Culinary legend has it that tapas
were invented in the 13th-century
when King Alfonso X’s physician
advised him to eat small morsels
with his wine. Follow doctor’s
orders on Airbnb’s Bike between
Bodegas tour in Seville, where the
tapeo (tapas bar crawl) is central
to city life(£35pp; airbnb.co.uk/
experiences/113868).Led by
Seville-born and bred Pepe, this
three-hour late morning ride
visits local haunts and the city’s oldest winery.
Having eased into your weekend with copious
ibérico ham, spend the rest of it paying respects
to King Alfonso’s and Columbus’s tombs in
Seville Cathedral, a Gothic masterpiece, and
admiring Moorish mosaics in the Alcázar palace,
scaling the mushroom-like monument at Plaza
de la Encarnación, and returning to your new
favourite bars for yet more tapas.
ARRIVEBA, easyJet and Ryanair
fly direct to Seville from the
UK(from £110; ba.com).
STAYIn a historic,
residential
neighbourhood south of
the city centre, Hotel
Holos’ seven rooms
and palm-fringed
courtyard seem lifted
from a modern
architecture magazine
(from £105; hotelholos.com).3
Taste tapas
by bike in
Seville, Spain
Mixing Middle Eastern dishes
with recipes from the Jewish
diaspora, Israeli cuisine is
delectably diverse. Get a hint
-$'21̮ 4-301.#!203+-,
a 4½-hour walking tour of the
twin cities of Jaffa and Tel Aviv
(£95pp; deliciousisrael.com).
You’ll hunt out the country’s
best hummus from hole-in-the-
wall shops; try delicacies such
as lachuch, a pancake-like
Yemenite bread, and be
introduced to Carmel Market’s best stalls,
where olives, nuts and pickles are laid out as
temptingly as in a sweet shop. Also included
are nibbles at restaurants from star chefs that
put London’s favourite Israeli adoptee, Yotam
Ottolenghi, to shame. Work it off the next day at
Gordon Beach’s volleyball courts and saltwater
swimming pool, or by joining in matkot, the
bat-and-ball game that’s a local obsession.
Come sundown, continue to burn calories
dancing at one of the open-air bars on the sand.
ARRIVEEl Al flies to Tel Aviv from Heathrow and
Manchester(from £335; elal.com).
STAYIn a Bauhaus-style former movie theatre,
Cinema has great views from its rooftop
(from £140; atlas.co.il).4
Work up an
appetite on
aTelAviv
walking tour
WINE ROUTES
Grape Escapes runs a
huge selection of wine-
focused tours that fit into
alongweekend.France
gets the best coverage;
Italy, Spain and Portugal
are other options
(grapeescapes.net).