Seville Cathedral: free audio guide, hours and tickets

Seville Cathedral is the Gothic church begun in the early 15th century on the site of the great mosque of Almohad Seville. With its 5 naves it is the largest Gothic building in Europe, and the mosque’s minaret, the Giralda, is now its bell tower. Inside are the main altarpiece, the Royal Chapel and the tomb of Christopher Columbus. This free audio guide plays in English on this page, with no app and no sign-up; hours and tickets are below.

This is one of the three audio guides to the Cathedral of Seville. The other two are the audio guide to the exteriors, which walks you round the doors, the buttresses and the Patio de los Naranjos from the street, and the audio guide to the interior. All three are free.

Some points of interest described in the Audioguide of the Cathedral of Seville:

What this free Seville Cathedral audio guide covers

The audio lasts about 6 minutes and is the overview of the 3: it plays straight from this page, in English, with no app and no sign-up. It starts where the visit begins, at the Giralda, and then takes you through the other 7 stops in the table above: the main altarpiece, the choir, the monument to Columbus, the Royal Chapel, the Main Sacristy, the Chapter House and the Patio de los Naranjos. Play it before you go in, and keep the interior and exteriors guides for the detail.

Behind every stop runs a single story: this cathedral replaced the great mosque of Almohad Seville. The Gothic church was begun at the start of the 15th century on the site of that mosque, and 2 parts of the mosque were kept. The minaret became the Giralda, the bell tower, and the ablutions courtyard became the Patio de los Naranjos, the orange-tree courtyard beside the church. With its 5 naves it is the largest Gothic building in Europe, and together with the Alcázar and the Archivo de Indias it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987.

Inside, the first thing that strikes you is the scale: rib vaults high over clustered pillars, and light falling from stained glass far above your head. At the head of the church, the Royal Chapel is a Renaissance addition, built from 1551 to designs by Martín de Gainza, which keeps the Virgin of the Kings and the tombs of Alfonso X and his mother, Beatrice of Swabia. The Renaissance also left the Chapter House, whose decorated walls set out the virtues expected of the canons who met there, and the Main Sacristy, which keeps the cathedral’s treasures.

The monument most visitors come looking for is the tomb of Christopher Columbus, a few steps from the Door of Saint Christopher: a mausoleum designed by Arturo Mélida in 1891 and conceived as a funeral procession with 4 heralds. Columbus’s remains arrived in Seville in 1899 and were placed in it 3 years later.

Tickets and prices in 2026

These are the prices in force since 1 January 2026. The general ticket costs €13 online and €14 at the ticket office. The reduced ticket, €7 online and €8 at the office, is for over-65s, students up to 25, visitors with a disability from 33% to 65% and adults in a large family. Entry is free for people born or living in the diocese of Seville, children up to 13 with an adult, visitors with a disability over 65% and unemployed Spanish nationals. Every reduction and free entry needs an official document. The ticket covers the Cathedral, the Giralda and the Church of El Salvador.

The cathedral’s own audio guide costs €5, or €4 in app format; the one on this page is free. There is also a guided visit of about 90 minutes for €20 online and €21 at the office. On Sundays, depending on the liturgical calendar, there is a free public visit: you pick up the ticket in person at the Puerta del Príncipe ticket office from 17:00 until closing, and places are limited. (Source: catedraldesevilla.es, timetables and rates, checked 31 October 2026.)

Opening hours, the Giralda and how long to plan

Monday to Saturday the cathedral opens from 10:45 to 18:00, and the ticket offices close at 17:00; on Sunday it opens from 14:30 to 19:00, and the ticket offices close at 18:00. Times can change without notice for services and cultural events, so check the cathedral’s agenda for the day of your visit. The visit begins with the Giralda, which has its own entry control, and places are limited for both the cathedral and the tower. The time printed on your ticket is your entry time; once inside you can stay until the visit closes.

The official estimate for the Cathedral and the Giralda together is 75 minutes. Add the 6 minutes of this audio and a while in the Orange Tree Courtyard, and 1 hour and a half is a comfortable plan. You climb the Giralda by ramps rather than stairs, with a short flight of steps at the very top. Its Renaissance belfry was designed by Hernán Ruiz and sits on top of the old Almohad minaret.

Getting there and accessibility

The cathedral stands on Avenida de la Constitución, in the heart of the old town. The tram stops at Archivo de Indias, right beside it, and the Puerta de Jerez stop on Metro Line 1 is a 5-minute walk away. Tussam buses C1, C2, C3, C4, 5, 41 and 42 and the airport bus stop at Jardines del Cristina. If you bought your ticket online, go in through the Puerta del Lagarto; the ticket offices are at the Puerta del Príncipe.

For visitors with reduced mobility the cathedral lends wheelchairs free of charge. There are adapted toilets in the permanent exhibition area and in the Patio de los Naranjos, Braille leaflets for blind and partially sighted visitors, and free sign-language guides for deaf visitors and those with hearing loss. Visitors with a disability over 65% go in free. Bear in mind that the Giralda is a long climb, ramp after ramp.

What else to see nearby

The Real Alcázar is about 250 m away, across the Plaza del Triunfo, and has 3 free audio guides on this site: the palace overview, its rooms and its gardens. The Archivo de Indias, the third building of the same World Heritage Site, stands between the two. For the tower on its own there is a separate Giralda audio guide.

Free audio guideReal Alcázar of Seville (general)
Free audio guideThe Giralda

The Torre del Oro is about 500 m away on the river, and the Plaza de España about 20 minutes on foot to the south. To the north, under 1 km through the old town, are the Setas de Sevilla.

Free audio guideTorre del Oro
Free audio guidePlaza de España

West of the cathedral the old town runs down to the Guadalquivir: about 1 km, 15 minutes on foot through El Arenal, and at the end of it the Triana Bridge crosses into Triana, the old sailors’ and potters’ quarter on the far bank. If you would rather walk it along the river, go south first to the Torre del Oro and turn north along the water — it is prettier, and about 10 minutes longer. Every one of these places has its own free audio guide, and you will find the rest, strung into one walking loop, in our Seville audio guide, a free self-guided audio tour of the city.