Dan and I often travel the week between Christmas and New Year’s. While it’s generally pricier than traveling at almost any other time, work is usually on the quieter side (I will regret saying this!) and my birthday is during that week. In the past we have traveled to Italy, Costa Rica, Scotland, Ireland, and Portugal, among other places. Last year, we decided to visit Seville, Spain, followed by Granada and Madrid. We had, shockingly, never been to this part of Spain, and honestly had not been to Spain in far too long. We spent New Year’s Eve in Seville, arriving on December 28, 2025 and leaving on January 1, 2026. This post details what we did in Seville in the days leading up to New Year’s Day!

Day One: Arrival, Rooftop Drinks, and the Best Dinner

We left New York on an evening flight, arriving in Madrid early the following morning. We taxied to Madrid’s Atocha train station, where we waited about two hours for our fast train to Seville. We were pretty exhausted, but we did spend a little time in the Renfe (Spanish train) lounge at Atocha station. We had also booked Premium class seating (as that was the only option left when I purchased our tickets). This class was super nice, with large leather chairs and a pretty tasty hot meal served with wine. 

Our big day of travel went smoother than expected. We were checked in to our hotel in Seville by 4:00 PM.

Our hotel was the beautiful Querencia de Sevilla, part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection. Located right in the heart of Seville amongst its stunning Christmas decorations, Querencia de Sevilla is special.

I was concerned that we should simply go to bed given the day of travel and our big upcoming week, but we rallied, had rooftop drinks at our hotel’s rooftop bar, El Mirador de Querencia, and even ventured out for dinner. Big evening! And, if you are in Seville, El Mirador de Querencia is a great spot for rooftop drinks overlooking Seville Cathedral and La Giralda (Seville’s famous cathedral and its bell tower). Non-hotel guests should make a reservation or plan to wait in line, especially during the holidays. There was a line waiting to get into the hotel (to access the elevator to the bar) daily. Hotel guests have a separate entrance and can skip the line.

I did not make dinner reservations this evening due to our travel day, but found a well-reviewed wine bar a few blocks from our hotel called Maestro Vinos y Tapas. We easily got in without a reservation, and I think this was the best meal we had in Seville (and that is a big deal). The food here was SO GOOD. We tried to return multiple evenings, but this was the only night it was open due to the holidays.

Day Two: A Food Tour Around Seville, More Rooftop Drinks, and a Disappointing Dinner

We woke up our first full morning in Seville to sun and decent temperatures, especially for late December. We strolled around the exterior of Seville Cathedral before meeting for an Eating Europe tapas bar crawl. The city is so pretty. And, in December, its trees are filled with fully ripe oranges. These are apparently super sour, not edible as a straight fruit, and are often used in perfume and cleaning products, but they are certainly pretty. 

The food tour was truly great and took up the bulk of our day. We sampled so many excellent dishes, visited 4 tapas bars, and ended the tour with ice cream. The tour cost 52 euro per person, and you can read all about our Eating Europe Seville food tour. Highly recommend if you are in Seville. 

We took a break after our food tour before heading back up to El Mirador de Querencia for sunset drinks. This became our nightly routine in Seville. It’s worth paying it a visit if you are in Seville.

This evening I made a reservation at Afuego. It was very highly rated online. While the service was good and the food was OK, it was unfortunately not the outstanding meal I was expecting.

We ended up stopping at a local bar, Antigüedades Bar de Tapas, for patatas bravas and a torrija dessert after dinner.

Day Three: Ronda, Wine, Shopping, & a Spanish Dinner!

Our second full day started out with breakfast at our hotel. We ordered the Iberian ham Eggs Benedict from the menu. It was quite good. A perk of staying at Querencia de Sevilla.

For this day of our trip, the bulk of the day was on a day trip to Ronda, Spain. Ronda is a small town in Andalusia that is most famous for its bridge rising nearly 100 meters over El Tajo Gorge. It also has whitewashed houses and historic buildings, making a magical day trip from Seville. Ronda has been on my list for years, so I was happy to squeeze it in here. In Ronda, we saw its famous bridge and walked around town, including having some hot chocolate and churros! The tour we took was through Get Your Guide, and it cost over $400 USD per person. While private, this tour was way overpriced, even taking into account the funds we got back through Capital One Shopping. If you want to do this tour, do it on your own.

Departing Ronda, our tour stopped off at a winery just outside of town for a tasting of four wines with snacks. The winery is Bodega F. Schatz, and its wines were actually very, very good. We purchased a few bottles to bring home.

We arrived back to Seville in the late afternoon. Dan went in for a nap, while I went shopping in Seville! We later went for a glass of wine overlooking Las Setas (Metropol Parasol). We decided not to climb on it (because honestly, it seemed not worth it) but it was fun to have a glass of wine overlooking it.

For dinner, we just stopped at a few spots and enjoyed tapas. I particularly enjoyed some Spanish sausage and a gazpacho soup.

Day Four: Hitting Seville’s Highlights, a Spa Visit, & a NYE Gala!

After a New Year’s Eve breakfast where grapes were on full display, we walked about five minutes to just outside La Giralda for a tour of its grounds.

Unfortunately, we missed the ticket window to buy tickets straight from Seville Cathedral’s online website (they book up far in advance). We had to go through a third party, which included a large group (20ish people) guided tour at $35 USD per person… The tour first took us through the actual cathedral in great detail, and it finished with a climb up its tower (which is easy – it’s just an incline). The tower provides views all over Seville – we even saw our hotel’s rooftop. However, La Giralda itself is the star of the Seville skyline, so you are missing something without it!

