Spain · Self-guided walk
Seville in one walk 8 sights, 75 minutes
A self-guided walking tour of the Seville Old Town: 8 sights on one 4.9 km loop, about 75 minutes on foot, back where you started.
No two days to spare? Here is the short version: the big sights in one loop. I would take longer. I always take longer.
At a glance
The walk in numbers.
- Distance
- 4.9 km, a loop
- Time
- about 75 minutes of walking at 4 km/h, plus however long you stop
- Sights
- 8
- Start and finish
- Catedral de Sevilla
- Steps
- on Setas de Sevilla
- Cost
- free: no guide, no booking, no tip
The route
Map of the Seville walk: 8 stops, one loop.
The gold line is the walk. The numbers are the stops, in the order you reach them. The pale lines are every other street in the Old Town.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
The stops
8 sights in Seville, in walking order.
Each stop says how far the next one is and which streets take you there.
1. Catedral de Sevilla
the start · inside open Mon–Sat 11:00–17:00, Sun 14:30–18:00
Go in through the orange courtyard on the north flank. That was the washing yard of the mosque that held this ground first, and the trees are still in their rows. Then find the Giralda: no steps inside it, only ramps, because somebody expected to ride up. Main course.
Next: Iglesia de San Isidoro, 490 m, about 7 min, along Catedral de Sevilla, Calle Alemanes, Calle Argote de Molina, Calle Estrella, Calle Manuel Rojas Marcos.
2. Iglesia de San Isidoro
about 7 minutes of walking from the start
This one hides. The lane took its name and that is all the warning you get, so most people walk right by the door. Slow down where the way narrows. Thick walls, cool air, and shade you can feel from the doorstep.
Next: Plaza de la Encarnación, 510 m, about 8 min, along Calle Ángel María Camacho, Calle Pérez Galdós, Calle Santillana, Calle José Luis Luque, Plaza de la Encarnación.
Lunch break
El Rinconcillo, Calle Gerona 40, about 270 m off the route, open Mon 00:00–00:30, 13:00–24:00, Tue 00:00–00:30, Wed 13:00–24:00, Thu 00:00–00:30, 13:00–17:00, 20:00–24:00, Fri–Sun 00:00–00:30, 13:00–24:00.
Somebody has been feeding people at this address since 1670, which makes it the oldest bar in the city and about a third of my own memory. More on what to eat in Seville.
3. Plaza de la Encarnación
about 15 minutes of walking from the start
A walkway runs along the roof up there, and it refuses to go straight. From it the whole flat middle of town lies open in one look. Then come down into the shade underneath. Coolest spot on the level, and I have tried every lane.
Next: Sala San Hermenegildo, 430 m, about 6 min, along Calle José Gestoso, Calle Javier Lasso de la Vega, Calle Aponte.
4. Sala San Hermenegildo
about 22 minutes of walking from the start
The far northern corner of this level, and the one most walkers cut. From the lane it is a flat front with a door in it. Use the door. Whatever you were expecting from the outside, the space behind it is not that.
Next: Plaza Nueva, 690 m, about 10 min, along Plaza del Duque de la Victoria, Calle Velázquez, Calle Tetuán.
5. Plaza Nueva
about 32 minutes of walking from the start
One building, two faces, and this is the sober one. Go round to the far side and the same city hall turns into carved surface from top to bottom. I like a house that keeps its best skin for the older square.
Next: Mercado del Arenal, 730 m, about 11 min, along Plaza Nueva, Calle Zaragoza, Pasaje Cristóbal Morales, Calle Narciso Campillo, Calle Antón de la Cerda, Calle Pastor y Landero, Calle Arenal, Calle Genil.
6. Mercado del Arenal
about 43 minutes of walking from the start
Get here in the morning. The quarter's name means the sand: a loose strip lying between the wall and the river, and the fleets emptied themselves onto it. The carrying still goes on. It just fits in a bag now.
Next: Puente de Isabel II, 320 m, about 5 min, along Puente de Isabel II.
7. Puente de Isabel II
about 48 minutes of walking from the start
Your way over to Triana, and the only reason this level has two banks. Stop halfway and turn round: from out there the Old Town lays itself along its own edge, end to end. Nothing else I eat today will be this long.
Next: Torre del Oro, 830 m, about 12 min, along Puente de Isabel II, Paseo Alcalde Marqués del Contadero.
8. Torre del Oro
about 60 minutes of walking from the start · inside open Mon–Fri 09:30–18:45, Sat–Sun 10:30–18:45
Count the sides as you go round it. Twelve. Nobody believes that until they have made the full circle themselves. The little drum on top with the yellow glaze is centuries younger than the rest of it, and it is the part everyone photographs.
Back to the start: Catedral de Sevilla, 870 m, about 13 min, along Paseo Alcalde Marqués del Contadero, Calle Postigo del Carbón, Calle Santander, Calle Adolfo Rodríguez Jurado, Calle Alemanes, Catedral de Sevilla.
Every stop counts from the street; the hours are for going inside. Opening hours from OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors. Check before you go.
After the walk
The rest of Seville.
This loop is 8 sights. The Old Town is 200 streets, and I have opinions about all of them. Every street of the Seville Old Town, with what to eat and where.
Cobble Gobble is a walking game for iPhone: every street is a line of dots you collect by walking it, and the phone stays in your pocket. Your first city is free.