Everyone knows that person who spends weeks sniffing around travel blogs, going deep into Tripadvisor rabbit holes, collecting Google docs from friends of friends, and creating A Beautiful Mind–style spreadsheets to come up with the best vacations and itineraries possible. In this recurring series, we find those people who’ve done all the work for you and have them walk us through a particularly wonderful, especially well-thought-out vacation they took that you can actually steal.
Last spring, Alex Wight, owner of the seasonal restaurant Crown Jewel in Great Diamond Island, Maine, flew to southern Spain for her mom’s 70th birthday along with her two sisters and godmother. Everyone lives in different parts of the country, and they wanted to celebrate with an all-out vacation. They stayed in an apartment in the Santa Cruz neighborhood of Seville, their home for six days. And though they took two day trips during their time — one to coastal Cádiz and one to nearby Jerez — the majority was spent on two feet. “Outside of the Ubers to and from the airport, we were only in one other car,” Wight says. “We did an incredible amount of walking because everything is so accessible.”
As for the food, Wight says she usually picks where to travel and plans her vacations around eating at particular restaurants or visiting particular bars (that is her profession, after all). In Seville, though, “that was flipped on me,” she says. The city is full of pretty similar tapas menus, but “they’re all so, so good,” she says. “We were basically full of ham and cheese by the end of the week.”
Day 1
9:30 a.m.: Grab breakfast churros at Bar El Comercio
I flew from New York to Lisbon and then Lisbon to Seville (the second flight you’re basically up and then down). I got an Uber at the airport and then we went as close to our Airbnb — a modern and minimal apartment in a very chic building in the Santa Cruz neighborhood — as I possibly could. We wanted a quiet place to convene and enjoy the best of Spain — wine, nuts, cheese, jamón, and bread. Having a kitchen to properly store these items and a beautiful balcony to relax on allowed us to maximize something we enjoy doing at any point during the day. And we picked Santa Cruz because it’s the heart of the city. You get the action without it feeling too loud, buzzy, or overwhelming. And it put us in close proximity to all of the places we wanted to visit. Many streets are so tiny and narrow that you aren’t guaranteed even a single car can go through them at a time. At some point, when we were close, the driver basically just told me to get out.
I met my mom, my sisters, and my godmother there. Our goal the first day was basically to stay up. After I dumped my bags, we went to Bar El Comercio (C. Lineros, 9), which is somewhat iconic. They only serve churros with dark-chocolate dipping sauce, OJ, and coffee. It’s mostly standing room filled with lots of locals (though there’s a tiny room in the back where you can sit, too). It sort of opens up and spills out onto the street. They’re turning out things really quickly and you kind of work your way up to the long bar, and you have to use a loud voice to get your order in. I’ve never had orange juice like what they serve in my life. It was otherworldly — so fresh. The churros were superhot, and even though they’re fried, they’re so light and pillowy.
12:30 p.m.: Wander Plaza de España
From there we walked over to Plaza de España; the size and magnitude of it is really just astounding. It’s a bunch of buildings that surround canals and gardens. There are these sort of outdoor causeways on the sides of the buildings that have beautiful archways and Andalusian tiles. And there are flamenco dancers and bubble shows going on and boats in the canal that you can rent. It’s just very lively and buzzing. We meandered our way through and eventually made our way to Maria Luisa Park (P.º de las Delicias). By then it was midafternoon, so we went to Hotel Alfonso XIII (C. San Fernando, 2) for wine and some tapas in its absolutely stunning inner courtyard. It feels very intimate because it’s in the middle of this building. It’s sort of an upscale, lovely place to sit. Then we went back to the house for a nap.
8 p.m.: Order tapas on Calle Mateos Gago
My sisters and I walked down to the Santa Cruz neighborhood in the heart of the city. The streets all curve and connect and there’s no rhyme or reason to them. And they’re just littered — in a positive way — with all of these tapas bars. The street Calle Mateos Gago has a lot in particular, and they all serve roughly the same menu: traditional-style tapas like tortilla española, patatas bravas, and albondigas. So we bopped around to a few different places — Bar Catedral Sevilla (C. Mateos Gago, 5), Ovejas Negras Tapas (C. Hernando Colón, 8), and Taberna Álvaro Peregil (C. Mateos Gago, 22) — and had different plates.
