Most day trips to Seville are planned around the train and lost at the ticket office. The Real Alcázar closes at 17:00 from October to March, which in winter arrives while a lot of visitors are still finishing lunch. Working out the day backwards from that hour, rather than forwards from the departure board, is what separates a full day in Seville from a rushed one.
Is there a direct train from Malaga to Seville? There is no direct high-speed line. The line out of Malaga begins at kilometre 357.997 of the Madrid to Seville high-speed route, beside Almodóvar del Río in Córdoba province, so the train heads north before turning. The Real Alcázar closes at 17:00 from October to March, which is what decides the day.
The Alcázar opens at 09:30 all year and what changes is the other end: 17:00 from October to March and 19:00 from April to September, at €15.50. The railway explains the rest: the high-speed line out of Málaga joins the Madrid-Seville route at Almodóvar del Río, in Córdoba province, so the train heads north before it turns.
The closing time moves by two hours between seasons
The Alcázar opens at 09:30 all year. What changes is the other end: 17:00 from October to March and 19:00 from April to September.
When does the Real Alcázar close? At 17:00 between October and March and at 19:00 between April and September, opening at 09:30 in both cases. General admission is €15.50. Those two hours of difference decide how much of Seville fits into a day trip from Malaga.
| Ticket | Price |
|---|---|
| General | €15.50 |
| Reduced, youth or student card 13 to 30, and over-65s | €8 |
| Cuarto Real Alto | €5.50 |
| Free | €0 |
Three groups pay nothing at all.
- People born or resident in the municipality of Seville.
- Under-13s accompanied by an adult.
- Visitors with a disability above 33%, on production of documents.
Note that the reduced band puts 13-to-30s and over-65s on the same €8, a little over half the general rate.
The part that goes unused is at the other end of the ticket. General admission also covers the Antiquarium, the Museo de Cerámica de Triana and the Casa Fabiola-Museo Bellver, among other spaces run by Seville city council. Anyone visiting only the palace pays for several museums without setting foot in them.
There is no direct line between the two cities
By road the two cities sit roughly 200 kilometres apart in something close to a straight line. By rail they do not.
According to Adif, the Córdoba-Málaga high-speed line runs 155 kilometres of double track carrying passengers only, and it begins at kilometre 357.997 of the Madrid to Seville high-speed line, beside Almodóvar del Río in Córdoba province. It is built for 350 km/h although trains currently run at up to 300.
Spain’s rail network is radial, centred on Madrid, and that is the underlying reason. Andalusian capitals are not joined to each other directly but through the junctions of that network, and Córdoba is the southern one.
Search for this trip and the results run from under two hours to over three. That is not a disagreement, it is two different journeys. Some services take the high-speed track around the Córdoba junction; others use the conventional line, which measures 199 kilometres between Córdoba and Malaga against the 155 of the newer one.
This article therefore publishes no train times or fares. They shift by date and by service, and the only authority for a given day is Renfe’s own search. What does not shift is the infrastructure, and the rule of thumb that follows from it is simple: if the ticket routes through Córdoba it is high speed, and if it does not, the day gets shorter.
Antequera-Santa Ana turns up again
The line’s two intermediate stations are Puente Genil-Herrera and Antequera-Santa Ana, and the second is not a new name here. The northern end of the same line reaches Córdoba, which is a day trip in its own right.
It is the same junction every Granada journey passes through, as covered in Granada from Malaga. Seville confirms the pattern: Andalusian capitals connect through nodes, not to each other. The opposite case is Ronda from Malaga, where the problem is not a detour but a line out of service.
The Almodóvar to Antequera section opened on 16 December 2006 and the run into Malaga on 23 December 2007, so the line took a year to complete after its first half. The minimum Córdoba to Malaga time is 49 minutes, which gives the measure of how fast the detour is covered.
If the intermediate stop suggests ideas, Antequera has two reasons of its own to get off, in the Antequera dolmens and El Torcal.
Going by road instead
The motorway’s advantage is exactly what the railway lacks: it runs close to a straight line, with no detour through Córdoba. Against the 155 kilometres of new track plus the run down from the junction to Seville, the road holds at around 200 end to end.
What rarely pays is hiring a car for this trip alone, for the reasons set out in hiring a car in Malaga, particularly if the other days are spent in the city, where street parking expires after two and a half hours. The rest of the province, with and without rail, is compared in day trips from Malaga.
Frequently asked questions about Seville from Malaga
What time does the Real Alcázar close?
17:00 from October to March and 19:00 from April to September, opening at 09:30 in both cases. Those two hours decide whether a day trip from Malaga works, because the winter closing time arrives while most visitors are still eating lunch.
Is there a direct train from Malaga to Seville?
There is no direct high-speed line between them. The line out of Malaga begins at kilometre 357.997 of the Madrid to Seville high-speed route, beside Almodóvar del Río in Córdoba province, so any high-speed service runs north to that junction before turning.
How much is a ticket to the Real Alcázar of Seville?
€15.50 general, €8 reduced for youth or student card holders aged 13 to 30 and for over-65s, and €5.50 for the Cuarto Real Alto. It is free for people born or resident in Seville, under-13s with an adult, and visitors with a disability above 33%.
Why do journey times to Seville vary so much online?
Because the services are not the same journey. Some run on high-speed track around the Córdoba junction and others on the conventional line, which measures 199 kilometres between Córdoba and Malaga against 155 on the newer one.
Does the Alcázar ticket cover anything else?
Yes, and most visitors never use it. General admission also covers the Antiquarium, the Museo de Cerámica de Triana and the Casa Fabiola-Museo Bellver, among other spaces run by Seville city council.
Which stations does the Córdoba to Malaga line serve?
Puente Genil-Herrera and Antequera-Santa Ana are the two intermediate stations. Antequera-Santa Ana is the same junction that every Granada journey passes through, which is why the same name keeps appearing across Andalusian routes.
Work the day backwards from the closing time, then pick the train. Doing it the other way round is what ruins the trip.