When my sister told me she wanted to celebrate her birthday in Seville (Sevilla) it didn’t take me long to decide that was an excellent idea! After visiting Granada, I’d heard that the Palace in Seville is close in beauty, and of course the people from Sevilla claim the it’s better than the Alhambra. So I was curious.
Our first Seville experience was not too good: the cab driver who picked us up at the airport tried to overcharge us. Once I started taking pictures of his license plate he had a quick attitude adjustment and agreed on the regular, standard airport-center fee.
Seville is larger than Granada and we misjudged that a bit – so our walk from the hotel to the Cathedral took us a bit longer than expected. One of our best decisions was to buy tickets for the hop-on hop-off bus and that allowed us to really explore the city.
So, was the Seville Alcazar better than the Granada Alhambra? I don’t think that comparing the two does justice to either one of them. They are both gorgeous structures and well-preserved. The Alcazar is a bit more intimite as it’s in the middle of the city center. The royal family still uses part of the building, so it’s not completely accessible to the public. But you’ll enjoy the Moorish architecture in many of the rooms and a lot of fascinating tile walls.
Despite all the walking, I felt the need to go run the city too. We stayed in the Tryp Macarena hotel where we enjoyed a great view of the old city walls (Muralla de Sevilla). So the hotel literally sits on the edge of the city center. My run took me along the walls and then into the center, along the Alameda de Hercules, which is a loverly shaded plaza with lots of tapas restaurants. Even though I had to navigate some of the narrower streets, there weren’t a lot of cars so I could easily run on the streets. The side walks are very narrow and not really suited for runners but most of the streets are one-way, which makes it easier to navigate.
Happy Running!
