Sevilla - Nightlife travel vacations,trip,tourist information

Sevilla is a wonderfully late-night city, and in summer and during fiestas, the streets around the central areas are often packed out until the small hours

Bars

For straight drinking and occasional tapas you can be much less selective. There are bars all over town - a high concentration of them with barrelled sherries from nearby Jerez and Sanlúcar (the locals drink the cold, dry fino with their tapas, especially shrimp); a tinto de verano is the local version of sangría - wine with lemonade, a great summer drink. Outside the centre, you'll find lively bars in the Plaza Alfafa area, and across the river in Triana - particularly in c/Castilla, c/Betis, and in and around c/Salado. A new zone that has emerged as a focus for artistic, student and gay barhoppers is the Alameda (de Hércules).

In summer much of the action emigrates to the bars along the river's east bank to the north of the Triana bridge as far as the spectacular Puente de la Barqueta, built for Expo '92. Many of these open for a season only, springing up the following year under a new name and ownership.

The gay scene has a cluster of bars on the city side of the Puente de Triana, where Isbiliyya, Tocame and other bars get lively around midnight.

Anima , c/Miguel Cid 80, north of the Museo de Bellas Artes. Lovely old tiled bar which mounts periodic art and photo exhibitions.

Bar Eslava , c/Eslava 3-5, near the church of San Lorenzo. Very good and extremely popular - which often means you can't get through the door - tapas bar with restaurant attached.

Bar Giralda , c/Mateus Gagos 1. Excellent and popular bar in converted ancient Moorish bathhouse, with a wide selection of tapas.

Bar Modesto , c/Cano y Cueto 5, at the north end of Santa Cruz (ask for it by name, it's well known). Perhaps the best tapas bar in the city, with just about every imaginable snack.

La Barqueta , just south of the bridge of the same name. Stylish open-air bar which puts on music, concerts, theatre and shows throughout the summer.

Capote , c/Radio Sevilla off c/Arjona, close to the Puente de Triana. Popular summer terrace bar with a varied clientele which gets younger as the night wears on.

Casa Morales , c/García de Vinuesa 11. Atmospheric traditional bar (founded 1850) with barrelled wine.

La Gitanilla , c/Ximénez de Enciso s/n. One of the liveliest places in Santa Cruz, with inexpensive drinks, but pricey tapas.

La Otra Orilla , Paseo de Nuestra Señora de la "O" s/n, near the Puente de Triana. Riverside open-air bar owned by the proprietors of La Barqueta (above) with a similar ambience.

El Refugio , c/Huelva 5. Slightly west of Plaza del Salvador, this serves a wide variety of snacks, including vegetarian tapas.

El Rinconcillo , c/Gerona 32, by the church of Santa Catalina. Sevilla's oldest bar (founded in 1670) does a fair tapas selection as well as providing a hangout for the city's literati.

Las Teresas , c/Santa Teresa 2, to the north of Plaza Santa Cruz. Good beer and sherry served in this atmospheric bar with hanging cured hams and tiled walls lined with faded corrida photos. It's also worth stopping here for breakfast the morning after.

Flamenco
Flamenco music and dance is on offer at dozens of places in the city, some of them extremely tacky and expensive. Unless you've heard otherwise, avoid the fixed "shows" or tablaos (many of which are a travesty, even using recorded music). The spontaneous nature of flamenco makes it almost impossible to timetable into the two-shows-a-night cabaret demanded by impresarios. The nearest you'll get to the real thing is at Los Gallos , in the Plaza Santa Cruz, which has a professional cast. However, it is pricey (¬21 including one drink), and you'd probably do just as well at El Tamboril , a renowned flamenco bar in the opposite corner of the same square. Singers and dancers aren't guaranteed to drop in (around midnight is best), but when they do, you're in for an unforgettable night.

Another excellent bar which often has spontaneous flamenco (try Mon or Thurs after 10pm) is La Carbonería , c/Levies 18, just to the northeast of the church of Santa Cruz. It used to be the coal merchant's building (hence the name) and is a large, simple and welcoming place. Quita Pesares , in the Plaza Jerónimo de Córdoba near the church of Santa Catalina, is run by a flamenco singer, and is a chaotic place where there's often impromptu music (especially at weekends) when things get lively around midnight. A couple more places to try are Café Lisboa , c/Alhondiga 43, near the church of Santa Catalina, which stages flamenco nights on Thursdays with free entry, and Salamandra , c/Torneo 49, near the east bank of the river, which puts on flamenco on Saturday nights after 10pm for ¬7.20 (including one drink).

Live music and clubs
For rock music the bars around Plaza Alfalfa and the Alameda de Hércules have most of the best action. Recommended music bars on the Alameda include Bulebar and La Habanilla at the northern end, El Baron Rampante in c/Arias Montano about halfway along and Fun Club - which stages frequent live gigs - on the Alameda proper. At c/Adriano 10, on the north side of the bullring, Arena is another popular music bar specializing in rock, jazz and funk. Over in Triana, Druida , c/Rodrigo de Triana, often has live music. Live jazz can be found at Bluemoon , c/J.A. Cavestany s/n, near the Santa Justa train station, or the popular Naima , just off the Alameda at c/Trajano 47 (both closed Aug). The vibrant café-bar La Imperdible , Plaza San Antonio de Padua, between the Alameda de Hércules and the river, puts on live jazz on Tuesdays, with various other entertainments throughout the week. Major concerts , whether touring British and American bands or big Spanish acts like Paco de Lucía, Alejandro Sanz or Ketama, often take place in the old Expo site across the river in Cartuja or in one or other of the football stadiums. Check El Giraldillo (the turismo's free listings magazine), the local paper El Correo or street posters for possibilities. La Teatral, c/Velázquez 12 near the Plaza del Duque de la Victoria (tel 954 228 229) are the official ticket agents for many concerts, and tickets are also sold by the El Corte Inglés department store.

A strong night-time club and disco scene in Triana livens up c/Betis and its northern extension c/Castilla where the disco-club Boss , c/Betis 67, is a popular venue as is La Otra Orilla (on the river behind the church of Nuestra Señora de la O) with a great terrace overlooking the river. Another popular hot-spot for late night clubbing is Luna Park , Avda. de María Luisa s/n near the Plaza de España with dance spaces offering salsa, bacalao (Iberian techno) and more - weekends are best, and not before midnight.