Visit the Belenes around the city
Sevilla is famous for its belenes or Nativity scenes. You can find belenes both indoors and outdoors with most marked with signs so you can just wander around and find them! If you want to buy handcrafted items for your own Nativity scene, you should check out the Feria del Belén, which takes place on Avenida de la Constitución. One funny thing we learned about belenes in the region of Catalonia is there is always a hidden surprise in their scenes called “El Caganer”. El Caganer is usually wearing the traditional Catalan red cap (the barretina), with his trousers down, pooping. I couldn’t find a reason why they have this but the tradition has been around since the 1700’s. So, if you’re checking out belenes in Sevilla, keep your eye out for El Caganer in each scene!
See All the Light Displays
There were so many different light displays around the city, it’s hard to pick a favorite! The ornament lights were on the edge of Plaza Nueva (I think). I saw online that the are choreographed to music but we just saw them lit up. My nieces enjoyed walking inside of the big one! To note, it was super busy here so just keep that in mind.
Avenida de la Constitución
Town Hall of Plaza Nueva
Puerta de Jerez Square
Side streets
Visit Christmas Markets
My favorite market we visited was the Feria de Artesanía Creativa which is held in Plaza Nueva. Each stall is an artist selling traditional Andalusian handcrafted goods (think ceramics, jewelry, wooden toys and more). Among my purchases were a ceramic pin for a friend, a handmade belt, and origami bird earrings. There was such a variety of things that it was hard to decide what to buy! Everything was such high quality. If you are looking for gifts, look no further than this market.
Mercados Navideño Sevilla Centro
Right underneath Metropol Parasol, there is the Mercados Navideño Sevilla Centro. There were food vendors, ice skating and more at this market. The bonus here is there is a whole food market set inside of Metropol Parasol which is always there. You can shop for your Christmas meal while you’re there!
Magia de navidad fayres
We happened to stumble upon this fayre while we were just walking around the city. Located in the Plaza San Francisco were rides, a carousel and ice skating park. My nieces really had a great time here so if you’re bringing kids, make sure to plan a stop here!
Ride the Carousel in Puerta de Jerez Square
This was a beautiful old carousel which my nieces had a blast riding after dinner one night. Plus, it was so pretty to see it lit up at night!
There were so many festivals, markets, lights and things to do in Sevilla while we were there so this is by no means an exhaustive list. One of our favorite things was just to head out of the door of our apartment and just start walking in one direction. We stumbled upon lots of amazing things! I had to do my research to figure out where all my pictures were from. haha!
I hope you get to visit Sevilla sometime because it was such a great city. If you have any questions, let me know in the comments below!
