Europeans who visit Seville often come for no more than a long weekend, and that time is usually jam-packed, as they run around the city trying to see as much as they possibly can. However, stay any longer than three days, and you’ll quickly run out of sites to visit. (Unless of course you really, really love churches, in which case you could easily fill a week exploring the 115 of these dotted about the city.) At this point, you’ll probably start to cast around looking for some day trips you can make, and lucky for you they are aplenty.
When you imagine Spain and Spanish culture, Andalucía is about as authentic as you can get, so when I moved here, I was eager to explore as much of it as I could in the year I planned to spend here. This meant a lot of day trips and overnight stays in different parts of the region, many of which I’ve documented in more detail here on my blog. The following are, in my opinion, some of the best trips you can take from Seville and still make it back to your hotel before bed time.
Itálica
The closest and easiest trip to make from Seville is to the Roman ruins of Itálica. Game of Thrones fans will recognise the ancient amphitheatre as the Dragonpit from Season 7 – the location of the meeting point between Cersei and Daenerys and Jon. Itálica is not so much a day trip as it is an afternoon trip – it lies just 8km outside the city and you’ll need no more than a couple of hours to explore it. Obviously every trip is better done with a guide, but a paid tour will set you back about €30, while you can make your own way to and from there by public bus from Plaza de Armas for no more than a couple of euro. Entry is free for EU citizens and €1.50 for other countries.
Caminito del Rey
The Caminito del Rey is an 8km gentle hike along suspension bridges and cliff-paths above the Guadalhorce reservoir in the province of Malaga – roughly 150km from Seville. If you’ve any kind of fear of heights, this one is definitely not for you, but for everyone else, it makes for a fantastic day trip. You can also incorporate the close-by Bobastro ruins into your visit, which date back to the 8th century and sits on one of the most breath-taking back-drops I’ve seen here in Spain.
Unfortunately, tickets for the Caminito sell out months in advance, meaning that visitors are left with little choice but to book through a private tour agency. Many of the bigger, more well-known agencies charge extortionate prices, but I highly recommend checking out Do Seville tours. It’s a small, independent company, popular with expats, and their rates tend to be a lot cheaper – don’t expect bells and whistles, but the groups are small, the guides speak English and you’ll definitely get your money’s worth.
Ronda
In a competition for the best cities in Andalucía, Ronda would definitely be my frontrunner. It sits on the top of a mountain in the province of Malaga and is home to the iconic, very originally named ‘Puente Nuevo’ (New Bridge). The views across the valley from the Old Town are spectacular, and you could lose a whole day just sitting at the many viewing points along the edge of the city, staring wistfully out.
Despite what the internet might tell you, Ronda is accessible by bus from Seville. Damas run five buses per day from Sevilla Prado San Sebastian. The company’s website will cause you an instant migraine as it is only available in Spanish, it’s impossible to navigate and it’s also not secure – so don’t even try to buy tickets on it unless you want your credit card details sold to a Nigerian Prince. Instead you must do as they did in olden times and physically walk to the bus station a day or two before departure and buy the tickets. However I cannot stress enough the importance of making sure the time you pick is for a direct route. Ronda is only 125km from Seville, but an indirect bus can take up to 3.5hours to arrive there.
Córdoba
There is so much to see in Córdoba that really it deserves an overnight trip, but if you’re caught for time, you can squeeze a lot of its best sites in in a day. It’s similar to Seville in that it’s summers can be unbearably hot, so choose wisely when making a day trip here, as you may find yourself a hostage to the air conditioning of any given café beyond 2pm.
If you take the AVE (fast train), you can be in Córdoba in a very reasonable 40minutes, but if you find yourself on the bus with the rest of us plebs, expect the journey to last roughly 1hr 45minutes.
Order In The Chaos 