Our next stop was visiting the Real Alcázar. Getting all our tourist stops in in one day! The Real Alcázar is currently one of the official palaces of the Spanish Royal family. Formerly, it was an Islamic-era citadel (10th century), a palace complex of the Abbadid dynasty (11th century) and then the Almohads (12 to 13th centuries) and then a Castilian palace, which gave it much of its Mudéjar style of today. The palace was absolutely beautiful, but also huge. We could have spent hours seeing all of it (and even then probably would not have seen it all!). The gardens were a particular highlight for us. If you visit, definitely spend some time exploring the gardens!

Post-Alcázar, we stopped for pizza at Al Lado Restaurante Sevilla – Cocina Italiana, which I believe is owned by the same group as Maestro Vinos y Tapas (hence the reason for our visit). The lunch was pretty tasty, but certainly not the best food in Seville.

After lunch, we spent the afternoon at the AIRE Ancient Baths in Seville. And yes, this is the chain of Arab baths that seems to be all over the world now, including in New York (we have not visited in New York). We love a good spa, but this one just wasn’t it for us.  While relaxing, it was far too busy and commercial for our taste.  I would only return on a slow weekday. If you are planning to go during a busy period or on a weekend, I highly suggest making reservations. And for reference, we did the Hydrating Baths experience, which cost 76 euro per person for 90 minutes and included a glass of cava.

We returned to our hotel after AIRE for a rest and to get ready for New Year’s Eve! We started our evening with yet another rooftop cocktail at El Mirador de Querencia – one last Seville tinto de verano (of this trip) and glimpse of the city. It was excellent.

For New Year’s dinner, while most people hang out at home or in the streets and eat 12 grapes when the clock strikes midnight, we opted for a gala dinner at Abades Triana Restaurante in Seville. We did this to ensure that we would have a fun NYE celebration, as well as a proper dinner, ringing in 2026. Abades Triana is a 20-minute walk from our hotel. Given that it was not too cold in late December, we simply walked to the restaurant. The walk there was very pretty and lots of people were out and about.

We easily found Abades Triana Restaurante, and we had a lovely five-course meal there, as well as the traditional 12 grapes at midnight and a dance party afterward. It was a fun way to welcome 2026! I wrote all about it in our Abades Triana New Year’s Eve gala review. We left around 1:00 a.m., despite the party still going strong. There were still lots of people out on our way home, and a few fast-food-style restaurants were open for business.

Day Five: Train to Granada, Spain!

We left Seville on New Year’s Day, taking the train from Seville to Granada, with a brief layover in Córdoba (which we sadly did not get to explore!).

Given that we were moving locations, the only thing we did this morning was have breakfast at our hotel, before calling a taxi to the train station.  And pro tip if you are visiting Seville on January 1, taxis and Ubers are DIFFICULT to find. We asked our hotel to call us a taxi; they could not get anyone. We attempted Uber, and we could not get anyone. We almost had to walk to the train station, which was a bit too far for my liking. If traveling again on New Year’s Day from Seville, I will 100% book a taxi in advance to ensure we have a timely ride to the train station or airport.

STEAL OUR TRIP

Querencia de Sevilla, Autograph Collection: The hotel’s English website. 

Maestro Vinos y Tapas: C. Argote de Molina, 29a, Casco Antiguo, 41004 Sevilla, Spain. Open Thursday – Sunday.

Eating Europe Seville: We took the Eating Seville: Tapas, Drinks & Local Flavors Tour at 52 euro per person, which included everything described in this post. This tour runs throughout the holiday season, with the exception of December 24 – 26, December 31, January 1, and January 6. I note that the tour may not always stop at all of these places, as it is constantly changing the route and adding new and different spots.

Afuego: C. Felipe II, 34, 41013 Sevilla, Spain. Open Wednesday to Sunday 12:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., until 12:00 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. Closed Monday and Tuesday. Reservations recommended.

Antigüedades Bar de Tapas: C. Argote de Molina, 40, Casco Antiguo, 41004 Sevilla, Spain. Open daily 12:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. Reservations not required.

From Seville: Ronda Winery Tour with Vineyard Walk & Tasting: This is the tour we took to visit Ronda and Bodega Schatz. It was very overpriced, and I would not book this again. Note, we did receive a significant percentage back through Capital One Shopping, but it was still overpriced.

Bodega Schatz: This is the winery we visited with Ronda. It seems that you can book visits  and tastings directly here.

Seville: Cathedral & Giralda Guided Tour with Fast-Track: This is the tour we took to visit Seville Cathedral and La Giralda. It was a decent tour and at $35 per person, I would do it again, especially if tickets are sold out on the official website.

Seville Cathedral and La Giralda: This is the official website of Seville Cathedral and La Giralda. Best priced tickets available on the official website. Buy far in advance.

Real Alcázar Sevilla: This is the Real Alcázar’s official website. Best priced tickets available on the official website. Buy far in advance.

Al Lado Restaurante Sevilla – Cocina Italiana: C. Argote de Molina, 29, Casco Antiguo, 41004 Sevilla, Spain. Open daily 12:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. 

AIRE Ancient Baths Sevilla: C. Aire, 15, Casco Antiguo, 41004 Sevilla, Spain. Open Monday – Thursday 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM, Friday 10:00 AM to 12:00 AM, Saturday 9:00 AM to 12:00 AM, and Sunday 9:00 AM to 10:00 PM. Advance reservations are strongly recommended, especially during the holiday season. We did the Hydrating Baths experience, which cost 76 euro per person and included access to the facilities for 90 minutes, as well as a Citrus Garden scrub, hydrating eye patches, a glass of cava, and a chocolate.

Abades Triana: C. Betis, 69, 41010 Sevilla, Spain. Open Monday through Thursday 12:00 PM to 11:00 PM, Friday through Sunday 12:00 PM to 11:30 PM.