Guide To Living in Seville

Seville is the city where I have lived for ten years of my life, so this will be one of the longest posts to date. I will try to give as much detailed information as possible to facilitate your stay.

First, it should be noted that Seville has historically been a melting pot, it is reflected in the architecture among large monuments such as La Giralda, La Torre del Oro, El Alcázar, La Catedral, and in individual neighborhoods that echo of times past, the classic example is the Jewish Quarter. Seville is a great city, which has increased its urban center, resulting in a lot of neighborhoods and housing developments on the outskirts.

Transportation

Depending on where you live and your proximity to the city center, you may or may not need public transportation. The price of bus tickets is quite expensive, but there are different types of passes: "Monthly", "weekly", "charge by quantity. "

There is a subway that runs through the city center and travels to several important large cities. The metro is not a mean of transportation recommended if you live in the city, it is quite expensive and the subway pass does not offer much 1, 20 € approximately.

Another city transport is the tramway (Tranvía) that goes from Nervíon to Plaza Nueva, it is fast, and the trip rounds to 1, 20 €.

Lastly, one of the greatest successes in Seville transport, SERVICIE. The city has bikes in many areas to "rent" (card required). There is a time for cycling, but it is very useful because the many bike stations allow you to move quickly, in a way that is ecological and economical as the price of the "card" is monthly and affordable, remaining standard, so you can use them as you please.

The University

There are two public universities in Seville: The University of Seville, and Pablo de Olavide University. I will refer to the University of Seville as it's the one I know. The campus is spread throughout the town:

• The School of Geography and History (geography, history, art history, anthropology, archaeology and philology). I have already dedicated a post on the site about the location of the Chancellor, it is right in the center of Seville on Calle San Fernando;
• School of Law, Psychology-Philosophy, Business and Advertising These schools are located in an area called Viapol, near the city center, about a 10 minute walk from the Chancellor, 5 from the Prado Bus Station and near the San Bernardo train station. You can reach this area by bus or tram, but as I said, it is close to the city center.
• School of Fine Arts There are two fine arts buildings but both are in the downtown area. The first is in La Campana, while the other is located on Calle Gonzalo Bilbao, the second is also a special library for that school.
• School of Engineering, Biology, Architecture, Physics and Chemistry These schools are far from the city center, and they form the campus of Reina Mercedes. Each have different buildings but with common lawn areas and several very inexpensive dining halls with interesting menus for students. Reina Mercedes is an important area of Seville, in fact, many students live here. There are many places to eat, but it is not a university "party" area (I will discuss that later).
• School of Journalism This school is located very close to the Isla de la Cartuja, next to the largest bus station in Seville, "Plaza de Armas".

Accomodation

When looking for accommodation in Seville you should research which area you should live, depending on where your school is located. Prices in the city are not particularly expensive, you can find single rooms from 170 euros being the cheapest to the most expensive, 350 euros.

If your school belongs to Reina Mercedes, it’s ideal to live in that area. It is a little far from the nightspots, but can be reached by foot, bus, and at night there are many taxis.

If your school is in the city center (School of Geography and History), I recommend living in the Alameda-Alfalfa, for different reasons: they are nice alternative areas to the university, situated closely to the school (about 20 minutes).

Another area to live is Triana. The flats are cheap and it is in the midst of a major party area "Calle Betis". Calle Betis is the place to hear the most commercial and Latino music.

Supermarkets

For your everyday shopping you can help yourself to one of the many supermarkets across the city: Dia and Mercadona are typical. It is also common to find "Chinese" stores. They usually have good prices, but, while they have many everyday utensils, they don’t have much food.

Partying in Seville

I brushed past this topic in the housing section, and I am devoting a series of posts about the iconic spots, so I will summarize for areas not specific to bars. There are three nightspots in Seville:

• Alfalfa-Alameda: in close proximity to each other, they are about 15 minutes apart and are usually included in every good plan. Alfalfa is a street full of bars where you can drink beer, shots and mojitos at a good price. It is a popular area for Erasmus, full of small bars, sometimes a little uncomfortable as they are often full, but they also have very good deals. The Alameda is a large square with many bars, rooftop bars and clubs to dance. It is also a meeting place when the night is over. Terraceros highlighted as bars: Corto Maltese, D'Arte, 84, Plan B. Recommended Pubs: Funclub, Black Box and Utopia.
• Calle Betis: could be classified as a more "posh" area with many student bars with cheap drinks (not as cheap as Alameda). It is also the area to go for many Americans who come to study in Seville. There are also some bars to dance and Latino Rio (you can imagine the kind of music) and Elefunk. On Calle Betis I recommend going to the Big Ben, it is a very international bar and not particularly expensive.
• Nervión: if you're looking for a disco there are many in Seville, but most of them are in the Nervion. It usually costs money to enter if you are not on the list, so you should find people who can get into them. Erasmus students usually don’t have problems getting access to these places.

Museums and Theaters

Seville is a city with many museums. The Museum of Fine Arts, located in "Plaza del Museo" is very close to the bus station, "Plaza de Armas". There is also the Museum of Popular Arts in the monastery. In one of the main streets of Seville "Constitution Avenue" (next to Plaza Nueva) is the Archive of the Indies which is a highly recommended place. Documented areas can only be accessed if you have license researcher, but you may visit the building where there are often interesting exhibitions.

There are several theaters, but I will highlight the Avenida theater. There you can watch original films at a much lower price than many places, you can buy tickets for just 5 euros. Another essential building to visit in Seville is the CICUS, here they only show projections of short films (including in thematic cycles), but also make art exhibitions and theater performances. The programming is readily available over the Internet.

I hope all this information has been useful, I plan to write another post on tourist areas to visit in Seville. I have not included it here because I wanted it to only be about how “to live" in the city.