Day 2
11 a.m.: Visit the Royal Alcázar of Seville
After a breakfast of pan con tomate with jamón and more fresh orange juice at a spot near us called Filo (C. Hernando Colón, 19), we walked to the Royal Alcazar (Patio de Banderas, s/n), which is essentially a Romanesque palace built over 500 years ago. We did buy tickets ahead of time for this. They actually filmed the fifth season of Game of Thrones in one of the rooms there. The tilework, again, is gorgeous, and there are these extensive gardens with peacocks. You can spend a lot of time walking around there.
When we finished in the early afternoon, we went to Bodega Santa Cruz (C. Rodrigo Caro, 1) which is definitely more of a locals’ spot and has sort of a well-loved bar feel. The tapas menu was really all the same again, but there was more beer here than we had seen before. It’s standing-room only and there are people pouring out onto the street to eat at tall tables and around them, too. From there we went to this tiny ceramics store called Populart (Pje. de Vila, 4). My godmother had done a deep dive and read about it. It’s crazy expensive, but they have the most beautiful bowls that are over 100 years old. On our way home in the afternoon we stopped at the shop Ines Rosales (Pl. de S. Francisco, 15) very close to our Airbnb (they make those crackers — you’ve probably seen them here in the States) and stocked up on wine, cheese, crackers, cured meats, nuts, and olives and ate them on our balcony. Then we napped. For a group of people that are definite non-nappers, we embraced the siesta culture very quickly.
9 p.m.: Eat dinner at El Pintón
For dinner that night we went to El Pintón (C. Francos, 42), a more modern restaurant with a kind of soft and pleasing vibe — these sea-foam green chairs and a really light interior. They had a relatively traditional menu that had some twists, but we did get a big paella pan that we shared between all of us that had seafood in it. We had cocktails, too. I got a paloma with rosemary.
Day 3
9 a.m.: Pick up manchego cones
The next day we did some shopping. Of all the places we went to, the one I would call out is a boutique called Isadora (C. Don Alonso el Sabio, 9a). It has clothing and bike helmets and notebooks — different stuff, but all very chic. We also went to a vintage-clothing store called Peninsula (C. Puente y Pellón, 18) that could easily check off every item required for a grandma-chic aesthetic. There are all of these street vendors everywhere that sell cones filled with jamón and manchego, so we got those as we were walking around.
12 p.m.: Explore the food stalls at Mercado de Triana
Then we wandered over to the Mercado de Triana (C. San Jorge, 6), a big food hall with everything you could possibly imagine. You can get fish, produce, nuts, jamón, and cheese, and everything is so fresh. We originally went to just walk through and see the bustling vibe, but we ended up buying some nuts and dried fruit and we re-upped our at-home jamón selection.
Then right underneath the market is this museum that was the headquarters and prison for the Spanish Inquisition. It’s honestly pretty heavy and depressing, but also kind of fascinating — just from an archeological perspective — to learn about how they were able to uncover and preserve what’s there.
1 p.m.: Visit a bull ring (but no bullfighting)
From there, about five minutes across the river, we walked through this neighborhood called Triana, which is known for its ceramic stores. It almost felt like a ceramic row. We meandered through narrow streets that were romantically gritty and passed shop after shop. Some felt more commercial than others. It was the smaller shops that carried loose tiles or were stuffed full and bursting with oversize planters that we spent the most time in. I found a trio of nesting bowls that I brought back and use daily.
