Hi TF
We're looking for a hotel to stay at in Seville- had a look at the Becquer that you recommended and it looks very nice. Did you book direct with the hotel?

Hi JARVE_EL
We booked through http://www.hotelclub.net
These are some of the reviews of the hotel.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g187443-d236091-Reviews-Becquer_Hotel-Seville_Andalusia.html
We also used Hotelclub this year for Valencia, can't fault them.
Hope this helps
Cheers TF

Thanks a lot, a big help. I already checked out the reviews on trip advisor and just needed to know how was the cheapest way to book.

When are you planning to go?

February 2007- a strange time to go I know, but the Seville marathon is on Feb 11th and we're going to run that and then combine it with a few days holiday.

We stayed at the Novotel Sevilla at the end of October, it's right next door to the football stadium, the rooms were big, modern and very clean. We have two boys aged 10 and 14 - my youngest son thought it was great that you had speakers from the tv playing into the bathroom!!!!!
In the reception area there are Nintendo Gamecubes and Gameboy advances, also the kids had a free breakfast, whilst we went next door to the cafe for coffee and toast because the breakfast buffet in the hotel was quite expensive!!
Although the Novotel isn't in the most picturesque part of the city, it is 2 minutes on the bus from the cathedral, it costs €1. There are also several places to eat just around the corner.

Hello
I have just booked a weeks holiday to just outside Seville, could anyone advise me please on things I must see in Seville while I'm there.

We want to go to a flamenco show, visit cathedral etc

Thanks Lesley

Hi Lesley ... we have a 2005/2006 topic about Seville which may provide some useful info and links, while you wait for some more up to date feedback ... click here.

David

Thanks David
Thats just what I needed, you can delete my post if you want to avoid duplication
Thanks Lesley

I have added your posts on to that topic Lesley, in the hope of attracting further feedback from recent visitors to Seville.

David

Hi Lesley, Seville is a beautiful city - I fell in love with it last September when I was there for a conference and I'm going back in three weeks time.

RE Flamenco you need to be wary of the big theatre or nightclub based shows - they're expensive and very much aimed at the tourists. On the recommendation of local colleagues I went to see Flamenco at La Casa de la Memoria and El Carboneria - both in the old Santa Cruz area of the city. There are twice nightly performances at the Casa de la Memoria and the performers change nightly. The night I went the performance was being done by a small, young company and the dancing was superb and I would suggest you go to the second show - it's the one you'll find the locals at. The performances take place within the small patio with just a three rows of seats on three sides of the patio - it's a small and intimate venue and a showcase for the new up and coming talent. I can't member how much it cost - not much and definitely less than the big 'tablaos'. My hotel arranged for a ticket to reserved for me and if you want to go to the early performance you definitely need to do this or else go earlier in the day to buy them.

El Carboneria is very different - much larger as you'd expect of a building that was originally a coal merchants! There is an open patio and also a number of bars with free live music and dancing every night. Very rough and ready but it's where the locals and students tend to go and as well as booked performers they also do the flamenco equivalent of having 'open mike' nights. So it can be a bit hit and miss as to the quality of what you'll see. 'Enthusiastic' rather than 'polished' porbably best describes it on the night when I went but definitely worth it for the atmosphere and to see flamenco singing and dancing as a living folk art form rather than as a pricey tourist-orientated show. But as both venues are within 5 minutes walk of each other you could go to the Casa de la Memoria first and end the night in the Carboneria. Remember that the locals are late starters - there won't necessarily be that much to see before 10.00pm.

Of course you must see the Alcazar and the Giralda and if going to the Giralda the view from the top of the bell-tower is well worth the effort - just take it slowly and you'll get to the top eventually. But one of the best things to do is to just wander the streets and soak up the atmosphere. Sierpres is the main shopping street along with the other one which runs parrallel to it (can't remember it's name but both are fairly narrow pedestrianised streets. There's a wonderful ice cream parlour at the opposite end of Sierpres from the Plaza Nueva - they also do wonderful pastries. And my favourite tapas bar was directly opposite the Santa Maria Blanca church in Santa Cruz because it did mainly delicious veggie dishes - thre's only much jamon and chorizo that I can take! - but I never had disappointing tapas anywhere in the city.

Also, it's worth going to have a look at the old tobacco factory - the setting for the opera 'Carmen'. It's now the main University campus and as such it's open to the public to just wander around for free -during the University vacations you can take an organised tour. It's a huge baroque building with series of inner patios with fountains and benches you take your ease at and whilst the food is pretty basic - after all we're talking cheap and cheerful catering aimed at students - the two cafeterias are open to the public too and amongst the cheapest places to eat in the city. As I said, fairly basic but decent for the price - far better quality than the average Uni canteen in the UK I can assure you!

So go and enjoy Seville and don't forget to have a chilled manzanilla (the local really dry sherry) whilst watching the world go by.

