Seville Food Tours

While figuring out what to see and do in Seville I was bar hopping from bar to bar sampling tapas and sherry. And between local experts, tastings and foodie opinions I came up with the definitive guide to tapas.

In this post you'll learn about the local culture translated into emblematic tapas in Seville's neighbourhoods. No more bland bars with overpriced food. Discover the ultimate top Sevillian bars with authentic traditional flavours, the best offers and attention to plan the best gastronomic route around Seville.

This tour is the perfect combination of traditional food, history and local customs. A gastronomic sherpa will show you the history of tapas, share some of the favourite tapas recipes and expert tips as you stroll through some of Seville's most emblematic places and hidden alleyways.

The Giralda is the central hub around which the restaurants on the tour revolve. The group strolls through Seville's Royal Chapel, the Plaza de Santa Marta and onwards the tapas party begins, amidst a jovial atmosphere. Breweries are also part of the tour. This type of tour delights the palate of visitors between a hearty lunch, exclusive manzanilla, sherry or beer and snacks. One of the most interesting things are the anecdotes and the guides will take you along with them.

• Prices: From 66 €.
• Duration: Between 3:30 to 4 hours.
• Advantages: The price is cheap.
• Disadvantages: The amount of tapas is usually limited by the type of tour chosen and the menu is standard, not adapted to dietary restrictions.
• Other places of interest nearby: The Giralda is just a couple of metres from the entrance, you could walk around the Alcazar, Seville Cathedral and the Giralda on a full tour to conclude your tour on a high note.

Embark on a culinary journey with a unique historical accent on this tasting tour. For approximately four hours you will be treated to tapas, wines and the Spanish star: Iberian ham.

The expert guide takes visitors through the Barrio Alfalfa and the Jewish Quarter, part of Seville's best neighbourhoods. Early in the morning the group wanders through one of the local markets such as the Mercado de la Encarnación where a good cup of coffee with milk recharges the energy while the guide details historical facts about the place. Before leaving the market you will have tasted the cured acorn-fed ham from a master ham cutter.

The day is warming up and the sun accompanies the group through a street full of life, it's time for breakfast. A delicious breakfast awaits you in a traditional local bar. The next stop is at a bar where you can eat the famous fried churros with honey and chocolate, considered the best dish to eat in Seville during Holy Week. This is a relaxing, energizing way to start the day. Although each operator varies the bars to visit, they are all located in the historic centre.

• Prices: From 84 €.
• Duration: Approximately 4 hours.
• Advantages: Iberian ham is an easily available classic in Spain, but a master carver and the years of experience that go with it are less common, so enjoy this opportunity. On the other hand, if it's freshness we're talking about, this is the tour for you. Visiting the market and restaurants early allows you to enjoy the freshest food of the day.
• Drawbacks: This is a morning tapas tour. The tour starts early to tour a local market, in between sales to tavernas and restaurants, if you are looking for an afternoon activity, move on to the next tour on this list.
• Other nearby sites of interest: Continuing your historic morning, you are flanked with alternatives that take you to the roots of local architecture. The Casa de Pilatos is in the area, as is the Palacio de Lebrija and its famous mosaics, an architectural gem.

Just as the sun goes down, it's the perfect time to get a taste of Andalusian gastronomy and culture in the warmth of the "tablaos". This type of tour starts in a traditional bodega where the region's products such as red wine, sherry, or Iberian ham are on display.

The group tastes a selection of all of Spain's favourite cured meats accompanied by a good glass of wine, even with sweet vermouth on some tours.
Next, your expert guide will take you on your way to visit Seville's oldest and most traditional bars. Did you know that El Rinconcillo, Bodeguita Romero and Las Teresas are taverns celebrating almost 200 years since opening, well your next stop takes you on a visit to one of these places where anecdotes are on the menu.

Here your expert guide will teach you how to hand-cut slices of acorn-fed Iberian ham and pair them with an authentic sherry - that's what the locals drink! After a hearty tasting enough for the day's dinner, your guide takes you to enjoy an authentic flamenco show in one of Seville's beautiful 15th century buildings. By the end of the evening you will have visited a couple of wine houses with a wide range of wine tasting; 3 or 4 tapas bars with enough tasting to cover the last meal of the day and you will have enjoyed a 1 hour flamenco show.

• Prices: From 100 €.
• Duration: Between 4 and 5 hours.
• Advantages: The groups are small (less than 10 people) which guarantees a more personalised experience. Also, for those tourists who do not speak Spanish, the guide assists them with the flamenco show among other things, so that everyone in the group can enjoy themselves.
• Drawbacks: You will want to buy wines to take home, trust me, take a backpack. Few people notice this detail but it will come in handy.
• Other places of interest nearby: The Real Alcazar and the Cathedral of Seville are close by but, I recommend you complete your experience by getting to know the local history by taking a tour of mysteries and legends of Seville. Or if you feel like it you can visit the Flamenco Dance Museum just a few minutes walk away at Calle Manuel Rojas Marcos, 3, 41004.