In Triana, there’s a big bullfighting ring, the Plaza de Toros de la Real Maestranza de Caballería de Sevilla (P.º de Cristóbal Colón, 12), where you can buy a ticket to go in even though we weren’t there during any bull runs. It’s still very worth it and wild to see — this huge kind of rustic interior. The capacity is 12,000 people. You can sit on the concrete stadium seat steps and walk around the pen. And then they have this little museum attached with matador clothing from 100 years ago. It’s so intricate: the beading, the silks that they used, the embroidery. Some of it still has blood on it, which is totally crazy. There’s also the little chapel space where they went to pray before they got in the ring.
After that was a stop in for more jamón and cheese (and a couple of other things) at Bar Casa Morales (C. García de Vinuesa, 11), where they don’t have a lot of patience for you if you don’t speak Spanish (I only speak a little bit of Spanish), but we made friends with these five old Spanish men who helped us out.
5:30 p.m.: Catch a show at Museo del Baile Flamenco
After our siesta, we went to see a flamenco show at Museo del Baile Flamenco (C. Manuel Rojas Marcos, 3), a spot close to our Airbnb. There are places all over you can go for this, but we chose it because it kept popping up from locals we were chatting to and because there’s a little museum attached. You’re tucked in one of those streets where cars can’t get through. There were probably about 75 people, so you’re close to the stage, and we were all sitting on folding chairs in an open courtyard. It was great — really fun and sensual. And then the museum part is on the second floor. They do have a lot of the old dresses but also tons of photos and a lot of history.
We got a quick drink after that and then headed to dinner at El Rinconcillo (C. Gerona, 40), one of the most iconic spots in Seville because it’s over 350 years old but it’s been preserved so well. It opened in 1670. They serve traditional Andalusian cuisine and the waiters are older. They crack these silly jokes in English that they’ve learned along the way. It feels like a loud, celebratory spot. They serve a lot of seafood that’s really simply prepared and speaks for itself, like mussels served cold and super-sweet prawns dressed in just a little bit of citrus and salt and pepper.
Day 4
10:30 a.m.: Take a day trip to Cádiz
The walk from our Airbnb to the train station was the longest one we did, about 35 minutes, and the train ride itself is about an hour and a half. It was super-comfortable, very clean, full of people.
Cádiz is on the coast, dotted with lots of watchtowers. People mostly go for the beach, but we weren’t really there during beach season, so we walked around La Viña, which is the traditional fisherman’s quarter. There are a lot of taverns and bars. We stopped in a cathedral, Catedral de Cádiz (Pl. Catedral, s/n), that has this crypt that you can go into — which sounds a little morbid, but it’s pretty cool.
2 p.m.: Order prawns for lunch
Then we went to lunch at a spot called El Faro de Cádiz (C. San Félix, 15). It opened in 1946 and it’s still owned by the same family. And it’s kind of funny because it’s supposed to be fine dining — there are white tablecloths — but it still has a casual feel. The walls are plastered with family photos. It’s a heavy seafood menu, which is traditional there, so we ate a lot of fish. For one small guy, they just breaded and fried the whole thing — and again, there’s not a lot they need to do beyond making sure it’s seasoned properly because it’s just so fresh. We also had seafood meatballs and grilled prawns.
4 p.m.: Spend the afternoon wandering
After we ate, we walked to this fortress on the shore called San Sebastian (P.º Fernando Quiñones s/n). It’s basically just like a historic site and building, but you can walk far out into the sea on this jetty where there’s a lighthouse, which is very cool. The water was teal and the sand was so white; it’s just very beautiful and relaxed. We went into some stores selling espadrilles and cleaned up because they were like nine euros a piece. And then we stopped in Heladería Verde Pistacchio (C. Ancha, 13), which sells ice cream and gelato. I got pistachio.
We were pretty exhausted by the time we got back, so we decided to have dinner at home — just more cheese and jamón and all those things.
