Special treat: the grand dame of Seville hotels. Great central location, cool, comfortable rooms and courtyards and a swimming pool in the gardens. Doubles from 340 euros b&b.
Mid-range: four-star hotel built around a courtyard, 10 minutes’ walk from the Alcazar. Official rates go from 350 euros a night but are much cheaper on the website: Doubles in August from 85 (room).
Great two-star option in Lope de Rueda close to the Alcazar, this has some good deals at the moment with doubles from 62 euros a night, b&b, including two tickets to the Flamenco Museum (see below).
Stop for fried baby squid (puntillitas) and an ice cold beer, or fino sherry, at El Faro de Triana tapas bar by the Isabella bridge, with views up and down the river and over to the cathedral.
This is a merchant’s palace dating from Columbus's time but adapted later into an appealing blend of Moorish, Gothic, Renaissance and 19th-century architecture. Admission eight euros, open 9am-7pm.
Try the whisky tortilla, fried fish and white chocolate tart. You may be in good company – it’s a favourite of the King and Queen of Spain. If a weekend, head for nearby Europa bar (see below).
Go in the entrance and head to the left with the great west doors behind you - it's the only place to get an impression of the immense size. The tomb of Columbus may contain his bones, no one is sure.
Flamenco fans might want to squeeze in a visit to the Flamenco Museum (flamencomuseum.com) which also holds classes and demonstration dances. Admission 10 euros, open 9am-7pm daily.
An extraordinary little museum adapted from a 16th-century palace 100 years ago by the Condesa de Lebrija to house her collection of Roman mosaics and sculpture.
This former convent is an appealing and under-visited art museum. Its strength is a collection of Baroque Spain painting by Velázquez, El Greco, Zurbarán and Murillo and its peaceful cloister gardens.
At the classic Europa tapas bar retreat to the interior, with its blue-and-white tiles and black-and-white marble floor – or take one of the tables which spills into the Plaza de Jesús de la Pasión.
