Seville Day Trip From Cadiz By Train

Discover Seville: A Perfect Day Trip from Cadiz by Train – History, Culture, and Scenic Views Await!

by Celeste Lipford and Terry Lipford - last updated on 11/23/2024

We were onboard the Norwegian Cruise Lines 'Epic' on a repositioning cruise from Port Canaveral, FL to Barcelona with various stops along the way - the third stop being Cadiz. Based on the historical significance of Seville and all that we'd read about it we chose to travel to Seville for the day by train instead of spending our time in Cadiz. Cadiz is 4,456 sea miles from Port Canaveral and 637 sea miles northwest of Funchal Madeira. Cádiz is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, with archaeological remains dating back 3,100 years & was founded by the Phoenicians. It has been a principal home port of the Spanish Navy since the accession of the Spanish Bourbons in the 18th century. The city is a member of the Most Ancient European Towns Network. It is also the site of the University of Cádiz.

Caution: If you are coming here on a tour, then you can disregard this text. If you have come here via train from a cruise ship in Cadiz then read on; Seville is a large city, however, the old historic area is relatively condensed and can be easily reached from the San Bernardo Train Station. Since you will be on a schedule based upon the required time to reboard your cruise ship, you are going to have to plan your Seville exploration carefully and keep an eye on your clock!

We discovered that the cost of the Norwegian Cruise Lines tour to Seville was expensive, so we did some research and found that we could create our own game plan. Renfe trains, Spain's main operator, offer frequent departures throughout the day, with journey times varying from 1 hour 23 minutes to 1 hour 41 minutes. Relax in comfortable seats, enjoy ample legroom, and utilize onboard amenities like Wi-Fi and charging points.

If you are on a cruise ship, and if you are interested in taking the same type of trip we took to Seville, then click here to go to the page section where we describe how to do it. We had a good time, we spent far less money than the ship's tour would have cost, and the train ride was comfortable and fast.

Arranging your Day Trip Steps

• As soon as your Cruise Ship allows passengers to disembark, head immediately to the Cadiz Train Station at Plaza Sevila - adjacent to the cruise port. Most Cruise Ship companies provide bus service to the Cruise Port Entrance, jump on it if there is room on the bus. The Train Station is about a kilometer walk north from the Port Entrance.
• Your American issued credit cards may not work here, cards with chips are more likely to work. There is a ticket counter, and there are ticket machines. The machines are faster if the ticket counter is busy.
• You will want to travel to the San Bernardo Seville Train station, which is much closer to the areas that you will probably want to visit (read further below).
• You will want to use your mapping App on your phone once you reach Seville, hopefully you opted for the cost of using your cellular device in Europe. If not, you will need a paper map, because the train stations are about a kilometer east of the interesting areas you will want to visit.
• Trains run frequently between Cadiz & Seville, however you need to be careful about when you return to Cadiz so that you have plenty of time prior to your ship's departure. Be sure to read the current train schedules, so that you know when to get back to Cadiz.
• Keep in mind that some trains will make stops at stations that other trains do not stop at. For example, we could see that if we got off the train at the San Bernardo Train Station, that we would be closer to the Plaza de Espana. We saw on the Train Schedule that some trains did not stop at San Bernardo but did stop at Santa Justa (the main Seville Train Station). The point we are attempting to make is that if you want to go the way we did, then find a train that stops at San Bernardo. If you would rather take a taxi (or walk) from the Santa Justa Train Station, then you will have to find a train that stops at that station. You will be able to ask the counter staff at the Cadiz Station Information Booth, or you can just read the train schedule.

Most trains will stop at the Santa Justa Seville Train station, however, this leaves you with an approximately 2.5 kilometer walk to reach the Plaza de Espana area. So we selected a train that stopped at the San Bernardo Station (image #2 above) which resulted in a 900 meter walk via Avenue Portugal. You could take any other train to the Santa Justa station and then take a taxi to the historic area, we took the walk because we felt like stretching out after a 90 minute train ride.

IMAGE CREDIT: The San Bernardo Train Station image above is the property of CarlosVdeHabsburgo via Wikimedia using the Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0 license.

The local train is a 90 minute ride to Seville from Cadiz (several stops along the way), and of course a 90 minute return ride. Make sure you have enough time for the train ride and arrive back in Cadiz well before the departure time for your ship. Fortunately our ship was not scheduled to depart until 7:30PM so we had more than enough time to do a "just traveling through" adventure in Seville! We saved a lot of money by not taking the ships shore excursion. The train ride was only €23.50 per person for the round trip - compare that to the ship excursion prices where the least expensive was €119 and the most expensive was €329 per person round trip. Yes, the ship excursions were done by bus, but when we inquired at the excursion desk as to what was included in those prices, they were not able to tell us!

Once you arrive in Seville, the local train stops at the Seville Metro Stations as well as the central train station. Santa Justa is the main train station, however we left our train at the San Bernardo train station (image #2) because it is much closer to the areas of Seville we wanted to visit.

