Is Seville A Baby-Friendly Destination?

When contemplating my first holiday with my baby daughter, the first thing I did was google whether prospective destinations were “baby-friendly”.

But the concept of somewhere being baby-friendly seems to be subjective.

I mean, I asked my team at work if they’d been on any city breaks in Europe recently that they thought would be good for a tot, and the first response was “Can’t you take a baby everywhere?”. And yes, good point, you can. There are babies in every country in the world.

However, when it is your first trip with a baby, you want somewhere that’s going to be easy. Somewhere where you don’t have to worry about more than the basics. Somewhere that feels safe and is easy to get around with a pram. Where you can commonly find highchairs in restaurants and changing facilities throughout the city.

At least that was what I was looking for.

We ended up deciding on Seville for our first family holiday as it looked like it would fit the bill. Plus it had been on my bucketlist for years. And now I’m back from a glorious 5 days in the Spanish city, I thought I would clear things up and tell you how I got on. Did I find it baby-friendly? Would I recommend a trip there with a tiny human in tow?

Is Seville Baby-Friendly?

City Exploring

One of the reasons I chose Seville for our first family trip was that I read that it was small enough to get around everywhere on foot. I was stressed about the concept of tackling public transport with a pram or having to take a car seat with us in order to take taxis (we booked our transfer with a car seat included so we didn’t need to bring our own). So a smaller city seemed ideal for our first city break adventure.

And it really was easy to get around with our pram. We walked quite a lot in order to get to landmarks and sights across the city, but it was completely doable from our Airbnb based in Santa Catalina, near the Mtropol Parasol. There were cobbled streets and some lanes that didn’t have wide pavements for a stroller, but it was fine. There’s not much traffic down those lanes and the locals tend to walk in the road. So yes, I’d say it gets a big tick in terms of being an accessible city with a pram, as well as being small enough to walk everywhere.

Family-Friendly Attractions

I wanted to go somewhere where there would be things that Indi would like. I mean, she’s 10 months old so I don’t think she’s going to be appreciating architecture anytime soon. But I at least wanted sights that I could take her too, y’know? For example, a lot of the sights in Florence are museums that she would definitely scream in. Not a city for a baby, I feel. But Seville? There was lots we could go to with her.

We took her to the Aquarium of Seville for a proper sensory experience with the lights and the tunnel that goes through the tank. And the Maria Luisa park had lots for her to do, like little activity/play areas.

For the other sights that we wanted to see, I was happy that they seemed to be accessible. The Plaza De Espana is mainly on the ground level and there’s a lift if you wanted to access the balcony part (I wasn’t fussed but good to know it’s there). And the Metropol Parasol had a lift to get up to the viewing platforms. Although I thought it would be a ramp to go around it all but there are actually lots of steps to go up and down. I mean I managed it with the pram, but I’d say to maybe wear a baby carrier that day as it would be easy to walk around it.

The only sight I’m not sure about is the Real Alcazar of Seville. There was a big queue for tickets and I didn’t fancy hanging about with a baby. But otherwise I found Seville quite baby-friendly in terms of the tourist attractions.

Baby Supplies Availability

I didn’t want to be that mum that packs every single thing her baby will need, when you can quite easily top up supplies in the country you’re in. Like I said, they have babies everywhere. But I wasn’t sure if I would get the same brand of formula in Seville, so I packed enough of that for the 5 days we were away. Other items however, I decided I would be a bit more laid back about and top-up out there. I’ve perused a few different supermarkets in the last week so I can tell you what you can get and what you can’t.

I was right to bring the formula as it was all Spanish brands and I know some babies get upset stomaches when you switch brands. But there were nappies and wipes I felt happy to buy, and most had a bit of English on the packaging.

One thing that was a bit hit or miss was baby food. I make a lot of food fresh for Indi but in the week when it’s a bit of a rush, I do give her pouches or little toddler meals for her dinner. So I brought a few of those from home. But I couldn’t find the equivalent in Seville. There was baby food, but it was the super smooth baby food for babies that are first being weaned, nothing a bit more substantial.

It was fine because Indi eats most real foods, so we made her pasta one night and gave her some of the tapas we were eating when we went out to eat. But if your baby is somewhere in-between – not quite ready for restaurant food but needs more than smooth purees – I would suggest bringing pouches from home.

Restaurants

Talking of restaurants, I’d say about half of the ones we went to had highchairs readily available. It was fine when she was in the pram as we could just have her sitting there next to us. But one night I went out with the baby carrier and there weren’t highchairs so she had to just be on my lap. Which is a bit annoying when she kept grabbing for my sangria tbh. It’s worth noting that I found there was more likely to be a highchair in a more touristy area, like near the Cathedral or on the main Santa Cruz road.

Food-wise, like I said, we gave her tapas and she was happily eating ham croquettes and ratatouille and spanish omelette. I didn’t see any kids menus anywhere so if your baby is a bit younger, again I’d recommend bringing your own food.

One area I think is lacking in Seville is changing facilities. Unless it’s somewhere different than usual and I couldn’t see them? But I just struggled to find any changing tables, both in restaurant toilets and some of the tourist attractions. The only places I managed to change Indi in public, was the aquarium and the airport. Otherwise it was a change-in-the-pram job.

Safety

In general I found Seville to be a very safe city. I think this is something important to note. I didn’t once feel like I shouldn’t be out at night or that I was in a dodgy area. The Spanish culture generally means that lots of people are out late and you see kids playing in the park as late as 9 or 10pm. So I felt totally safe walking around with Indi in the evenings.

I know there’s crime everywhere and you should have your wits about you regardless, but there are cities I’ve visited before where I wouldn’t feel safe going out in the dark with my daughter. Places that are quite boozy like Prague or Berlin, and places that seem a little dodgy in areas like Wroclaw or Genoa.

But Seville was ideal. I felt safe with my family and the locals were lovely and always chatted to us. Plus, the late night culture meant I felt happy to go to a cafe or restaurant with the girl at night.

Overall, I would definitely recommend Seville as a baby-friendly destination.

I think you should probably bring food if your baby is at the same weaning stage as Indi and maybe accept that you might have to change your baby in their pram. But otherwise it’s a safe city that’s easy to get around with a pram and has lots of family-friendly things to do.

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