None of the five classic day trips from Seville strictly needs a car, though one of them is far better with one, and it is not the furthest away. The Sierra Norte spreads 177,484 hectares across ten municipalities, and the C-3 Cercanías train from Santa Justa stops at Cazalla-Constantina station, 4.8 km from the nearest village. For the other four, a bus does the job: Itálica, the Roman city at Santiponce, is 29 minutes from Plaza de Armas on the M-170A and costs 1.50 euros to enter on the tariff the Junta sets, or nothing for accredited EU citizens.
Carmona fills a day and its bus, the M-124, leaves from San Bernardo rather than the main bus station. Doñana, through El Rocío with La Rocina a kilometre’s walk from the village, and the beach at Matalascañas want a full day on the M-911, which runs one return trip on Saturdays and Sundays. The timetable to read first is the one coming back.
Which day trips from Seville work without a car, and how long does each take?
All five. Itálica takes a morning on the M-170A to Santiponce, Carmona a day on the M-124 from San Bernardo, and El Rocío or Matalascañas a full day on the M-911 from Plaza de Armas. The Sierra Norte takes a full day on the C-3 train from Santa Justa.
Which day trip fits a morning, a day or a full day
A bus line joins a head and an end of route, so it works when the destination is a point and fails when it is a region. That rule sorts the five and covers any destination not listed here.
Santiponce is a point, and the M-170A ends at the Itálica stop. Carmona is a point. El Rocío is a point, and La Rocina sits a kilometre’s walk away, which is what makes Doñana workable without a tour. The Parque Natural Sierra Norte de Sevilla is not: its hectares are shared between ten municipalities with no main gate, as set out in the guide to the park that changed its name.
- Itálica fits a morning, for a Roman amphitheatre and the mosaics of Hadrian’s quarter, with lunch back in Seville.
- Carmona needs a day, walked on foot from the bus stop.
- El Rocío or Matalascañas take a full day: La Rocina for birdwatching trails, or the beach, with about six and a half hours on the sand between the 11:31 arrival and the 18:00 bus back.
- The Sierra Norte by train is a full day too, if the area around the station is enough.
If you are choosing a town rather than a bus line, the best towns near Seville compares Carmona, Osuna, Écija and Utrera.
Where each bus and train leaves from in Seville
Three departure points, not one. The line code is what identifies a service on the platform.
| Destination | Leaves from | Journey | Line | Drops you at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carmona | Viapol stop, by San Bernardo | 73 min; 56 min on the direct run back | M-124 | Paseo del Estatuto |
| Itálica | Plaza de Armas | 29-30 min; 18-21 min on weekday express runs | M-170A, M-170B | Itálica stop, Santiponce |
| El Rocío, for Doñana | Plaza de Armas | 1 h 37 min on weekdays | M-911 | El Rocío, 1 km from La Rocina |
| Matalascañas | Plaza de Armas | 2 h 01 min on weekdays | M-911 | Matalascañas bus stop |
| Sierra Norte | Santa Justa | 1 h 16 min to 1 h 40 min | C-3 Cercanías | Cazalla-Constantina station |
San Bernardo is the easiest of the three to reach: metro line 1 stops 72 metres from the station, Cercanías C-1, C-4 and C-5 trains call there, the T1 tram is 110 metres away, and the Viapol stop of the M-124 is about 50 metres off.
Plaza de Armas is on Calle Torneo. TUSSAM lines 03, C3 and C5 stop 36 metres from the door, and the EA airport bus 42 metres away, as described in the guide to getting in from Seville airport. The metro is a 19-minute walk away at Puerta de Jerez.
Santa Justa, for the Sierra Norte train, has TUSSAM lines 28, A8, EA and LN stopping on Avenida de Kansas City outside.
When the last bus back leaves
The number that decides a day out is the last service home, and on every line here it drops at the weekend.
Carmona. Thirty buses come back on a weekday, ten on a Saturday and seven on a Sunday. The last leaves Paseo del Estatuto at 21:00 on weekdays and Saturdays and at 20:30 on Sundays. What to see once there, in walking order, is in the Carmona day trip guide.
Itálica. Plaza de Armas sends 45 buses towards Santiponce on a weekday, every half hour or better, and 20 on a Sunday, hourly from 7:30 to 22:30 plus four overnight, on the timetable the Consorcio sets for each line. The site closes at 15:00 on Sundays and does not open on Mondays; from 21 September it opens Tuesday to Saturday from 9:00 to 18:00, and until 20 September it closes at 15:00 on every opening day. Details are in the guide to Itálica and its bus lines.
