A Seville city break will inevitbaly be jam-packed with culture and history - it is the birthplace of the mythical Don Juan, and was the hometown of the painter Velazquez. The long Moorish occupation of the Iberian peninsula left indelible traces in Seville as in all of Andalucia.

La Giralda, the tower of the stunning cathedral is the best-known of the remaining Islamic monuments. The cathedral itself, once a mosque, is the largest church in the world, and houses the tomb of Columbus (although some say he is actually buried in Dominica).

The city's golden age was from the 15th to the 18th centuries, when it thrived as the gateway to the New World. Fortunately the city was more or less unscathed by the Spanish civil war, and in recent times it has once more become one of the most vibrant and enjoyable of European cities.

The local joie de vivre is perhaps most noticeable in the traditional tapas bar crawl that takes place most weekend evenings as people wander from tapas bar to tapas bar, sampling the speciality in each and washing everything down with a fino sherry or a cold beer.