Top 7 Must-See Attractions in Carmona: A Perfect Day Trip from Seville August 21, 2024 – Posted in: Spain, Travel – Tags: Archaeology, Attractions, Busses, Carmona, History, Holiday, Restaurants, Seville, Shopping, Spain, Vacation

A Day Trip to Carmona

Carmona is a small town located about 30 km from Seville on the way to Cordoba. If you want to experience one of the beautiful white villages, it’s easy to get to Carmona, especially if you’re on holiday in Seville. If you’re on a road trip in Andalusia, you can safely book a night or two here, as there’s plenty to see in this beautiful town.

Here, we’ll tell you what you can experience on a day trip to Carmona, and what you should see, eat, and do. This article is from our round trip in Andalusia in March 2023, where we took a day trip here from Seville. You can also read about how to get to Carmona by public transport.

A Brief Overview of Carmona

Even though you can easily spend an entire holiday in Seville, we always try to get out and see something new. This time, it was a visit to Carmona, a historically significant town on the Roman Via Augusta road.

The town’s location is also why we recommend visiting it if you have even a slight interest in history. Here, you’ll find fascinating traces of both Romans and Moors – and beyond that, it’s a charming small town.

Carmona is situated on a ridge with views over the vast plains and is one of the oldest towns in Europe. Before the Roman conquest in 206 BC, the earliest Iberian settlement had been colonized by the Phoenicians, who founded the city “KAR”. The Romans called the city “Carmo”, which during the Moors’ heyday in Andalusia became “Qarmuna”. Carmona, as the city has been called since the Christian reconquest, is truly a town that has witnessed the passage of history!

How to Get to Carmona

Before we dive into the full sightseeing experience in Carmona, we’d like to give you a detailed explanation of how to get to Carmona by bus. If you want to see all the exciting things we mention here, it’s important to get off at the right stop!

From Seville, the bus to Carmona runs about once an hour, and the route is called M-124. You board at the San Bernardo bus station (Estación Cercanías). It costs 2.90 euros (2023) for a one-way ticket, which you can buy on the bus. Be sure to have exact change.

If you’re following this guide, after about an hour’s bus ride, you should get off just outside Carmona at the bus stop called “Gasolinera de Entrada”. The bus also goes all the way to the square Paseo del Estatuto, where you can get off if you don’t want to see the Roman necropolis and amphitheater. This is also the square where the bus departs when you head back to Seville.

Must-See Attractions in Carmona

The Roman Necropolis

From the bus stop, it’s only a few minutes’ walk north to Av. Jorge Bonsor, where the entrance to Conjunto Arqueológico De Carmona, the archaeological park, is located. The Roman necropolis contains more than 900 tombs, encapsulated in underground chambers carved into the rock. A small aluminum ladder leads down into The Elephant’s Tomb, and while it might give you goosebumps to crawl into the damp crypt, it’s something you must experience. The two large quarries and The Tomb of Servilia are also an impressive sight.

The Amphitheater

The Carmo of that time was one of the most important cities in the Roman Hispania Baetica province. From the top of the small museum at the necropolis, you get the best view over the large amphitheater. Like the theater in Syracuse, this one is also partially carved out of the rock face.

Alcazar de la Puerta de Sevilla

From here, the tour continues towards the center of the small town. It’s about a 10-minute walk to the Puerta de Sevilla and the town’s lower Alcazar. The impressive fortress, where the top image is from, has a history that dates back to before the Romans. Both the Romans and later Moors and Christian conquerors added new parts to the castle over time. Thus, in the city gate, you can see both the classic Arabic horseshoe arch along with remnants of the original Phoenician wall remains.

There are many more exciting sights in Carmona than we have space to mention here. Just around the corner is the tourist information in Carmona, where you can get inspiration for even more experiences.

Plaza de Abastos

And now it’s time for a little break. At the town’s charming food market on Plaza de Abastos, you can taste some of the local specialties. Try a montadito with pringá, a bread filled with “pulled” meat, and pair it with an Anis “Los Hernanos”, a liqueur still produced here in Carmona. If you prefer a sit-down meal with a good table setting, we’ve also come across several recommendations for the restaurant Molino de la Romera.

Convento de Santa Clara

From here, the tour continues to the Santa Clara Convent. Here, you can enter to see the monastery church and the small courtyard. However, there is no access to the nuns’ private quarters. On the other hand, you can meet the friendly nuns at their small cake shop. Here they sell delicious cakes, made according to old Moorish recipes. The cakes are packed in pretty boxes, so you can take them with you.

Puerta de Córdoba

We started by mentioning that Carmona was an important town on the road between Seville and Cordoba. It’s therefore no coincidence that Carmona has a city gate facing northeast, where Cordoba is located. The current gate is from the 18th century, but beneath it lie the remains of the city gate that the Romans built under Emperor Augustus.

There is a splendid view down over the valleys. If you look closely, you can also see the Roman bridge, which was part of the Via Augusta.

Alcázar del Rey Don Pedro

The small tour of Carmona ends at the upper fortification in Carmona. Alcázar del Rey Don Pedro is located on the eastern edge of the town and was originally yet another Moorish fort, built in the 9th century when the Moors conquered al-Andalus, now Andalusia. King Peter I, also known as Don Pedro, transformed the fort into the Alcazar that you can see today.

Find a Good Hotel in Carmona

We are quite easily charmed by the Andalusian atmosphere in these small towns and have already planned to return and stay a couple of nights in Carmona. We also already know where we want to stay. The ruins of Alcázar del Rey Don Pedro form a fantastic setting for the beautiful hotel Parador de Carmona.

All around Spain, there are about a hundred state-run Parador hotels, all located in beautiful old buildings, such as monasteries, castles, and palaces. Parador de Carmona is situated right on the cliffside, offering a splendid view over the plains. The hotel incorporates some of the most beautiful parts of the old fort, and the entrance is through the old arched gate. We really can’t wait to return!

Read more about the hotel here: Parador de Carmona