10 Unusual and Fun Things to Do in Seville

Watching flamenco in Seville won’t win you any prizes for originality. However, finding the real deal is harder than you might think. The city is awash with tourist-trap extravaganzas – huge red dresses and perfected routines – but flamenco auténtico happens in the corners of shady bars, where maestros turn up in jeans and improvise their magic. Tapas bar La Madriguera de Mai looks like a student haunt, but every Friday and Saturday night, its tiny stage hosts flamenco that’ll make you weep.

Following the flow of the Guadalquivir River is a wonderful way to see Seville – especially when you’re waterlogged and swallowing murky water. Tour boats are nice, but nothing beats a kayak for thrill-seeking and sightseeing all at once. Many companies offer guided tours and rentals, with prices averaging €26 (£23) for two hours.

A female take on the city of kings, this alternative walking tour revisits the “queens, nuns, prostitutes and witches” whose legacies have been forgotten. Hear about the “cigar girls” as you pass the Royal Tobacco Factory, and the behind-the-scenes women who made Parque de María Luisa the landmark it is today. Tours run from Monday to Sunday at 10am (and occasionally 4pm), meeting at Costurero de la Reina. Book online.

Nothing gets the stomach rumbling like a cooked bull’s tail – apart from pork cheek, that is, or cooked snails. Seville is famed for its cuisine, and despite some dazzling vegetable dishes, at heart, it’s a deeply meaty affair. Don’t get squeamish: these delights have some of the richest flavours you’ll ever try. Eat yourself silly at the Mercado de Triana.

Also known as Las Setas (the mushrooms), the enormous and undulating Metropol Parasol has become Seville’s most modern landmark. It is the is the largest wooden monument in the world: its huge, fungi-shaped canopies now dominate the once run-down Plaza de la Encarnación in the centre of historic Seville. Some think it’s monstrous, while others believe it’s marvellous. Whatever your take, there’s something unique about gazing across Seville atop 26m (85ft) of wooden fungi. The viewpoint has a €5 (£4.50) entry fee.

Leave the 17th century in the Museo de Bellas Artes, and hunt down some madcap art in the making. Behind the centre’s cobbled streets are a host of courtyards where artists have worked for centuries, and they are still very much alive. In one of these corralónes lurks the Pelicano5 art collective, which counts sculptors, carpenters and a self-professed “mad inventor” in its midst. Sneak a peek through a window, and you might just catch contemporary art in action.

Triana, the beautiful former gypsy quarter of Seville (the gypsies were moved into a now-notorious housing estate on the outskirts of town in the 1970s). Despite its huge popularity with tourists lulled into a trance by its beauty, Triana is still a local residential neighbourhood in which families joyfully collide in the street, exchange gossip and fuss over each others’ babies. They are also volubly present in the barrio’s traditional tapas joints, the walls of which are plastered with old bullfighting posters, mounted bulls’ heads and weeping Virgin Marys (happily, few chain restaurants have found their way to Triana). There’s no better way to experience the local life and colour of this enchanting neighbourhood by blending in among them and enjoying a lunch that goes on all afternoon or a dinner that lasts into the early hours. Recommended by Mark Nayler

Going to a bullfight is, of course, something you can do in practically every major Spanish town (and most of the smaller ones too, for that matter), but nowhere is the atmosphere quite like it is in Seville. The audience that packs out the city’s stately 18th-century bullring every time there is a bullfight on is known to be the most demanding in Spain – and for good reason. Often, a kind of party atmosphere prevails in the stands during a bullfight: Spaniards turn up in big groups with picnic baskets crammed full of beer and sandwiches and make a social occasion of it, which can make concentrating on events in the ring somewhat difficult. In Seville, on the other hand, the bullfight is watched in studious silence, with applause (and jeering) meted out only when truly deserved. This makes for an ambience of great intensity and drama and, if you choose to experience it for yourself, a truly unforgettable afternoon. Recommended by Mark Nayler

When Ferdinand III seized Seville from the Moors in 1248, he immediately banished the city’s Jewish population to the barrio of Santa Cruz. Nowadays, this area of whitewashed houses and narrow cobbled streets is the Andalusian capital’s most famous neighbourhood. On a first visit here, it’s virtually impossible not to become hopelessly disorientated in the maze of its streets, but don’t worry: this is a part of town that only gives up its secrets to the aimless wanderer. It’s also home to some great tapas bars – which you can stop for refreshment before getting even more lost – and one of the best places to see live flamenco in central Seville, the Museo del Baile Flamenco (which also houses a museum exploring the art’s fascinating history). Recommended by Mark Nayler

One of the great pleasures of being in Seville in spring or summer is indulging in a spot of botellón on the verdant banks of the Guadalquivir river. This is the Spanish expression for open-air or street boozing with your friends: simply head to the supermarket, stock up on a liquid picnic, set up camp down by the Guadalquivir, put your favourite tunes on and let the afternoon or evening play out. Don’t be worried about making too much noise either, because a decent chunk of the city’s teenagers and 20-somethings will be enjoying botellón on the riverbanks too. This is also a great way to avoid the ferocious heat and big crowds of the city centre, where other visitors less wise than yourself will be traipsing around the historical monuments in 35 degrees Celsius or more. Recommended by Mark Nayler