Best day trips and excursions from Seville

The city of Seville is located near cities and towns with a lot of history and a very varied geography of countryside, beaches and mountains. A unique variety and richness for you to decide which of the best day trips and excursions you are interested in doing from Seville, to rest a little from the noise of the city, while you get to know more about the province and other nearby corners of Andalusia.

Carmona and the Sevillian countryside

Half an hour by car from Seville are the villages belonging to the Sevillian countryside, in the wide region of the Guadalquivir Valley. The highlights of this region are its archaeological remains and its historical, cultural, artistic and gastronomic heritage. Visiting its streets is to see live and direct thousands of years of history in one place. The Arab walls are in a perfect state of preservation, as well as the Alcázar del Rey Don Pedro, the Jewish quarter and the Roman necropolis.

A getaway to the beach

Although Seville does not have a beach, it is also true that it is quite close to the coast and it is very convenient to take a day trip to enjoy the sea. In just an hour and a half by car you can be in Matalascañas, the most crowded by Sevillians and located in the heart of the Doñana Natural Park, with a family atmosphere and many bars and restaurants. The sunsets by the sea in this town are not to be missed. Another nearby beach is Islantilla, which stands out for its fine sand and its width of more than a kilometer and a half. Also worth mentioning are the beaches of Mazagón, Caño de la Culata and Isla Canela.

Caminito del Rey

In the province of Malaga and 150 km from the city of Seville you can get to know a truly amazing geographical feature. It is a footbridge suspended between steep vertical walls in the Desfiladero de los Gaitanes, located more than 100 meters above the Guadalhorce River. A few years ago, this entire complex was rehabilitated for tourist visits and the walkway and accesses have been reinforced to provide greater security. It is a two-hour drive and is the most advisable option to travel to the area.

Rio Tinto Mining Park

In the middle of the 19th century, the British company founded the Rio Tinto Company Limited just over an hour from Seville in a mining area that had been operating as such since ancient times. Today, the site has become a theme park that tells the story of the mines and boasts a wonderful landscape, similar to the lunar surface. Within the Rio Tinto Mining Park there is a museum housed in the company’s former hospital building, which exhibits antique trains and recreates a Roman-era mine. You can also enjoy a ride on a 19th century train, contemplating the landscape and the old facilities of the mining company, with the red waters of the particular Tinto River in the background.

Doñana Park

A visit to the Doñana National and Natural Park is a must for tourists who enjoy the outdoors and nature at its best. With a vast extension of almost 110,000 hectares, all of it protected land, it is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site and stands out for its rich ecosystems and for hosting a biodiversity that is unique in Europe. Beaches, lagoons, forests, marshes, mountains, scrublands and fixed and mobile dunes, all this you will find in your visit to Doñana Park, in addition to being able to see more than 300 species of birds in an area that is key to the migratory routes of many of them.

Castillo de las Guardas Reserve

It is a great plan to do with the family during a day trip from Seville. The reserve is located 50 km from the city and is one of the largest animal parks on the European continent, with more than 200 hectares of forest and more than 1,000 specimens of animals belonging to 100 species from all over the world. The tour for visitors covers a total of 15 kilometers, which can be done by car or on the park’s own train, to observe the animals in their environment and see birds of prey, sea lions and kangaroos, as well as other attractions, such as karting, paintball and swimming pools.

Bronze Age Dolmens

The history of Seville and its surroundings is inexhaustible and just 20 minutes by car from the city (with the option of also going by bus) is the Dolmen de la Pastora, a site that integrates the series of dolmens from the Bronze Age and was one of the largest population settlements of the third millennium B.C. Today it is a complete megalithic sanctuary of great dimensions and archaeologists assure that it was a sacred site in its time of splendor. It is oriented to the sunset and you can see prehistoric grave goods, flint arrows, stone necklaces and ceramic vessels.

The architectural charm of San Isidoro Monastery

Very close to Seville, in the town of Santiponce, is located this monastery founded in 1301 by Alonso Perez de Guzman (better known by the popular name of Guzman the Good) and built on an ancient Mozarabic hermitage where it is believed that San Isidoro de Sevilla was buried. The main charm of this monastery is that it houses different architectural styles as it was renovated over the centuries: medieval Gothic, Renaissance architecture, Baroque, Rococo and Neo-Gothic. Ideal to visit calmly and contemplate its details in the cloister, the sacristy, the chapter house, the refectory and its towers. On its walls, the collection of frescoes, canvases and altarpieces stand out.

A Columbus route through the voyage of Christopher Columbus

To retrace the traces of how Christopher Columbus’ first voyage to America was planned in 1492 is an exciting experience. And this is another day trip that you can make from Seville to the province of Huelva in three specific points, very close to each other: the monastery of Santa Clara in Moguer where Columbus went to seek support from his abbess, the village of Palos de la Frontera where the famous Pinzón brothers were born and where the famous pier from which the caravels departed was located and, finally, the Monastery of La Rábida, with a great architectural wealth of Mudejar style and where Columbus met with his collaborators to plan the trip.

The geological and scenic richness of Cerro del Hierro

An hour and a half drive from Seville is the Sierra Norte Natural Park with the jewel of Cerro del Hierro, a mining area that has a unique landscape value, with limestone of more than 600 million years of history. Due to mining activity and natural erosion, the mountains present very interesting and colored figures in ocher, red and gray tones. In this way, it ends up forming a landscape of very unique characteristics and very photographable, perfect for hiking routes between bridges, tunnels and galleries to reach the viewpoints.

Setenil de las Bodegas and the charm of the Cadiz mountain range

Cadiz is very close to Seville and, generally, these getaways are usually conceived for the beach area, but there is life beyond the sea and Setenil de las Bodegas is the proof of it. It is a beautiful village located in the middle of the mountains and 1 hour and 40 minutes drive from Seville. A prehistoric enclave with a lot of charm and full of hiking trails to enjoy with the family.

The grotto of the wonders of Huelva

An hour and a half from Seville there is not only history but also a lot of prehistory, exactly in the town of Aracena, in the province of Huelva. There you can visit the Gruta de las Maravillas (Cave of Wonders), a cave located in the urban center of the town, which has three superimposed levels, forming a total of 2,230 meters of galleries. The route allowed for tourism reaches 1200 meters, but it is more than enough to experience firsthand how prehistoric man lived.