We move to the other side of the Guadalquivir River along any of its three routes, the Remedios Bridge, the San Telmo Bridge or the one closest to the area of Seville where the festive atmosphere invades the city at all hours: the Triana neighbourhood.

The guide takes you through the streets of Triana explaining curiosities of the area. A gastronomic tour is one of the things tosee and do in Triana. While you get to know historical facts in a pleasant way, you stop at three or four popular bars where the local gastronomy showcases its best menus. Often the tour includes 3 or 4 tasting drinks to choose from a variety of wines, beers, sherries* and even tinto verano.

As for the food, welcome to the classics of Andalusia. Spinach with chickpeas, regaña (the special Andalusian bread), cured cheese, pisto, pipirrana (fresh tomato salad with green peppers, cucumbers and onions), 'pescaitos fritos', sirloin tips, salmorejo and much more. Each restaurant offers seasonal products with traditional preparation.

At the end of the tour, you can't leave without enjoying some dessert. Chocolate palmeritas and tocino de cielo usually close the tour accompanied of course with a steaming cup of coffee. This is one of the best night tours in Seville, you'll see!

• Prices: From 102 €.
• Duration: Between 3 and 4 hours.
• Advantages: The menu is suitable for vegetarians and vegans for an additional supplement. In addition, some operators offer a special offer. In some cases the number of tapas increases according to the number of participants. How does it work? Each person chooses a selection of tapas, if the number of participants increases, the number of tasting tapas increases. The more friends, the better.
• Disadvantages: Groups tend to be large, up to 15 people.
• Other places of interest nearby: In 20 minutes you can walk to the Maria Luisa Park, the Antiquarium, Real Maestranza de Caballería de Sevilla or the Tablao Flamenco El Arenal where you can witness one of the flamenco shows in Seville.

In this experience, you will be welcomed on the rooftop of a restaurant overlooking the city. The invitation is to relax, make yourself comfortable while the first two types of sangria are prepared for you. You will enjoy a red wine sangria and a white wine sangria with fresh seasonal fruit while tasting marinated olives and a 2 year old Manchego cheese.

On this tour the experience is interactive. Four types of wine are tasted, two in each half of the tasting. In the second part of the experience you get hands-on and learn how to make your own sherry sangria. Memory works best, but when you are part of the experience, memories stick better and that's what makes this tasting a special event.

This experience is best enjoyed in the company of a partner, friends or family, especially as you will be able to enjoy all the drinks in immaculate surroundings. Ideally, sign up for this tasting on the last days of your trip. This tour is a modern proposal, in good measure among the bestneighbourhoods of Seville restaurants with a rooftop like ** La Terraza del Cristina** include it in their services:

• Prices: From 25 €.
• Duration: Approximately 2 hours.
• Advantages: The interactive experience is memorable, an anecdote that you will take with you and that you can make the most of by preparing your cocktail at home.
• Disadvantages: The tasting usually only includes wine, Manchego cheese and olives, tapas are not included or other dishes cost extra.
• Other places of interest nearby: You will find the Castle of San Jorge, the Cathedral of Seville, the Park of the Princes and much more, the location of this type of tour is privileged. You can complement the activity with a tour of the best monuments of Seville.

Drinks

Wines, beers and more wine. In Seville the climate is usually mild so a cold beer is appreciated and even more so if the quality is good as it is in the city, however, the local wine is famous. The most popular taverns and wine houses have the speciality of the house, a red wine, sherry, manzanilla, white wine or even vermouth. Wine-based cocktails, such as tinto de verano, are common.

Food

A good tasting begins with Spanish cured meats and cheeses. Cured cheeses, sobrasada, chorizo, black pudding and butifarra sausage all make their appearance, all closing with the star of the house: Iberian ham.
We continue with soups, creams and salads such as Andalusian gazpacho, salmorejo, ratatouille and pipirrana. Finally, there are the specialities of each restaurant and the seasonal specialities. From the snails to the prawns or the 'pescaitos fritos' (fried fish) are absolutely exquisite, that is why a gastronomic tour is one of the things you mustsee and do in Seville.

• Avoid unpleasant surprises. In Seville and in general in Spain tapas bars are common, but those that stand out, the traditional ones, are only known to an expert. It is easy to get lost among bars of average or even poor quality. A gastronomic guide is an expert who does not disappoint in his choice, they will help youget around Seville.
• The language. Although Seville is one of Spain's popular tourist destinations, especially in the summer months, there are plenty of things to do and see in the Andalusian city but in most towns English or other foreign languages are not spoken. A bilingual guide assists you, clarifies your doubts and connects you with Andalusia.
• Knowledge of the culture and traditions. Andalusian culture is legendary, its dishes offer a sensory experience that the guide adds to the cultural background. The Andalusian guide highlights the value of the culture and gastronomy of each dish and explains the traditions and historical heritage on his tour of the city.