SM

Thanks very much SM
I think I would prefer a smaller venue for the flamenco, my daughter is vegetarian so I appreciate the recommendation of a good veggie tapas

I am hoping to hear some Carmen

it all sounds so lovely , I can't wait now

Hi McBabe, when are you going? I'm going back out on the 5th April, back 14th so that would give me a chance to check the name of the tapas bar with the good veggie options and let you know it if you'll be there later in the Year. I know exactly where it is, can picture it in my mind's eye and we'll definitley be eating there again but for the life of me can't remember the name! Also, if there's anything else you want me to keep and eye open for let me know.

SM

I'm going on 3rd May for a week
we are staying outside Seville but plan on spending quite a bit of time there
Thanks for your help

hope you have a great time

Lesley

Without wishing to worry you unnecessarily .......... please wear your handbag across your body with the bag away from the road side. The local thieves usually use motorbikes to bag snatch! Lovely city ..... it will be hot when you go! Try some HORCHATA - sometimes spelt with an X - refreshing almond kernel juice, and even if it's really boiling the hot chocolate (thick and syrupy) and churros (piped lengths of deepfried dough, a bit like a long doughnut!

But neither can compare with a glass of chilled manzanilla or fino!

SM

VERY true SM!!! Couldn't agree more!!

Well what can I say! We ended up drinking quite a few chilled manzanillas whilst we sat out the gales and rain storms! Despite my earlier concerns the apartment was very good - centrally paced for Santa Cruz though a bit of a walk from the Feria grounds. Not that we did that rain-sodden walk very often. The whole of Andalucia was deluged with rain for almost the whole of the Feria which certainly put a dampner :-) on the festivities.

We were really glad we went to Cordoba on the Tuesday because by Wednesday all the trains out of Seville were cancelled due to flooding on the tracks! We retreated early from Cordoba because the rain there was even worse than in Seville but it was definitely worth the effort and the soaking we got. The Mezquita is glorious and my interest in Sephardi Jewish culture and music was amply satisfied by being able to visit the synagogue and the museum in the Juderia quarter. We did decide to give Cadiz the miss though - I get enough of rainy seaside towns at home here in Scotland!

And I still haven't seen the gardens of the Alcazar in Seville properly yet - in September it was too hot and exhausting to spend the late afternoon walking round them. And this time, just as we came out of the palace and were about the brave the rain and go round them, a tree came crashing over the wall of the patio we were crossing to get to them and the gardens were immediately closed to the public as a result of concerns that more of them might blow down in the gales!

The Casa de Pilatus turned out to be a little gem - but no doubt my opinion was very much influenced by the fact that I came upon it by chance on our last morning (Friday) which was incidentally the first dry, sunny morning we'd had since the preceding Sunday! If you're going to Seville it's definitely worth seeking out.

The Sevillianas certainly know how to party - if this what they can do in the rain, then Lord knows what the Feria is like in good weather. The funfair was huge and is open throughout the night - though the two huge ferris wheels were shut down as a result of the gales! Everybody gets dressed in their best flamenco style clothing - as my friend said, the dresses can look quite tacky when you see them in the shop windows but when you see all the women dressed up in groups walking the streets and the Feria ground, they look like a garden of flowers. The men also look so dashing in their cabellero outfits - it's hard to imagine your average British man being able to carry the look off, much less dress so formally for a night on the razzle!

So I'm now quite an expert on the shopping possiblities of Seville and the best bars to while an afternoon long rainstorm away in, so drop me note if you want some info :-)

SM

Top tips.

Ever wondered why the beggars, pickpockets and lucky-heather sellers make straight for you? You're never going to kid people that you're not a tourist. But you don't have to look like a complete dork - you couldn't blame people for trying to squeeze the most out of you. Ditch the rucksack and the cargo pants.You wouldn't dress like tha at home, would you? Don't wander round with a map in your hand, mouth hanging open, dressed for the beach, as if you're vsiting a theme park. What would you think if you saw someone hanging around your home town looking like that? You'd think they might as well have hung a sign around their neck saying: "I have no idea what I'm doing - feel free to take advantage of my ignorance." And, frankly, they'd deserve everything that was coming to to them.

Try to learn to say more than "Hola" and "Una cerveza, por favor." If foreign visitors came to your town, you wouldn't think much of them if they just jabbered in their own language, gesticulated, and expected you to understand.

Remember that siesta isn't just a quaint local custom. It's practical, and well worth cultivating. Go to bed for three or four hours in the afternoon, and you'll be able to stay up to find out what really goes on when the locals start going out at 10, 11, and 12 at night. I have no intention of telling you (because it's easy enough to find out, if you're interested) which bar we stayed in until 3am, clapping along, while round us a guitar was passed from hand to hand as flamenco singers and players took turns to perform and locals got up to dance. We were ripped off for drinks prices - but, hey, we'd been fingered as tourists, and we accepted that we'd still paid less than if we'd gone to a tablao show, we'd stayed longer, and almost certainly enjoyed it more.

In short, respect people. Remember you're a visitor to their home.