Written by Carmen Ramírez, manager and licensed tourist guide at Alcázar Seville Tour. Closure dates confirmed with the monuments; availability data from our own booking system. Verified on 10/19/2026.
Quick Answer
March in Seville is four different months wearing the same name. Until the 15th it is still mid-season: the weather is pleasant, the city is calm and you can book the main monuments three to five days ahead. From the 16th high season begins and that window closes fast. From 21 to 28 March it is Semana Santa — processions, closures, and three days when we do not run tours at all: Palm Sunday (21 March), Holy Tuesday (23 March) and Good Friday (26 March). And the last three days of the month, after Easter Sunday, are still high season even though the crowds have thinned.
If you are travelling in the first half of March, you have time. If you are travelling after the 16th, treat it like August: book before you fly. And if your dates fall inside Holy Week, read Semana Santa in Seville: what closes and when before you plan anything else.
A good rule for the whole month: see what to book in advance in Seville and work backwards from there.
1–15 March: the last easy fortnight
This is the best-value fortnight of the first half of the year, and almost nobody says so.
Daytime temperatures sit around 20–22 °C, the evenings still need a jacket, and the orange trees come into blossom in the second week — the smell that people who have been to Seville in spring never forget. The terraces are open, the queues are short, and the monuments are busy but not full.
Booking rule: three to five days ahead is usually enough for the Alcázar and the Cathedral. A week ahead is comfortable. You can still improvise.
What that means in practice: this is the only fortnight in the next six months where you can decide on Tuesday what you are doing on Saturday.
What to wear
Layers. Mornings around 11–13 °C, afternoons in the low twenties, and the historic centre is almost entirely in shade. A light jacket you can carry, comfortable shoes for cobbles, and sunglasses — the March sun in Andalusia is stronger than the thermometer suggests.
16–20 March: the door closes
There is no sign on the street announcing it, but high season in Seville starts around the 16th of March, and our own booking system shows it every year: the same departure that had seats three days out in the first fortnight is full ten days out in the second.
Two things happen at once. The Easter holidays begin across Europe, and Seville starts filling for Semana Santa — hotels, restaurants and monuments all at the same time.
Booking rule: two to three weeks ahead. Not days.
If you want to understand the mechanics of why this happens — nominative tickets, five-minute entry slots, and a ticket office that releases inventory in a way that catches people out — we wrote it up in when Alcázar tickets actually sell out.
21–28 March: Semana Santa
In 2027, Holy Week falls entirely in March: Palm Sunday is 21 March and Easter Sunday is 28 March. Some years it lands in April; this is not one of them, and that catches out travellers who assume Easter means April.
This week is extraordinary and it is also the hardest week of the year to organise. The processions take over the centre from early afternoon until the small hours. Streets close with no notice. The monuments change their hours, and on some days they do not open to visitors at all.
What closes, and when
Holy Tuesday · 23 March — Cathedral closed · no tours
Good Friday · 26 March — Alcázar closed · no tours
On the other days of that week we run one departure a day instead of three. Cathedral hours change all week, so check the Cathedral opening hours before you fix anything else.
Booking rule: four to six weeks ahead, and that is not a sales line — it is when the Alcázar runs out for those dates.
We have written the whole week separately, with the exact closures and a realistic plan: Semana Santa in Seville: what closes and when. If your trip touches 21–28 March, read that one instead of this section.
The detail nobody mentions
In 2027 the clocks go forward on the last Sunday of March — which is 28 March, Easter Sunday itself. You lose an hour of sleep on the single busiest morning of the week. If you have an early booking that day, check your phone has updated before you trust it.
29–31 March: still high season, fewer people
Easter Monday is not a public holiday in Seville, so by Monday 29 March the city empties noticeably — the visitors who came for the processions go home.
What does not happen is a drop in monument demand. Tickets stay tight through the end of the month and into April, because the Feria is coming. If you want the feel of high-season Seville without the crowds of Holy Week, these three days are the sweet spot of the whole month.
