On the water, on wheels, or above the fields
Seville is flat, it is built along the only navigable river in Spain, and for four months of the year the only sensible way to see it is not on foot in the middle of the day. These are the alternatives: a kayak or a paddleboard at water level, a boat with commentary, a bike on 180 km of segregated lanes, a horse-drawn carriage at the pace the city was built for, an open-top bus with fourteen stops, and a balloon over the countryside before breakfast.
| Activity | Length | Where | Activities | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| On the Guadalquivir | 1 to 2 hours | The river through the city | 3 | €20 |
| Round the city on wheels | 45 min to 2 h 30 | The centre and both banks | 3 | €28 |
| Above the countryside | About 1 hour | 25 km west of Seville | 1 | €190 |
On the water1 to 2 hours3 activities from €20
Seville was built facing the river and then spent a century turning its back on it. The stretch that runs through the city is a still arm with no current and no commercial traffic, which makes it unusually easy water: the loudest thing on it is the rowing eights training in the morning.
Three ways onto it. A kayak, two hours with an instructor and no experience needed. A paddleboard, an hour and a half standing up, which is easier than it looks. Or an hour on a boat with commentary, if the idea is to look rather than to paddle. All three give you the Torre del Oro from below and the Triana bridge from underneath, which is the view the city was designed around.
Approx. 2 hours
Two hours at water level on the only navigable river in Spain: the Triana bridge from underneath, the Torre del Oro from below and Calle Betis rising out of the water. No experience needed.
€39per adultSee details
Approx. 1 hour 30 minutes
An hour and a half standing up on the Guadalquivir, with the Triana bridge and the Torre del Oro going past at walking pace. Equipment, instructor and photos included.
€35per adultSee details
Approx. 1 hour
One hour on the Guadalquivir, the only navigable river in Spain and the reason Seville became a port: the Torre del Oro, Triana and Calle Betis, the Cartuja and the bridges, with commentary on board.
€20per adultSee details
On land45 minutes to 2 h 303 activities from €28
The old town is walkable and flat, but it is bigger than the ten streets around the Cathedral, and in August walking it between two and six is a mistake. Three ways round it, at three speeds.
A guided bike tour covers both banks in two and a half hours and leaves the bike with you for the rest of the day, which makes it the best value on this page. The open-top bus has fourteen stops and a 75-minute circuit with commentary in sixteen languages, and the ticket lasts 24 or 48 hours. And the horse-drawn carriage does 45 minutes of the centre at the pace the streets were laid out for, with one fare for up to four people.
Approx. 2 hours 30 minutes
Two and a half hours across both banks of the river with a local guide, on a city that is flat and has 160 km of segregated cycle lanes. The bike stays with you for the rest of the day.
€35per adultSee details
Valid 24 or 48 hours
Fourteen stops, a 75-minute circuit and commentary in sixteen languages, with unlimited hop-on hop-off travel for 24 or 48 hours. The ticket is valid any day within a year.
€28per adult, 24 hoursSee details
Approx. 45 minutes
Forty-five minutes through the centre in a horse-drawn carriage: the Cathedral and the Alcazar, the Torre del Oro, the Maria Luisa park and the Plaza de Espana. One fare for up to four people.
€85per carriage, up to 4 peopleSee details
Outside the cityAbout 1 hour in the air1 activity from €190
A balloon goes where the wind goes, slowly, and the silence between burns is the part nobody expects. The flight lifts off from the farming country west of Seville at first light, which is the only time of day when the air is still enough, and lands in whatever field it reaches.
It is the one activity on this page that does not start in the city: the launch field is about 25 km west and getting there is your own arrangement. It is also the only one that is not refundable, and the only one the weather can call off on the morning.
The kayaks are wide and stable, the paddleboards are forgiving, Seville has no hills and the river has no current. An instructor comes with the kayak and the paddle surf. What these activities need is not fitness, it is a change of clothes.
Almost everything here cancels free up to 24 hours before. The paddle surf refunds 80% at 48 hours and nothing after that, and the balloon flight is not refundable at all — although a flight called off for weather is rescheduled rather than lost. Each page states its own.
From June to September the middle of the day is not the time for any of this. The morning and the last two hours of light are, which is why the river activities and the balloon both run at the ends of the day.
First-hand local advice, more than 90 pages in PDF: what to see, where to eat, museums and palaces, day trips, opening hours and prices, and tourist maps of the city. Book any activity with us and it’s yours. Get the guide
Eduardo BallesterosSeville local and author of the guideAnything on the water, and early or late rather than in the middle of the day. The kayak and the paddle surf both run at first and last light, and getting splashed in August is the point rather than the risk.
No. Both come with an instructor who covers the basics first and stays with the group, and the river through Seville is flat with no current. You do need to be able to swim for the kayak, and the minimum age there is seven.
Unusually so. It is completely flat and it has more than 180 km of two-way lanes physically separated from the traffic, built in a handful of years and actually connected to each other.
The carriage ride and the boat are the easy ones, and both take small children without difficulty. The kayak takes them from seven, and the bike tour has reduced rates with under-eights free.
Only the balloon is weather-dependent, and it is cancelled by the pilot on the morning and rescheduled. Everything else runs: Seville gets a handful of wet days a year and none of these stop for them.
All of them except the balloon, which lifts off about 25 km west of the city and has no transport included. The rest start within walking distance of the old town.
Free up to 24 hours before on the bike tour, the kayak, the boat, the carriage and the bus. The paddle surf refunds 80% at 48 hours and nothing later; the balloon is not refundable.
Easily. An hour on the river in the morning and a bike for the afternoon is a good day, and the bike hire that comes with the tour lasts until the evening anyway.
We are a local company and we know every activity first-hand. Tell us about your trip and we will help you pick the one that fits best, or answer any question before you book.
Get in touch
By locals, for travelers
Activities and day trips in Seville with local support. Book at the same price, with no booking fees, and get our Seville guide in PDF for free.
