Exploring Seville, Spain with Kids: Top 12 Family-Friendly Adventures
Spring in Seville, Spain. In the air, the ever lingering scent of oranges. Elegant women strut around town in elaborate fur coats, seemingly unaware of the 75 degree weather. Gothic architecture combines with an almost overwhelming display of Baroque gold. The city is slowly ramping up for its biggest event of the year - Semana Santa, or Easter Week.
Seville, Spain
Never before visiting Spain, and adhering to our slow family travel philosophy, we settled on Seville for a month in March. As a medium-sized city with several pedestrian-only walking areas, we figured there would be plenty to do with a 3 year old, and we proved to be correct. After exploring the city for a month, we were well-versed on the best things to do with a toddler in Seville. Here were our favorite family-friendly activities:
Head to the Top of the Seville Cathedral
The Seville Cathedral is colossal, taking up several blocks in the center of the old town. Not only is it a 16th century gem and a Unesco heritage site, it is also the “alleged” burial place of Christopher Columbus. The impressive, connected Giralda Tower is the symbol of the city and dates back to when the cathedral was a mosque in 1568. While we would normally assume that a tower with hundreds of steps would be a no-go for a toddler, the tower has a historic wrinkle: the imam used to ride a donkey up to the top each day, so instead of steps it was built with a winding ramp, making it much more doable for tiny-legged persons.
Seville Cathedral
Cathedral Sevilla Tour
Spain Trip with Kids
Maeve made it to the top without a problem and we all enjoyed the impressive views of the Andalusian city and countryside.
2. Visit the Plaza de Espana
Always on the hunt for good roaming-around spots, we visited the Plaza de Espana one morning. Designed for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929, it is a half-oval, Art Deco treasure comprised of marble and brick and covered in ornate mosaics. There is a large fountain in the center that Maeve loved and a small canal where you can rent boats. The boat rental was not open when we visited, but we were lucky enough to catch an impromptu flamenco dance performance.
Plaza Espana Seville
Plaza de Espana Seville
Plaza de Espana Sevilla
3. See a Street Flamenco Show
On that note, Andalusia is where the art of flamenco originated and if you are lucky, you will find flamenco shows taking place spontaneously on the streets of the town center. The women we saw were pretty impressive and Maeve was happy to run and drop a few coins into their little boxes.
Flamenco Show Seville
Note: I would NOT recommend taking a 3 year old to an actual paid flamenco show. We tried, and failed. We got tickets to a show at the Flamenco Dance Museum and unfortunately the American patrons sitting right by us were not pleased with Maeve’s lack of whispering so we decided to cut out early. With what we were able to see, I would recommend seeing the show but I still preferred the performances we saw at La Carboneria. This is a flamenco bar with incredible dancers that we visited one night when we had a babysitter - shows start late at night and are free with the price of drinks. I know kids stay up late in Spain, but I wouldn’t recommend this as we didn’t see any children when we were there.
4. Visit during Semana Santa (if you can)
Sevillanas prepare all year for their Easter Week festival. The celebration dates back to the 12th century, and involves various processions taking over the streets throughout town on every day leading up to Easter Sunday. Floats with religious statues are hoisted through the town by costaleros, or a group of men who have volunteered to carry the weight, physically and metaphorically, often without shoes on. Those involved in the procession often wear ceremonial robes called nazarenos, the hood of which resembles the KKK and can be daunting for Americans when first encountered.
Semana Santa Seville
We were lucky to see all of the preparation leading up to Semana Santa and two days of the actual event. Our entire block was blocked off for the VIPs who bought tickets to sit, but most of the citizens just push through along with the processions to pray and get a glimpse of the precious relics. Regardless of your religious affiliation, it’s an incredibly moving event and one you should try to witness if possible.
Semana Santa Seville
5. Rent Bikes and Ride to the Italica Ruins
We rented bikes in Seville through a company called Bunny Bike and ventured about 40 minutes out of town to the ancient roman ruins of Italica. All would have been fine and dandy had Kevin’s tire not popped just before we arrived. We had reached the small village outside of Italica and stopped at a bar where not one person spoke any English. There was, however, a lovely Spanish biking couple who had stopped for a beer. The man took us to the hardware store next door, pointed to the tools we needed to buy and used those to fix the bike himself. We were extremely grateful and tried to offer him money, beer, anything but he refused. Italica was the first Roman city in Spain, founded in 206 B.C. It’s a great place to wander around, exploring the excavated amphitheatre, aqueducts and thermal baths.
Italica Seville
6. Walk through the Jewish Quarter of Seville
We originally walked through the Jewish Quarter, also called Santa Cruz, on our first day in Seville during our free walking tour. Feeling like we hadn’t seen enough, we took another afternoon to explore further. The sun-kissed neighborhood is vibrant and alive with cute bars and charming tapas restaurants. Seville is also famous for the fragrant orange trees growing everywhere, and when we visited in March they were in full bloom. The city smelled sublime, and Maeve loved picking up and playing with the ones that had fallen.
Jewish Quarter Seville
Oranges Seville
7. Delight in a Tapas Restaurant
The art of tapas is alive and well in Seville. Maeve, who admittedly is not a very picky eater, loved the idea of essentially having snacks for dinner. Between the jamon iberico, albondigas (meatballs), fried prawns cheese and churros for dessert, she was in heaven. Our favorite spots were Bar Estrella, Bodega Santa Cruz, El Rinconcello and Las Golondrinas on the other side of the river.
8. Take a Carriage Ride Around the City
It’s very easy to pick up a carriage either outside of the cathedral or the Alcazar. They go by the Plaza de Espana, Maria Luisa Park and other hot spots around Seville. They cost about $45/hour and are a nice way to entertain kids and scope out the town.
9. Seville Aquarium
If you happen to be in Seville on a rainy day (do they have those?) then this is a great option with kids. Since we were there for a month, we checked it out one morning and it was a good way to kill some time with Maeve.
10. Metropol Parasol
The Metropol Parasol, also known as Las Setas de Sevilla, or the Seville Mushrooms, are a bit controversial. The large fungi-like structures loom above several city blocks and are a supposed eyesore to the locals. It makes sense - they are extremely modern in a city of mostly really old stuff. We did go to the top one day, and the view was very nice, but we preferred just having a drink below them at one of the cafes and watching the light show at night. The square underneath has a great Chinese restaurant named Ming Chinese (we were there for a month, we needed our Asian fix).
Metropol Parasol Sevilla
11. Alcazar
I’m including the Alcazar on the list because it is one of the top landmarks in Seville, and depending on the age of your child, you should definitely check it out. Maeve could have cared less about this historic royal palace and was a bit cranky when we went on our skip-the-line tour, so our experience was a bit tainted, but I would love to come back again and really explore this place. The intricate tile design was like nothing I had ever seen before and made it easy to see why this was chosen as the filming location of Dorne on Game of Thrones.
Alcazar Seville
Alcazar Sevilla
12. Nun Cookie Treats
This was such fun treat for a toddler! At the Monasterio de La Encarnacion Agustinas, you can head to the revolving window to purchase some baked goods made by the nuns at the convent. For their privacy, you put your money in and say what you want, then they spin the window, take your money, put in the cookies or wafers and give it another spin. There are several of these convent windows all over Spain, including a few others in Seville.