After an enforced break for Covid, and the many uncertainties it brought for travellers, we are back on our Slow Travel adventures. 2023 will take us to Sevilla in Spain.
Why Sevilla? It is well known as a lovely tourist destination, with many great things to see. There is a lovely old city, a Royal Palace that started life as a fort in the 10th Century. A memorable Cathedral. Not to mention some delightful food experiences! The Tapas will be stunning I am certain, not to mention some great sherry tasting opportunities! Cordoba, another amazing city is just a short train ride away.
We’ve done quite a lot of research, using well known sites as Lonely Planet. We have been a fan of their books for years, long before our concept of Slow Travel was born. From China in 1997, through many trips to New Zealand, India, Peru & Equador, Galapagos etc….(no affiliate connection!)
Born in Ireland, and living in Scotland, I find a hot climate a bit of a challenge, so we have chosen to go late September and October, when the city cools down a bit! As I write this 40c/104f, far too hot for me, I would have to hide in a cool cellar somewhere! By end of September it should be the late 20’s – very pleasant, a nice bit of warmth before winter in Scotland!
As we have done several times before, we have booked an apartment that allows us to have visitors, and enjoy their company, and share new experiences. While we love having visitors, we also enjoy just being on our own, walking everywhere, finding some lovely wee cafes to have some food / coffee. Living in a city, even for 6 weeks, allows you to live like a local. You make your own ‘small habits’, preferred lunch places, grocery stores (This year, there’s one right next door!).
Why Sevilla?
- I’ve spent 5 years learning Spanish, so this is the first time I will have had a chance to use it for real. A steep learning curve I am certain! I am a fan of Duolingo (I am now on level 156, so it has been a pretty serious commitment!). I have also attended classes run by a local Edinburgh company, staffed by native Spanish speakers – El Patio. It has been a really friendly experience, both through face to face and online (they set up the online classes, during Covid, and they have kept both options available) I can thoroughly recommend them.
- Affordable accommodation – I’ll be honest – Sevilla was on the borderline of our price limit. It took a lot of searching to find something that suited our needs. We wanted a terrace, several bedrooms, aircon, lift (a lot of places in teh old city are very tall, with no room for a lift – which meant a lot of stairs, and some of our friends are less able). It would have been far cheaper for us to go back to Athens!
- A direct flight from Edinburgh – we love to arrive, but we both hate airports. Air travel is just a means to an end…. A train journey is different, you can enjoy the world going by!
- Good public transport. The apartment we have selected is quite close to a major bus hub, and a reasonable walk from the station. There is good transport from the airport to the city centre. A month travel pass is normally €35, but this year, they are half-price, so €19.50 including the card – incredibly cheap for unlimited travel.
- Location of the accommodation. We like to stay in area, where local people rather than tourists stay. That way, we get to know the people who run the local bakeries, veg shops etc, and have to communicate with people who only speak a little english. A smile goes a long way! We get to have some interesting experiences – e.g. the day a delivery man arrived with a new bed (not for us!), a meter reader (easy once we worked out what he wanted!), finding ourselves in a demonstration outside our apartment, bus diversions, all sorts of things! Also proximity to the train station and local buses.
Something to look forward to!
Morning Erith, I’ve always enjoyed your slow travel posts and find them inspirational! Great to read another one. I left my corporate job a few weeks ago and I’m taking some time to try out a mini-retirement. Slow travel is something we’d very much like to do. Although we’ve travelled a lot independently around Europe for holidays, it’s never been for more than 2 to 3 weeks. We’ve mainly used Booking.com and VRBO for accommodation and I wondered which sites you use to find longer term bookings and if these come with lower rates? Appreciate you may not wish to give this information publicly, but if you are willing to share what you do please email me. Enjoy Sevilla! David
Hi David
I also have used Booking.com and VRBO. Booking.com only used to support trips of 30 days or less, but I noticed recently that this restriction had been removed. I have used airBnB, but I also use local sites in the city I am intending to visit. There is quite a wide variation in prices for the same apartment, because they all offer different discounts, (in some cases more than 50%!) and the same apartment can often be found in more than 1 site.
On my trips to Madrid and Barcelona, I used a Spanish company Friendly Rentals, but since Covid, they seem to concentrate on Barcelona, and don’t have as wide a selection as before. (and the prices are a lot higher!)
This year, in Seville, I am using a Spanish apartment rental company Veoapartment based in the city. Their price was about €1k less, so it is definitely worth looking around, and trying many searches. My initial search is just ‘rental apartments city’
If you can be flexible with dates, that also influences the price. e.g the price in October is often significantly less than September. More than once I have found adding on just 1 day reduces the price because of a ‘number of days’ calculation. Equally flexing a few days either side can make a big difference!
Hope this helps
How funny! September and October is when I’ll be in YOUR neck of the woods. Well… the UK. Specifically Ireland and England. First time I’ve been back in 8 years.
Hi Frogdancer
Good to hear from you!
Enjoy your trip, September is usually pretty good, but I suspect October in Ireland might be a tad damp (Let’s face it – Ireland is green because it gets plenty of rain!)