Places/Spain

Andalusia

Seville

A southern capital of orange trees, a vast cathedral, and heat that is not a detail.

Seville is the Andalusian city people mean when they say Spain and are not thinking of Madrid. It is beautiful in a compact way and exhausting in July. Come in spring if you can. Come in winter with a coat and you will still walk.

The cathedral and the Alcázar are the two tickets. They are not the same morning.

See

• The cathedral

  Large in a way that has to be walked to be believed. The Giralda is a ramp, not a stair, and the view is the city of courtyards.

• The Alcázar, timed

  Book it. The gardens are the reward after the rooms. Midday in August is a mistake you can decline.

• Triana

  Cross the river for a neighbourhood that is still a place people live. Tile shops are optional. Lunch is not.

• A courtyard hour

  Sit in the shade on purpose. The city is designed around that idea, and fighting it is how people dislike Seville.