Cycling from Seville Airport to Centre - any experiences

[tomjw]

I am arriving at Seville airport at 20:30 and have to cycle into the centre where I have a hotel reservation. I have found it difficult to find a decent map of the area around Seville but I believe there is a dual carriageway into town and it is apparently pretty unpleasant and dangerous. I had thought of trying to get the bike into a bus or taxi. If anyone has done this trip , or similar in a Spanish city, I would be grateful for any advice.

Also I am wrapping my bike in a CTC shop plastic bag packed with polystyrene and bubble wrap and with loads of red & white "fragile" tape all over it - I know it is impossible to completely avoid the likelihood of damage but does this seem OK ?

Thanks Tom

[gar]

http://209.15.138.224/inmonacional/m_sevilla.htm

Reveals two ring roads.

gar

[gar]

http://209.15.138.224/inmonacional/mapas2.htm

you may have more success with the interactiove facility than I do.

g

[gar]

http://callejero.lanetro.com/apps/lanetro/index.asp

Sorry about that duplication.

This interactive is topnotch but I am not going to waste time doing your map for you.
You may be very pleased with that.

You may be able to get your bike on the bus into town depending on the time of year.
There was an expo 92 so bike is probably not too bad.
http://callejero.lanetro.com/apps/lanetro/index.asp

[tomjw]

Gareth

Thanks for taking the trouble to reply. Those sites look very useful especially Inmocional - I am going to peruse them thoroughly. They also have loads of othe useful info. I was looking at Multimap and it wasn't very good for Seville. Thanks again

Tom

[gar]

Callejero zooms better at 0500!

Gar

[gar]

http://www.utopiaverde.net/ciclofilia/

This is an excellent site from Seville city local cyclists with a dozen or so .pdf of local routes in detail from the city centre.
I have dropped them a line to see if they can point to a specific Airport to city centre cyclists map or which is the best pdf to follow.

Urbike the Urban bike conference took place in Seville in 2004, one of ten Euro cities to confer on Cycle integration in Cities.

There is an underground system which was built for the 92 expo.
Whether they take bikes I couldn't say; we weren't as bike conscious in 90-92

Also google for Seville bike .org

It will be interesting to see how you get
switched on to their bike route systems.

I will let you know their reply.

Gar

[tomjw]

Gareth
That cycling site is even better - I have posted a question on their forum. If it is anything like uk forums I will probably get some useful info. Anyway if I have a difficult time going into Seville in the dark so be it - at least I am menatally prepared for the worst.
Thanks again for all the info - It is much appreciated.

Cheers

Tom

[gar]

Jiménez Soto wrote:

>Hola Gareth. No conozco ningún camino directo que una Sevilla con su aeropuerto. Aquí todavía estamos subdesarrollados en temas de transporte ecológico. Apenas hay carriles-bici.
>I don't know of any cycle track which unites the airport with Sevilla. We are concernd with ecology!
>Existe un camino que une Sevilla con Carmona, creo que debe de pasar cerca del aeropuerto, pero no conozco la conexión entre ambos. De todas formas, el camino finaliza en el barrio de Torreblanca, al este de Sevilla, bastante lejos de tu destino y además en una zona deprimida.
>there is a track which unites Sevilla with Carmona which I think passes close to the airport but I do not know the connexion between the two the track ends up in the Torrblanca district to the east of the town centre far enough from your destintion and in a deprived area
>Creo que lo mejor es que vayas con cuidado por el arcén de la autovía.
>I think it would be better if you went carefully along the edge of the motorway (!)
>Mucho cuidado con los robos de bicicletas o alguna de sus partes cuando la dejes aparcada, por aquí son desgraciadamente frecuentes.
>Be extra carefu;l about bike thieves in Sevilla they are always being stolen
>Por cierto, he visitado tu página web www.garethhowell.net, es muy interesante.
>Blah blah
>Espero que tu estancia en Sevilla sea agradable.
>
>Un cordial saludo,
>Guille
>
>-----
>

[gar]

I think Carmona is one of those on your interactives
so u may still have a complete route before u start out

Gar

[tomjw]

thanks, Gareth, I posted a question on a Seville bike forum and received a similar reply. I am just going to see how it "pans out" as they say. I expect it will work out OK - I have cycled in some hellish places in London over the years so it should not come as too much of a shock Thanks again for your help. When I get back I will try to let you know what it was actually like.
Bye for now, Tom

[gar]

I enjoy city cycling very much indeed.
Paris by bike is a marvellous revelation.
Barcelona, Cardiff Glasgow London all gotten to know me by bike, Aukland Wellington.

BUT if you need to get dirct to somewhere straight away getting OUT of town is a dreadful problem especially if you want to link up with a designated cycle route or back road.

Getting into town should not be difficult
Fun to check on it first tho!

Kind Regards,

g

[tomjw]

Well I am back from a very enjoyable trip (the Via De La Plata from Seville to Santiago). No taxi would take the bike so I checked with the police at the airport who said it was OK to cycle on the hard shoulder as long as you have a rear light. Unpacked the bike and then cycled into Seville along the hard shoulder of the Autovia with no problems. All the people I asked in Seville were very helpful and I found the hotel quite easily. I did 1000 km mostly off road and had 1 puncture (on tarmac - thorn in side wall). It didn't rain at all. So much for all those tools and tubes and waterproofs I carried. Also it seems to me that drivers in Spain are much more patient and considerate of cycles than in London. Also I found that apart from Seville, accomodation and food is really cheap. In the small towns people were really friendly and generous when they find out that you are doing a long cycle ride. It was never a problem in the accomodation finding a safe place for the bike. Highly recommended.

[gar]

I really do think that the standard of living today in spain is better than ours in the UK, compared with
1963 when I first went there it was still very backward!

Sounds like a wonderful time you had.

I had my closest call from a lorry in Spain
even so; bad mapping led me on to a busy road
(not up to date)

[gar]

Tom,
Which maps did you take and how
much off road is it best to follow?
I have a friend who lives in San Clemente
but the Via de Lana takes in too much of the
Camino Frances for my liking and is even less trodden than Lana.
Did you have a passport from Confraternity of SJ, and get it stamped.... and get the free nosh.

G