Nestled within the heart of Seville, Spain, the Parque de María Luisa (Maria Luisa Park) stands as a serene oasis where nature's splendor intertwines with human creativity. This enchanting park, adorned with lush foliage, meandering pathways, and vibrant flowerbeds, offers a sanctuary of tranquility amid the bustling city. Majestic fountains and ornate monuments add a touch of grandeur to the landscape, while the gentle embrace of the Guadalquivir River bestows a serene backdrop. As sunlight filters through the canopy, casting dappled shadows on cobblestone paths, visitors are invited to wander through its verdant embrace, discovering hidden corners, peaceful ponds, and the timeless allure of Andalusian charm.

The park is located adjacent to the Plaza de Espana, and it serves as a botanical garden. Many plant species, native or exotic, are represented, along with educational panels to inform the visitors to the park. Many birds make their home in the park, which is known for its large population of doves (for which a part of the Plaza de América is called the Parque de las Palomas, or Dove Park). There are also many parakeets living in the centre of the park, and ducks and swans in the fountains and lakes.

The park is 40 hectares (99 acres) in size, and contains a half mile of tiled fountains, pavilions, walls, ponds, benches, and exhedras.

After leaving the San Bernardo Train Station, we walked over to the Plaza de Espana by walking west on Avenue Portugal. This is one of those "must see" places in Seville, and it is beautiful; surrounded by the Parque de Maria Luisa which contains a wide variety of beautiful flowers, trees, shaded paths, etc. Most of the grounds that were used for the park were formerly the gardens of the Palace of San Telmo. They were donated to the city of Seville in 1893 by the Infanta Luisa Fernanda, Duchess of Montpensier, for use as a public park.

The Plaza de Espana is a semi-circular brick building, Renaissance/neo-Moorish in style, with a tower at either end (tall enough to be visible around the city, these towers - north and south - are major landmarks). In front of the building, following the curve of its facade, is a 500-metre canal crossed by four bridges, and in the centre of it all is the Plaza itself. You can rent small boats to row in the canal - the Plaza is known as "the Venice of Seville". A major tourist attraction, it is the finishing point of horse-and-carriage rides.

 Quick History Lesson 

The Plaza de España is an architectural ensemble located in the Maria Luisa park in the city of Seville . It was designed by the architect Aníbal González . It was built between 1914 and 1929 as the main building, and the largest, of the Ibero - American Exposition of 1929. It is the largest of those that were erected in the city throughout the twentieth century , comparable to the other two prominent historic buildings of the extramuros of the city, which are the Hospital of the Five Wounds (XVI century) and the Royal Tobacco Factory (18th century).

 The above info came from Wikipedia

Once we had explored the main building and reviewed the map of the area, we realized that there was a lot to see and we didn't have much time... So we decided to take a horse drawn carriage tour. It was a little pricey at €50 for the two of us but it was fun to relax and ride in the carriage and gave us a beautiful view of the parks and major sites. The tour guide provided some info about the area as we rode however his english wasn't great so the information was limited.

From the Royal Palace, we hiked over to the Plaza del Triunfo and then onto the Avenue de la Constitucion. As you can see in the above images, this area is a mixture of old and new architecture. The entire area is a mix of commercial and private enterprises, restaurants, pubs, etc. Interesting area in that it gave us a view of the real Seville as opposed to the historic Seville.

Image #2 is the Seville Metro route which runs down the center of Avenue de la Constitucion, which made the comparison between old & new even more distinct than just the buildings themselves!

With no specific destination in mind, we walked along the Avenue de la Constitucion, people watching, exploring shops, unique buildings, and taking in some street performance art. Check out the guy seeming to float in mid-air (image#2). We still aren't sure how he did that, and everybody passing by couldn't figure it out either!

We turned back and headed towards the Cathedral and the Royal Palace, as we knew that we had to be at the Santa Justa Train Station allowing sufficient time to return to Cadiz. We wound up wandering east through some interesting areas and once we reached the Calle José María Moreno Galván we realized that we had to find a taxi as the train station was still a few more miles, and we were running out of time.

We continued to explore, with the expectation that whenever a taxi came by, that we would grab it and head over to the Santa Justa Train Station. We did not find a taxi until we reached the Calle José María Moreno Galván and were able to flag one down.

Our taxi brought us promptly to the train station, and we caught the return train to Cadiz where we found a nice tapas bar just outside the cruise port. Had a couple of adult beverages to celebrate our Seville adventure. Our day trip was a success and we enjoyed exploring Seville at our own pace.

The place we decided to stop at, was La Vaca Atada ("The Tied Cow") located at Calle Nueva, 1D, 11005 Cádiz, Spain - which is directly across the street from the Cruise Port entrance on Avenue del Puerto. Their website is in the Spainish language, but everyone we talked to there, was able to converse in English.