used by the Romans. Later it was the site of a Moorish palace that housed a harem of eight hundred women although the present building dates largely from the Christian period after the 'Reconquista' from the Moors.

Seville is a wonderful city to wander around, the narrow streets of Barrio Santa Cruz oozing with the romance of Andalucia. Many whitewashed houses feature patios, where families virtually live during the summer heat when the city has amongst the highest temperatures in Europe. You will find the locals on their evening promenade by the river.

Enormous plaza

Here can be found the Torre del Oro, a twelve-sided tower built in 1220, and later used to store gold brought from the Americas. It is now home to a naval museum. The city features some excellent monuments and parks, notably the enormous Plaza de Espana and the Maria Luisa Park.

Seville is packed with bars and restaurants – most featuring tapas – while flamenco music is widely available, although much is of the tourist variety. Eating and drinking is largely in the Barrio Santa Cruz although also try across the river in Triana.

The locals drink cold, dry Fino or Manzanilla sherry, from the barrel, while the local version of sangria, tinto de verano is popular in summer. Seville is a late-night city and is still lively in to the early hours.

The main Santa Justa Railway Station is 2km out of the centre. Get a taxi or you can get buses #27 and #32 for the city centre. The AVE express train goes to Córdoba and Madrid. Seville's main bus station is at Prado de San Sebastián. About 10 buses daily service Cadiz as well as regular services to Cordoba, Granada, Jerez de la Frontera and Malaga.

Seville's San Pablo Airport is 11km northeast. It has no direct train services but you can catch an airport bus. Taxis from the airport take less than 30min to get into Seville.

Make sure you include Booked.net if searching for hotels in Seville. They list a good number of quality hotels, available at competitive prices. Also, you don't have to pay any extra fees for booking, administration or cancellation.

Every month our travel writers comb the web for city break deals to Seville. Visit our Seville holiday shop to browse through the latest offers. For an in-depth tourist guide visit TravelSavvy Seville.