How do I get around Seville?

Seville's old center sits on flat ground, and the walk from the Alameda de Hércules south through the Barrio de Santa Cruz to Plaza de España covers about 2.5 km. Wide sidewalks line Avenida de la Constitución, and most side streets get enough shade from the orange trees that the worst of the sun stays off your shoulders. The catch is heat. From June through September, afternoon temperatures regularly reach 40°C, and the stone underfoot holds that warmth well past sundown. You'll feel the pavement through your shoes by 14:00. Plan your walking for mornings before 11:00 and evenings after 19:30. Between those hours, step into the courtyards of the Reales Alcázares or find a bar in Triana for a cold tinto de verano at around 2.50 EUR and wait it out.

The Sevici bike-share system runs about 260 docking stations across the city with roughly 2,600 bikes. A 7-day subscription costs around 14 EUR, and the first 30 minutes of each trip are free. The dedicated lanes along the Guadalquivir toward the Expo '92 grounds and through Parque de María Luisa make cycling feel safe, with the river breeze cutting through the dry heat. Skip the bike in the Santa Cruz quarter, though. The alleys narrow to under 2 meters in places, and you'll spend more time walking the bike around pedestrians than riding it. The MetroCentro tram, Line T1, covers a short 2.2 km from Plaza Nueva past the Cathedral to San Bernardo rail station. A single ride costs 1.40 EUR with a contactless card. Mind you, the route is so short that walking it takes about 12 minutes.

TUSSAM buses handle anything beyond the old center. The C3 and C4 circular routes loop through the historic core and connect Triana, Macarena, and Nervión without transfers. A single ride is 1.40 EUR in cash, but the rechargeable tarjeta multiviaje drops that to about 0.69 EUR per trip. Buy the card at any estanco for 1.50 EUR and load 7 EUR for 10 rides. Taxis are white with a yellow diagonal stripe. The meter starts at roughly 1.35 EUR during the day and runs about 0.90 EUR per kilometer. A ride from Santa Justa station to the Cathedral area should read 6-8 EUR. Bolt and Uber both operate in Seville but tend to match or slightly beat metered taxi fares, so the advantage is mostly convenience after 02:00 when street hails dry up. Download Bolt before you arrive. It currently has better driver coverage in Seville than Uber.

Seville's Metro Line 1 opened in 2009 and runs 18 km through the southern suburbs. It is built for commuters, not visitors. No station sits inside the historic center, and the closest stop to the old town is Puerta de Jerez at the southern edge near Torre del Oro. Unless your hotel is in Nervión, near the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium, you can likely ignore the metro for your entire trip. Worth noting, the horse-drawn carriages lined up outside the Cathedral charge 45-50 EUR for a 45-minute loop. You'll hear the drivers calling fares from half a block away. They are overpriced for what amounts to a slow circle past Plaza de España and back along the same streets. Walk the route in 25 minutes and stop for a caña at any bar along Calle Mateos Gago for about 1.50 EUR.