El Rocío and Matalascañas. On the September-to-June timetable, weekday buses leave Seville at 9:30 and 16:00, reach El Rocío at 11:07 and Matalascañas at 11:31, and come back from Matalascañas at 10:00 and 18:00, through El Rocío at 10:29 and 18:29. Saturdays and Sundays have a single bus, reaching El Rocío at 12:37 and heading back at 18:29. July and August run to a different timetable, so check it before a summer beach day; the rest of the coast is covered in the guide to beaches reachable without a car.
Sierra Norte. On the timetable in force in October, per Renfe, weekdays work as a 10:30 departure arriving at 12:10, back on the 18:12, which reaches Santa Justa at 19:47, or the 18:35, which reaches it at 20:15.
How to pay, single ticket or consortium card
Fares on the Consorcio de Transporte Metropolitano del Área de Sevilla run by saltos, the zone boundaries crossed, on the scale the Consorcio sets. Seville is zone A, Santiponce zone B and Carmona zone E, so Itálica is one salto and Carmona four.
- Itálica: 1.70 euros single or 1.07 euros on the card, so 3.40 euros or 2.14 euros return.
- Carmona: 3.00 euros single or 2.30 euros on the card, so 6.00 euros or 4.60 euros return.
Those are the standard fares. Until 31 December, a 40 per cent reduction funded by the Junta de Andalucía and the Ministry of Transport lowers the card fare to 0.64 euros for Itálica and 1.38 euros for Carmona.
The card has small print a visitor should know. It costs a 1.50 euro handling fee that is not refunded, the first top-up is at least 5.00 euros, and the balance never expires but is not paid back either. It pays off when the balance gets spent, since it also works on TUSSAM city buses, the Metrocentro tram and metro line 1. For a single return to Itálica and nothing else, the 3.40 euro pair of singles leaves no money stranded.
What makes the card useful on a longer trip through the region is its reach. It is valid on metropolitan buses in Almería, Bahía de Cádiz, Campo de Gibraltar, Córdoba, Costa de Huelva, Granada, Jaén, Málaga and Seville, with no change of settings, and on a bus outside its home area the driver is simply told the journey. That covers the M-911, which belongs to the Huelva coast consortium and is operated by Damas.
What a day out costs against a day in the old town
A day in the province and a day in the old town sit in different orders of magnitude. In single tickets, the Itálica return and the site ticket add up to 4.90 euros, and the Carmona bus to 6.00 euros.
A day of the old town starts at 28.50 euros in doors alone, adding the 15.50 euro Real Alcázar and the 13.00 euro Seville Cathedral, as laid out in the three-day Seville budget.
Is the Sierra Norte worth it without a car
Of the five, the Sierra Norte is the one trip where choosing between train and car changes what you see. The station sits outside the villages, about 4.8 km in a straight line from Cazalla de la Sierra, 9.5 km from Constantina, 7.5 km from the Huéznar waterfalls and 7.9 km from Cerro del Hierro, and no consortium bus line reaches Cazalla or Constantina.
A train day covers the ground around the station. What a car adds is specific: 20 marked trails, 9 viewpoints and 3 cycling routes, none of which charges admission, across ten municipalities. Of the two visitor centres, only El Robledo in Constantina is open, Thursday to Sunday from 10:30 to 15:00; Cortijo El Berrocal in Almadén de la Plata has been closed until further notice. For one destination, a single day’s hire is enough.
Frequently asked questions about day trips from Seville by bus
Which day trips from Seville work without a car?
Itálica on the M-170A and M-170B, Carmona on the M-124, and El Rocío for Doñana or the beach at Matalascañas on the M-911. For the Sierra Norte de Sevilla, take the C-3 Cercanías train from Santa Justa to Cazalla-Constantina, a station outside the villages.
Is the consortium travel card worth it for one day trip?
Only if the balance will get used. The card costs a 1.50 euro handling fee that is not refunded, the first top-up is at least 5 euros, and leftover balance never expires but is not paid back. It also works on Seville city buses, the Metrocentro tram and metro line 1, and on metropolitan buses across Andalusia.
Where do buses to the province leave from in Seville?
Plaza de Armas station on Calle Torneo for Itálica, El Rocío and Matalascañas. The M-124 to Carmona is the exception: it starts at the Viapol stop, about 50 metres from San Bernardo station, which also serves metro line 1 and Cercanías trains.
How do you reach the Sierra Norte de Sevilla without a car?
By train. The C-3 Cercanías line runs from Santa Justa to Cazalla-Constantina in 1 h 16 min to 1 h 40 min. Saturdays and Sundays add an 8:57 departure arriving at 10:33, with returns at 18:12 and 18:35. No consortium bus reaches Cazalla or Constantina, and the station is about 9.5 km in a straight line from Constantina.
Read the last bus home before the opening hours: on a Sunday it leaves Carmona at 20:30 and El Rocío at 18:29.