Our visit to Sevilla and Cordoba coincides with Semana Santa next month, and we have some queries. We will be staying at a hotel on the Isla de Cartuja, arriving at about 7.00pm on Maundy Thursday.

1. How much should we budget for a taxi from the train station to our hotel ?

2. When should we target leaving the hotel to make our way to see the Madruga processions later that night ?

3. What would be a good vantage point to catch the processions ? I understand that seats will be long sold out but anyplace we can see things reasonably well that are comparatively less crowded, or is around the Cathedral the best bet ?

4. Given that we may be quite tired after a long flight, how easy would it be to extricate oneself from the crowds and make our way back to the hotel by cab should we feel the need to do so ?

5. We would like to experience at least one Turkish bath. Options are to do it in Sevilla, Cordoba, or Granada. Any particular preferences ?

6. We will be doing a daytrip tp Cordoba from Sevilla. Is it true that the Mezquita is free for entry in the morning before 10.00am ?

Any help/advice on the above will be most appreciated. Thank you.

A taxi shouln't be much to your hotel, I'd say 10-15 euros. There's probably a supplement from the train station and I imagine they charge per bag as well. The ride isn't that long, just on the other side of the river.
The Mezquita opens at 10 on weekdays/Saturday and you can get free admission to the Cathedral Sundays at 9 and 10:45. I haven't seen anything about it opening before 10 with free admission. Did you see that somewhere?

Have been doing the Semana Santa at Sevilla a couple of years ago and it was certainly a memorable experience.

I would suggest you get yourself the official Semana Santa Guide and the newspaper of the day as soon as you arrive. They have all the processions and their itineraries listed. Also get yourself a city map - many the locations in the programme might not be familiar to you.

Then you can select the cofradías you are particularly interested in. Their costume, their notoriety, and their carriages are quite different and some are more famous than others.

The cofradías usually start from their barrio, do the city tour, and return to their barrio, so depending on which one you are particularly interested you should move to the area where they pass. Except for the very city centre where all the cofradías take the same route, you'll find the routes vary for the rest of the tour.

Having said that: the city centre is of course the most crowded area. I found it most moving to go to the place where the procession takes off. There are lesser people, it's the locals who send THEIR cofradia on the tour, and you can watch many moving scenes of families dressing up their men and boys, kissing them farewell, etc. Be there half an hour before the official departure, and you'll have plenty of "Semana Santa for locals".

In general terms, unless you are not well on your feet, I would disadvise to book any of the seated galleries that are also fairly expensive. If you are good at foot, just walk around, mingle with the crowd, walk with the procession when there is a particularly nice part, stay behind when there is something coming up behind you, or change to a different group if you begin to find it boring. If you are not afraid of crowds, there is no problem mingling and find your own way.

Hope you enjoy your trip!