Seville Centre

So, the 'centre of Seville' is a very wide topic so I'm going to talk about it in sections.

Apart from most of the streets in Andalusian cities looking the same, the streets in Seville are unique, like the whole city really.

You can start your tour at the Plaza de Encarnación. You can get there by taking a bus, depending on where you're coming from. Then, you can pass the Metropol Parasol on the right, which better known as the 'mushroom'.

A little further ahead, there is a square on our left, and the well known Puente y Pellón street, which is famous for selling flamenco costumes for the Seville Festival.

I forgot to tell you that at the Plaza de Encarnación, you have to visit the Tremendo Bar, one of the oldest and most famous cervecerías in Seville. A lot of people think this bar serves the best beer in the world! Not forgetting its tasty tapas!

Continuing this way, you will arrive at a neighbourhood that has lots of little hostals, a perfect location for tourists to stay that want to discover the city.

So after the famous street, you will arrive at the Campana, a popular meeting point for Sevillians and visitors, where there is a McDonalds, a Burger King, a Pilar Burgos shoe shop, a Zara... A little on the right there is a square called Plaza del Duque, which has a Corte Inglés. Normally, people walk around the square admiring all the different jewellery shops that align it.

Returning to the Campana, there is another famous, narrow street nearby called Calle Sierpas, which is known as one of the principal shopping streets and one of the main pedestrian streets in the city. Along this street that ends in Plaza San Francisco, is where part of the official Easter Week processions take place.

The famous street is full of shops, bakeries, cafes and bars and they are always full of people and passers-by. It is also common to see mimes and musicians busking for some money.

At Christmas, the streets of the city centre is perfectly deocrated and illuminated in lots of lights. Contrarily, in the spring and summer, when the temperature starts rising in the city, it is usual to see tall, white awning that align the streets in order to provide some cool shade for the Sevillians and tourists that are walking through the streets.

At the end of the street, you arrive at Plaza de San Francisco, where you can find the town hall, one of the most famous plateresque buildings in Andalusia. As well as admiring the outside, it is worth visiting the inside to learn about its history and story.

Returning to the Campana, and walking just past it and heading left, parallel to Calle Sierpas, you will find Calle Velázquez. This street starts from Calle Tetuan, and finishes in Plaza de San Francisco, the same as Sierpas.

This street is the main pedestrian and shopping street in the city centre. Wider than Sierpas, it is always full of people passing by and shopping, on both sides of the street. It is considered as one of the most expensive shopping streets in Spain. There are loads of designer shops on this street, and plenty of restaurants, cafes and gift shops.

At the beginning of the street, on the right, there is a small street called San Eloy. On this street, you will find the San Eloy Bar, where they serve the best montaditos in Seville, which makes it rather famous among the locals.

A little further up Calle Tetuan, also on one of the side streets, there is another famous bar called Blanco Cerrilo, popular for its Marinated Anchovies. I can't remember the name of the street, but I know that the smell of the anchovies will lead you there, it is difficult not to smell them throughout the whole street. There are some other really good tapas bars, that serve things like marinated hake, but you have to try the famous anchovies.

At the end of the street, like I said before, is the Plaza de San Francisco, from where you can get the metro or the tram to save you walking. If you do keep walking, you will next arrive at Avenida de la Constitución, from which you can admire the beautiful Cathedral.

Taking one of the side streets off the main avenue, you will get to another bar, which is more of a restaurant and is amazing. It is called Los Coloniales, but be careful what time you decide to go because there are often huge waiting lists. If the list isn't very long, I recommend that you wait, because the food and the price is worth it. Don't be fooled by the word 'tapas' because none of the food in this place is 'small'. Two tapas dishes are enough for anyone.

Just next to this restaurant, there is a really good frozen yoghurt place, although you might prefer to have a dessert in the same restaurant, because the cheese tart is amazing. For how cheap the main meals are, the desserts might seem quite expensive, but still very good.

Going past the back of the cathedral and heading left, after walking for a little bit, you will arrive at the Santa Cruz neighbourhood, one of the oldest and most beautiful areas in Seville. This neighbourhood was formerly the old Jewish quarter of Seville. When Fernando III of Castille conquered the city, the second largest Jewish community in Spain was formed here, after Toledo.

Nowadays, the quarter looks like a maze of narrow streets, and it is easy to get lost in them if you don't know the city so be careful. If you go during the summer, you can escape to the narrow streets and get some shade away from the hot, busy city centre.

In the neighbourhood, it is very common to have some tapas and a beer in one of the bars in Plaza de los Vernerables. Also, the Hospital para Venerables Sacerdotes is closeby, where it is believed that Don Juan Tenorio was born.

The most famous square is the one in Santa Cruz, which gives its name to the neighborhood. You can also find a famous cross here that was built in the seventeenth century, on the old Mudejar Parish. My favourite square is Plaza de Doña Elvira, perhaps because my grandfather took me there as a child. It is full of tiles and orange trees, with a beautiful fountain and brick and tile benches. As well as it being frequently visited by tourists because of its beauty, it is also used as setting for some 'Comedias'. In one of the tiles, it states that the square was where Don Juan Tenorio and Doña Ines first fell in love.

It is also nice to see the Callejón canals run along the walls, that carry water to Alcazar. On the wall, there is a plaque that says the writer Washington Irving once stayed there.

Leaving the street, we approach the impressive Jardines de Murillo, a very well known place in Seville. Heading down one of the other side streets, we reach the famous Patio de Banderas, which is 1441 square meters large.

You should also not forget to go and see the Casa de Murillo, the mansions on Calle Lope de Rueda, la Calle Pimienta, la Calle Susona, which was previously called Calle de la Muerte and Calle Mateos Gago, where you can also admire the Giralda.

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