Seville is an inexpensive city to sightsee, with three days of admissions and transport coming to €48.00 per person once accommodation and meals are set aside. One decision moves more of that money than the two big monument tickets combined, and it has nothing to do with a monument: whether the airport run happens on the EA bus at €6.00 each way or by taxi at a fixed €26 each way on weekday daytimes, a gap of €40. The other lever is smaller but costs nothing to pull: an EU passport carried in a pocket rather than left at the hotel waives the €1.50 regional museum fee.
Seeing the Real Alcázar de Sevilla and Seville Cathedral costs €28.50 in total, at €15.50 and €13.00 respectively with the cathedral booked online, or €1.00 more at the window. Visitors watching every euro can also use the cathedral’s free Sunday visit, from 4.30pm to 6pm with prior booking.
How much does a trip to Seville cost?
A three-day trip to Seville costs €48.00 per person in admissions and transport, before accommodation and meals. The two big tickets are the Real Alcázar at €15.50 and Seville Cathedral at €13.00 booked online. The EA airport bus adds €12.00 in two single tickets, while taking a taxi both ways instead lifts the total to €88.00.
Airport bus or taxi, which one fits the budget
The EA bus between the airport and the centre costs €6.00 single and €8.00 return, but TUSSAM treats the return as valid only on the day of purchase and the day after. On a three-day stay that leaves two singles, €12.00 a head.
The taxi runs on a fixed fare of €26 on weekdays from 7am to 9pm and €29 outside those hours, including all of Saturday, Sunday and public holidays. Stops and the last departure are in the comparison of the bus and the taxi from Seville airport.
For a solo traveller, two daytime taxi journeys come to €52 against €12.00 for two bus singles. That €40 gap is larger than the Alcázar and the cathedral put together, and it is the only line in the whole budget that can lift the total from €48.00 to €88.00. A couple splitting the taxi still pays €26 each for the round trip, more than twice the bus fare.
How much the Alcázar and Seville Cathedral cost
The Real Alcázar de Sevilla sets general admission at €15.50 and reduced at €8.00, for over-65s and for students or European Youth Card holders aged 14 to 30. The Upper Royal Quarters are a separate €5.50 ticket, as detailed in the guide to its tariffs and its free-entry rules.
The general ticket also works beyond the palace walls. The Alcázar’s price ordinance includes in it the Antiquarium beneath Las Setas, €2 on its own, and the Triana ceramics centre, €2.10 on its own, along with the other museum spaces the city runs through the ICAS. Keep the ticket and those two visits cost nothing; the reduced ticket does not carry the same benefit at the ceramics centre.
Seville Cathedral with the Giralda costs €13.00 online and €14.00 at the window, with reduced rates of €7.00 and €8.00, as covered in the comparison of online and window pricing. Booking ahead saves exactly €1.00 and the ticket also covers the Church of El Salvador.
| Admission | Price | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Archivo General de Indias | €0.00 | Free entry |
| Museo de Bellas Artes de Sevilla | €1.50 | Free with EU accreditation |
| Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo | €1.80 or €3.01 | Monument or exhibitions, or full visit |
| Real Alcázar, Upper Royal Quarters | €5.50 | Separate ticket, not in general admission |
| Seville Cathedral and Giralda, online | €13.00 | Includes the Church of El Salvador |
| Seville Cathedral and Giralda, window | €14.00 | €1.00 more than online |
| Real Alcázar, general | €15.50 | Also opens the Antiquarium and the Triana ceramics centre |
How to get to Carmona and which travel card to buy
Carmona sits in zone E of the Consorcio de Transporte Metropolitano del Área de Sevilla, the metropolitan bus consortium, and the city in zone A, so the M-124 bus crosses four fare zones. The fare the Consorcio sets for that band is €3.00 with a single ticket and €2.30 with its travel card, which makes the return €6.00 or €4.60.
The card carries no deposit. It costs a €1.50 issuing fee that is not refunded, and the first top-up is at least €5. Counting the fee, the day out costs €6.10 on the card, 10 cents more than two single tickets, so a solo traveller with no other journeys planned should buy singles. One card can pay for several passengers, though, and a couple sharing it pays €10.70 against €12.00.
Until 31 December, the Junta de Andalucía and the Ministry of Transport each fund 20 per cent of every card journey. On that reduced fare the Carmona leg costs €1.38, the return €2.76, and the solo day out €4.26 including the fee, €1.74 less than singles.
The balance never expires but is not paid back either, so whatever is left from the top-up is best spent in town. The same card rides TUSSAM city buses (though not the airport line), the Metrocentro tram, metro line 1 and Cercanías trains. What to see on arrival is in the guide to Carmona by bus from Seville.
How much three days in Seville cost, line by line
A three-day trip arriving and leaving by bus, covering the two headline monuments, one museum, the Archivo General de Indias and the Carmona day trip, comes out as follows. Accommodation and meals sit outside it, since they turn on the hotel and on where you eat.