Day 5
11 a.m.: Climb the Seville cathedral bell tower
We went to the main cathedral in Seville, Catedral de Sevilla (Av. de la Constitución, s/n), which you should buy tickets for in advance. That place is nuts. It’s one of the largest churches in the world, and it has the longest nave of any cathedral in Spain. There are so many different rooms to wander into; it takes about two hours to see everything. The intricacies and ornateness of the architecture, the heavenly beauty of the multitudes of paintings, the remarkable number of apostles and figures carved into the ceilings, the impressive state of the artifacts like clothing and silver chalices — each room leads you into a different part of history. Then you can also buy tickets to climb the bell tower, which is a must. It doesn’t have stairs; it just winds and winds around and up, probably nearly 40 stories, until you reach the top, which has a stunning view where you can see (what feels like) the entire expanse of the city.
When we had thoroughly explored, we went to Casa Tomate (C. Mateos Gago, 24) for lunch, which was just more classic tapas, and did a little boutique shopping at some spots near the cathedral in San Lorenzo Square.
9 p.m.: Eat dinner at Eslava
Dinner was at a spot called Eslava (C. Eslava, 3). It’s pretty tiny, with a long bar and a few tables, and it gets packed. I would say they serve more elevated tapas — but still with a casual, hip vibe. We ordered grilled navajas (razor shell) with lemon and pork ribs roasted on rosemary honey for dinner. There was also a cooked cuttlefish special that was dynamite. The fish was so pure and fresh and really sung. It was very lightly grilled with a garlic chutney, lemon, and very light aioli.
But the thing that was lights-out good was the manchego ice cream for dessert. We ordered one and then literally ordered a second round — almost a third — after we ate the first. It had this very soft grittiness to it, if that makes sense, even though those are diametric opposites. And it was just the perfect combination of sweet but also salty, and those notes kind of melted together. I will dream about it for the rest of my life.
Day 6
10 a.m.: Take a day trip to Jerez
Jerez is a bit closer than Cádiz, about an hour by train. When we arrived, we went to the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art (Av. Duque de Abrantes) to see a show. Some of the best riders in the world come through there. The horses are super-well groomed, and they train them to prance and dance in time to the music. They’re playing this intense orchestral music the whole time. There was a guy selling snacks just like they do in stadiums in the States, and we ate some lovely candied pecans.
2 p.m.: Have lunch at Restaurante Albalá
For lunch we went to Restaurante Albalá (C. Divina Pastora, s/n), which, again, has more composed tapas — really delicious. We got a ton of stuff: lobster salad with a light and silky sherry-vinegar foam, super-fresh tuna tartare, Iberian pork balls with octopus, which were decadence in a ball. Perfectly salty and lots of umami undertones.
4 p.m.: Sip sherry at Bodega Tio Pepe
Our last stop in Jerez was a sherry tasting at Bodega Tio Pepe (C. Manuel María González, 12), produced by Gonzalez Byass. They’re one of the largest producers in the world, so at first I was nervous it was going to be a big commercial operation — but the property is so lovely and so gorgeous. They take you on a little tram through it, and you get out and can see different parts along the way, like where they keep the barrels. There are orange trees and lemon trees, and everything is really highly manicured. Then you do a tasting of sherries that have been aged for different amounts of time. It was delicious.
Later in the afternoon, we took the train back to Seville, and I packed for my flight out the next day. We went back to Ines Rosales for dinner snacks: more jamón, more cheese.
Alex Wight’s Seville Packing List
This is the easiest piece of clothing to pack. You can dress it up or dress it down. And it’s so comfortable. Plus they have buttons around the waist that let you customize the size a bit — to take it in or out. Toward the end of the week, it was definitely have nice to have more room.
I don’t wear foundation or powder makeup, but I love this stuff, especially when traveling. It’s such a quick, easy way to put on sunscreen. It’s tinted, which is nice, but still SPF 50. But the best part is you don’t need to wash your hands before or after you put it on because they’re not touching your face.
I wore these every single day. You don’t sacrifice aesthetics for utility and comfort. They are the perfect all-season shoe.
The temperature fluctuation at that time of year is pretty big, about 20 degrees, so this was a great piece to have as a layer. Sometimes I wrapped it around my neck, other times it was a shawl. And it was easy to carry around if I wasn’t wearing it.
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