Photo by beurre salé

Flamenco dancing has its roots in the gypsy barrio of Seville. So, if this Southern Spanish city is on your travel itinerary, you’d better take yourself to a baile! Flamenco performances are offered all over Seville and typically take place in tablaos, which are restaurants or bars that charge admission for the show. It is possible, however, to catch a flamenco show for the price of a drink alone.

Free flamenco in Seville (for a drink)

La Carboneria is a hot spot located in the Barrio Santa Cruz, a neighborhood known for its free flamenco shows. Although dismissed by some as a tourist trap, La Carboneria will have you tapping your feet as the dancers stomp to the beat. Its energy is infectious. When the weather is warm, you can take in the free show on La Carboneria’s outdoor patio (tapas and drinks not included).

La Carboneria is open daily, excluding Mondays, from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. For more information, go here.

For 13 more places to catch free flamenco in Seville, including places that welcome you to join the dancing, check out Explore Seville’s article on flamenco.

Also see: our list of recommended budget hotels in Seville.

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Photo by PhillipC

Seville’s Santa Cruz neighborhood can be a daunting maze to navigate, though the risk of getting lost is worth running if you can find Bar Estrella. Opened in 1939, the bar offers up one of the best menus for truly traditional Seville tapas in a setting that does not appear to have changed since the establishment first opened.

The bar is a local favorite that has somehow escaped being inundated by the hordes of tourists that haunt the city’s central district. On Saturday and Sunday mornings, the bar is almost always packed with families.

Stick around if you can handle the wait. We recommend the shrimp served with fresh avocados, the whiskey-cooked beef, and—of course—a chilled glass of local sherry.

Bar Estrella is located at Calle Estrella 3, Barrio de Santa Cruz. Telephone the bar if you get lost: +34 95 422 75 35. Reservations are not accepted.

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Photograph of Aire de Sevilla courtesy of Aire de Sevilla

After a long day spent checking out Seville’s Cathedral and Alcázar and wandering through the Barrio de Santa Cruz tangle, I treated my weary muscles to a soak at Aire de Sevilla, a stunning hamman, or Arab bathhouse.

I recommend taking the thermal circuit after check-in, with soaks in the tepidarium (warm bath), caldarium (hot bath) and frigidarium (cold bath; at 16 C / 60F I only saw one brave older woman spend more than a few seconds in this bath.) We only made it to our ankles before squealing and bolting out.

The hamman also has a jacuzzi bath, steam room, and café. For an extra fee, various spa treatments are available, including massages, facials, manicures, and pedicures.

The baths are especially popular with young Sevillano couples smooching openly and giving one another backrubs. For this envious single traveler, such sights counted as too much foreplay.

A 90-minute session costs €19, with a discounted rate of €15 offered from Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. until noon and again from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m. Reservations are recommended. Some English is spoken. Aire de Sevilla is located at Calle Aire, 15. Tel: +34 95 501 00 24.

Wandering Cheapo Diane Schutz is a television producer, writer, and budget traveler based in New York City. She has worked recently as a producer for the Travel Channel’s “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.”

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