Seville rewards the broke traveller more than almost any Spanish city: half its Mudéjar palaces and churches open their doors free on set afternoons, tapas start at €2.50 at the bar, and the best views — the Guadalquivir at sunset, the Alameda at midnight — cost nothing at all.
Aníbal González's 1929 semicircular brick-and-azulejo plaza, with 48 tiled alcoves — one per Spanish province — and a canal crossed by four bridges. Always open, always free; rowing boats cost €6 for 35 minutes. The surrounding park has free shaded benches and fountains.
Seville's second-largest church, built on the Ibn Adabbas mosque — the Almohad patio de los naranjos and minaret base survive in the courtyard. Entry is €5, but free Monday to Friday 18:30-20:00 for worshippers, and the orange-tree patio is open to walk through at no cost.
The 16th-century Andalusian-Renaissance palace charges €12, but its Mudéjar facade, the Plaza de Pilatos with its Carrara column, and the quiet lanes of San Bartolomé behind it are free to roam. Free entry to the ground floor Mondays 15:00-19:00 for EU residents.
The 1852 iron bridge — Spain's oldest surviving one — links the centre with Triana. Walk down to the Calle Betis waterfront: rowing crews, ceramic-tiled facades and the Torre del Oro glowing across the water. Free public benches line the entire 1.2 km stretch.
Built over the ruins of the Castillo de San Jorge, this covered market has 70 stalls and several bar counters where a plate of fried chocos runs €4-6 and a caña is €1.20. Open Monday-Saturday 09:00-15:00, plus evenings until 23:00 at the food bars.
A standing-room-only bar on Calle Rodrigo Caro where tapas are chalked on the wall at €2.50-3.20 — pringá montadito, espinacas con garbanzos, adobo. Your tab is written in chalk on the wooden counter in front of you. No table charge if you stand.
Spain's second-best painting collection after the Prado — Murillo, Zurbarán and Valdés Leal in a former Mercedarian convent with three tiled cloisters. Free for EU citizens with ID; €1.50 for everyone else. Tuesday-Saturday 09:00-21:00, Sunday until 15:00.
The 1574 promenade — Europe's oldest public garden — is now Seville's cheapest nightlife strip, with Roman columns at one end and terraces where a beer plus free tapa costs €2. Bar Casa Vizcaíno on the corner pours vermouth from the barrel for €1.80.
Jürgen Mayer's 26-metre timber lattice over Plaza de la Encarnación — the world's largest wooden structure. The rooftop walkway is €15, but the Antiquarium Roman ruins in the basement are free on Sundays and the plaza level costs nothing at any time.
The city bike-share costs €13.33 for a week's subscription, then the first 30 minutes of every ride is free. Ride the flat riverside path from Torre del Oro south past the Parque del Alamillo — 180 km of segregated bike lanes, no traffic.
An extravagant 1731 Baroque church in the working-class Macarena barrio — Leonardo de Figueroa's dome, twisting solomonic columns and a crypt. Entry €4, but free every Sunday. Ten minutes' walk from the Basílica de la Macarena, which is free year-round.
The best-preserved stretch of Seville's Almohad city wall — 400 metres of 12th-century rammed earth with seven towers, free to walk along. Continue to the Barqueta bridge for an unobstructed western view over the river as the sun drops behind Triana.