Which sights fill each of those three days, and in what order, is set out in what to see in Seville in one, two or three days, where Las Setas, from 16 euros, take the second evening. A shorter stay changes the airport sum: the 8-euro EA return covers a trip that lands one day and flies the next, as worked through in the Seville in 2 days itinerary.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Real Alcázar, general admission | €15.50 |
| Seville Cathedral and Giralda, online | €13.00 |
| EA airport bus, two singles | €12.00 |
| Carmona return in single tickets, 4 zones | €6.00 |
| Museo de Bellas Artes de Sevilla | €1.50 |
| Archivo General de Indias | €0.00 |
| Three-day total | €48.00 |
The budget uses single tickets for Carmona because, for one traveller at the standard fare, they are the cheaper option. Until 31 December the reduced card fare reverses that: the Carmona line drops to €4.26 with the card fee included, and the three-day total to €46.26.
Three switches move that figure:
- An EU passport. An accredited EU citizen drops the museum line and lands at €46.50.
- The Upper Royal Quarters. Adding the €5.50 upstairs visit at the Alcázar takes the total to €53.50.
- The taxi. Swapping the bus for a taxi in both directions on weekday daytimes takes it to €88.00, and to €94.00 if both rides fall at a weekend.
Do non-EU visitors pay more in Seville?
Only at the regional museums, which charge nothing to accredited EU citizens. That is the €1.50 line that separates €48.00 from €46.50, and a visitor from outside the Union pays it, as explained in the guide to Seville’s free museums and who qualifies.
On this itinerary the difference is small, at €1.50. It grows on a longer stay, because the same rule covers every regionally run museum in the city rather than one, and it applies on any opening day rather than in a set window. At the Alcázar and the cathedral, nationality changes nothing for a visitor from abroad.
Which extras push a Seville budget up
The Upper Royal Quarters is the line that most often appears without being planned. It costs €5.50, 35 per cent on top of the Alcázar’s general admission, and the monument’s list of free-entry cases does not include it, so a visitor entering free should plan on paying it and confirm at the ticket desk.
Buying at the window rather than online is the second. It costs €1.00 more at the cathedral, and the logic inverts on guided visits, where a €1.00 online handling fee levels both channels at €21.00.
The third is the Alcázar’s reduced ticket. It saves €7.50 on general admission but does not open the Triana ceramics centre, which then costs €2.10. Buying the consortium card for one trip is the fourth: at the standard fare, a solo Carmona return costs 10 cents more on the card, fee included, than in two single tickets. For a couple sharing the card, or while the reduction lasts, the sums flip.
How to see Seville for free, and on which day
The Archivo General de Indias charges nothing and opens Tuesday to Saturday from 9.30am to 5pm and on Sundays and holidays from 10am to 2pm, closing on Mondays. The regional museums cost €1.50 and are free to accredited EU citizens. The Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo is free from Tuesday to Friday between 7pm and 9pm and all day on Saturdays, from 11am to 9pm.
Seville Cathedral adds a fourth route: a free public visit on Sundays outside public holidays, from 4.30pm to 6pm with prior online booking. In July and August the cathedral’s last entry moves to 5pm, so check the booking page before counting on that slot. For an EU visitor, Saturday is the easiest zero-admission day: the Archivo in the morning, then the Museo de Bellas Artes and the CAAC, which charges nothing that day.
Frequently asked questions about the cost of three days in Seville
How much are the Alcázar and Seville Cathedral together?
Seeing both costs €28.50 in total: €15.50 for general admission to the Real Alcázar de Sevilla and €13.00 for the cathedral with the Giralda booked online. At the window the cathedral rises to €14.00, taking the pair to €29.50.
Is Seville expensive to visit?
Not on admissions and transport. Three days covering the two headline monuments, a museum, the Archivo General de Indias and a bus day trip to Carmona come to €48.00 excluding accommodation and meals. Arriving and leaving by taxi rather than bus takes that figure to €88.00.
Can you see Seville without paying for tickets?
Largely, yes. The Archivo General de Indias charges nothing, the regional museums cost €1.50 and are free to accredited EU citizens, the Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo is free all day on Saturdays, and the cathedral runs a free Sunday visit from 4.30pm to 6pm with prior booking.
What is the cheapest way in from Seville airport?
The EA bus, at €6.00 single. Its €8.00 return is valid only on the day of purchase and the day after, according to TUSSAM, so a three-day stay needs two singles at €12.00. The taxi runs on a fixed fare of €26 on weekday daytimes and €29 at all other times, so two taxi journeys cost €52 or €58.
Is the consortium travel card worth it for one day trip?
Not for one person at the standard fare. A Carmona return costs €4.60 on the card against €6.00 in singles, but the €1.50 issuing fee, which is not refunded, takes the card to €6.10. It pays off for two people sharing one card, at €10.70 against €12.00, and until 31 December, when a 40 per cent reduction cuts the solo day to €4.26.
Three days of heritage in Seville fit inside €48 of tickets and transport. The airport door decides more of it than the monuments do.