Booking rule: one to two weeks ahead.
And if you are deciding between the two great weeks of the Seville spring, the Feria de Abril is a completely different experience from Semana Santa — one is solemn and public, the other is private and celebratory.
And it does not let up when the month changes: April in Seville is high season from the 1st to the 30th, with the Feria in the middle of it.
Is March a good time to visit Seville?
Yes, and for most travellers it is better than April or May.
Average low — 10–13 °C
Rain — 6–8 days across the month
Daylight — from 12h to 13h by month end
Orange blossom — from around the 8th
The honest caveat: March rain is real and arrives in two or three day blocks. It rarely ruins a trip, but a week in Seville in March without a single wet afternoon is luck, not planning.
Compared with the rest of the year, March gives you spring temperatures without the July heat, the orange blossom that April has already lost, and — in the first fortnight — prices and availability that high season does not.
If everything is already gone
It happens, particularly between the 16th and the 28th. The Alcázar sells out, the Cathedral sells out, and the dates are fixed because the flights are booked.
The Alcázar will have to wait for another trip — but Seville does not end at its gates. A private walking tour of monumental Seville is 2.5 hours with your own guide, from the Alcázar walls to the Cathedral façades, the Archivo de Indias, the Santa Cruz quarter, Plaza de España and the river. No tickets needed, and it can be booked for the following day.
A month-at-a-glance plan
16 – 20 March — high season — book 2–3 weeks ahead
21 – 28 March — Semana Santa — book 4–6 weeks ahead
29 – 31 March — high season — book 1–2 weeks ahead
If you can choose your dates: the first fortnight for value and calm, the last three days for atmosphere without crowds, Holy Week only if the processions are the reason you are coming.
Frequently asked questions
Is Semana Santa 2027 in March or April?
In March. Palm Sunday is 21 March 2027 and Easter Sunday is 28 March 2027. The whole of Holy Week falls inside March that year.
How far in advance should I book the Alcázar for March?
Three to five days for the first fortnight, two to three weeks from the 16th, and four to six weeks if your dates fall inside Holy Week.
Does the Alcázar close during Semana Santa?
Yes, on Good Friday, 26 March 2027. The Cathedral closes on Holy Tuesday, 23 March.
What is the weather like in Seville in March?
Highs of 20–23 °C, lows of 10–13 °C, and six to eight days of rain spread across the month, usually in blocks of two or three.
When does the orange blossom start in Seville?
Usually around the second week of March, and it lasts two to three weeks. It is the one thing April visitors most often miss.
Is March cheaper than April in Seville?
The first fortnight of March is clearly cheaper for flights and hotels. From the 16th the difference disappears, and Holy Week is the most expensive week of the spring.
Do the clocks change in March 2027?
Yes, on Sunday 28 March — which is Easter Sunday that year. You lose an hour.
Planning the visit itself
Whichever week you choose, the three great monuments are the same three monuments: the Royal Alcázar, the Cathedral and the Giralda. Our Alcázar, Cathedral & Giralda guided tour covers all three in one route of around three hours, with official entry to each one included in the booking — which means we buy the tickets the day you book, not the week you travel.
In March that distinction is the difference between seeing them and not.
Carmen Ramírez · manager
Carmen Ramírez is the manager of Alcázar Seville Tour and a licensed tourist guide in Seville, holding an Advanced Technical Diploma in Tourist Guidance, Information and Assistance. Since 2022 she has run the day-to-day booking operation for the Royal Alcázar, Seville Cathedral and the Giralda, which means she sees first-hand how far ahead each date sells out, which time slots close first, and what actually goes wrong when travellers book. She guides in english and spanish. Official Andalusian tourist guide licence no. 2931. Carmen writes the articles on availability, ticket rules and what to book in advance — the questions where the official monument websites stop short.
knowsAbout: Royal Alcázar ticket availability · Seville Cathedral tickets · named tickets and ID requirements · advance booking in Seville · sold-out dates · tour operations in Seville