Seven Days in Seville: A Slow, Walkable City Experience

This post isn’t a list of things to do in Seville, but a reflection on what the city felt like after seven days of walking, watching, and photographing it.

I spent seven days in Seville with no real plan beyond one simple rule: walk everywhere and take my time. No hire car, no packed itinerary, no rushing from one highlight to the next. Just days shaped by light, distance, and curiosity — and a camera always within reach.

I deliberately chose January for this visit. The city is quieter than in peak months, and the temperatures are far more forgiving for walking long distances. Even in winter, Seville remains bright and lively, but without the intensity that makes extended exploration difficult in summer. For the way I like to travel — on foot, slowly — the timing felt right.

What followed wasn’t a checklist of attractions, but a gradual understanding of how the city works when you give it space.

Why I chose to explore Seville entirely on foot

Seville feels like a city designed to be walked. Distances between neighbourhoods are manageable, streets constantly shift in scale and atmosphere, and there’s always something happening at ground level — cafés opening, shutters lifting, light slipping into side streets.

Walking also made planning flexible. Knowing that winter weather can be changeable, I kept an eye on forecasts and adjusted days accordingly. When rain was expected, I leaned into indoor visits — cathedrals, palaces, and museums — saving longer wandering days for clearer weather. That balance kept the pace relaxed rather than reactive.

Removing transport from the equation simplified everything. I wasn’t thinking about routes or schedules, just about where to turn next.

Our first lunch and our first taste of Cruzcampo beer

Getting my bearings early

On my first day, I picked up a paper map from the hotel and asked them to mark the key attractions. That simple step gave me a clear overview of the city before I even stepped outside. From there, Google Maps filled in the details — helping with navigation, estimating walking times, and occasionally suggesting a route I wouldn’t have chosen myself.

Within the first couple of hours, I had a good sense of Seville’s scale and orientation. Knowing roughly how long it took to walk between areas made the rest of the week feel intuitive rather than planned. After that, the phone stayed in my pocket more often than not.

A central base — and easy connections beyond the city

Our nearest bar the Santa Cruise viwed from the hotel

Staying in the old town proved to be an important part of the experience. My hotel, Casa 1800, was centrally placed, which meant I could head out in any direction on foot and reach new areas without feeling committed to a long journey back. It also meant evenings could be unplanned — with plenty of bars and restaurants close by once the walking was done.

What surprised me was how well connected the city still felt on foot. The main train station, Sevilla Santa Justa, was around a 30-minute walk from the old town and the hotel. I’d planned a day trip to Córdoba, but an accident on the line meant that particular plan didn’t happen. Even so, knowing the station was easily walkable made Seville feel like a strong base for exploring further afield without needing taxis or additional logistics.

Breakfast as part of the walk, not a timetable

We chose not to eat breakfast at the hotel, and that decision quietly shaped each day. It meant there was no fixed start time — some mornings began early, others more slowly — and breakfast became part of the walking rhythm rather than a routine to get through.

Stopping for coffee and something small to eat — sometimes outside in the sunshine — created natural pauses in the day. It broke longer walks into manageable sections and turned rest into something enjoyable rather than necessary. The days never felt like endurance hikes. After all, I was on holiday.

Those moments of sitting, watching, and doing very little often stayed with me as much as the places themselves.

What seven unhurried days revealed about the city

Time changed everything.

By the third or fourth day, Seville stopped feeling like a destination and started feeling like a place. Patterns emerged — when streets were busiest, when they emptied, when the light softened and when it became harsh. Some areas invited lingering, others worked best as places to pass through slowly.

Seven days didn’t feel excessive. It felt like just enough time to move beyond first impressions and into something more familiar.

Seville Cathedral and Giralda viwed from the Casa 1800 Hotel

How photography changed the way I noticed Seville

Having a camera with me wasn’t about documenting landmarks — it was about paying attention.

Photography encouraged pauses. It made me wait for light, notice repetition in balconies and doorways, and watch how people used the city differently as the day unfolded. Often, the most interesting moments weren’t at the major sites, but in the spaces between them — the walk there, the turn down an unplanned street, the quiet just before a square filled up again.

Many of my favourite images came from walking without a destination and letting scenes present themselves rather than actively searching them out.

How this visit shaped the images (and what came next)

This trip produced two parallel outcomes: a collection of photographs and a clearer sense of how I like to experience cities. Seville reinforced my preference for slower travel, for walking-based exploration, and for photography that sits somewhere between observation and memory.

This post is the starting point for a small series based on that week — walking the city, visiting its major attractions without rushing, and noticing the quieter moments in between. Each post focuses on one aspect of the experience rather than trying to cover everything at once.

A warm welcom from tCasa 1800

What’s next

• Is Seville walkable? — distances, neighbourhoods, and daily rhythms

• Visiting Seville’s major attractions without rushing

• The side of Seville you notice between the landmarks

Travel notes

• Hotel: Hotel Casa 1800 – centrally located in Seville’s old town, which made walking the city in all directions straightforward

• Camera: Fujifilm X-T5

• Lens: Sigma 18–50mm f/2.8 & 35mm XF 1.4

• Filter : K&F CONCEPT 55mm Black Diffusion 1/4 Filter Mist Soft Glow Diffuser Lens Filters(Nano-K Series)

Our hotel (captured in my instagram story) @travelandpixels