It is high summer in Seville and, along the city's ancient streets, a startling spectacle is unfolding. Shuffling along in single file – maybe two abreast in places but rarely more than that – are thousands of weary-looking tourists. Weighed down by backpacks, bulky cameras and rapidly condensating bottles of water, these sightseers cling to the sides of buildings, preferring to keep pace with the milling crowd than go it alone and set their own schedule.

Why such uniformity? The answer lies above: the height of summer in Seville brings with it the highest temperatures in Europe, the mercury settling above the 45ºC-mark by early July and sitting there for four or five weeks. The unrelenting sunshine makes for flawless blue skylines and evocative evenings, but can make the daytime in Seville rather uncomfortable. As if this were not enough, the months of July and August are also the busiest tourist months, bringing thousands of ill-prepared – both in terms of protective equipment and genetic makeup – Americans, Japanese, Koreans and North Europeans flocking to the city in order to discover its charms. They soon discover that, while beautiful, Seville is also uncomfortably hot, the narrow strip of shade thrown by the tall buildings providing the only al fresco respite during the day.

While an understandable tactic, the sight of thousands of pedestrians wilfully corralling themselves through some imagined turnstile in order to shelter from the sun is a curious one. But there are alternative ways and means of avoiding the often oppressive Sevillian sun. In the cool shade of the lovely Parque de Maria Luisa, for one. Or perhaps under the ornate ceiling of the Cathedral of Seville, one of the largest medieval and gothic churches in the world. Or, like most of the local Sevillanos, enjoying the cool interiors of the city's plentiful tapas bars and bodegas that populate Seville's tightly-woven streets, the suns unwanted rays repelled by the reflective whitewashed walls and unable to infiltrate the deep narrow passages that comprise much of Seville's architectural character. Or there's always the famous siesta...

Any option, at that time of day and in the height of summer, would be preferable to pounding the streets in search of cultural one-upmanship. You can do that in the relative cool of the morning or evening; indeed, the lower sun, cooler air and muskier aromas at this time of day make the experience even more spectacular and memorable, so why suffer with the masses?

In Seville, you really are in the heart of 'Real Spain', so it is advisable to do things their way. In much the same way that London's red buses and telephone booths, Big Ben, punks, the Queen and extortionate prices are seen as a snapshot of the UK, Seville is home to much of Spain's traditional customs and global imagery – the lazy siesta, the passionate people, the salsa-ing señoritas, the dusty tapas bars, the brooding, sultry gazes of the local Gitanos (gypsies) as they look on intently as an impromptu flamenco dance and song routine flares up that's as much for the tourists' benefit as traffic jams or middle-of-the-day closing hours: this is just how it is.

Which is not to say that Seville cares not for the tourists who love it so – walking tours, horse-drawn carriage rides, open-top buses, beautiful hotels and well-priced restaurants are plentiful throughout the city – but Seville exhibits a refreshing lack of tourist-centric emphasis. Visitors are respected and welcomed, but Seville would be exactly the same without them. It is this authenticity that is so beguilling.

Seville is Spain's fourth-largest city, its hottest city, and the capital of Andalucía. Straddling the banks of the Guadalquivir River, the city lies in a rich and fertile basin in the immediate centre of Southern Spain. The city's location and intense climate has helped shape its history and growth, bringing it riches that few other cities in Europe could have ever dreamt of. Seville's history stretches back more than 2,000 years. It was called Hispalis by the Romans and was a relatively minor city at that time, bursting into prominence when the Moors came in the 8^th century. Their influence was immediate and instrumental in Seville becoming an enlightened and wealthy state, evidenced today by the imposing Giralda Tower that stands proudly beside the cathedral, blurring any perceived boundaries between Islam and Christianity.

This wasn't the case back in the 13^th century though, when the conquistadores of the Christian reconquest ransacked the city and drove out the incumbent Moors in 1248 in a series of bloody conflicts. Seville soon glistened again - the Mudejar architectural styling of the time providing the beautiful foundations for many of the city's most impressive monuments, which include the Álcazar, the Cathedral and the numerous gardens.  After Christopher Columbus sailed from Seville to the New World in 1492 to return with unimaginable riches, the city boomed, acting as one of mainland Europe's main gates to America. However, the silting up of the Guadalquivir River in the 16^th century sent Seville into a spiralling decline, with plagues and the growth of rival cities reducing Seville's one million population by more than half.

Seville boasts an international airport and is just a two hour drive from the Costa del Sol to the east, Portugal to the west, and the famous cities of Cádiz and Jerez to the south. Famous for its oranges, the surrounding plains abound with citrus and olive groves, yet the city has no real reliance on the region's rich agriculture. Instead, Seville is an important financial hub, boasts a huge tourism industry and is the cultural centre of Southern Spain.

As for its climate, well, there's nothing else like it. While most of Europe's hottest areas are centred around Greece and Turkey's Aegean Sea basin, Seville's microclimate brings it the highest temperatures on the continent. July and August are stifling, and there are no sea-breezes to cool the air. Sensibly, many Sevillanos flee the city during these months, at precisely the moment that the less-enlightened tourists flock in. To be fair, the city is not completely unbearable during the height of summer – if you love the feel of hot sun on your neck all-day long then you'll be in paradise – but the shoulder months are more comfortable. In winter, temperatures will rarely drop below 15ºC, making Seville a city of t-shirt weather all year round.

THE CATHEDRAL: Plonked right in the very centre of Seville like some ornately elaborate football stadium, the huge square of stone that comprises the outer walls of the Cathedral of Seville takes an age to circumnavigate. Facing a palace / park on one side, bars and shops on another, a tram-lined avenue with superstores to the south and a pretty plaza at its northern end, the uninitiated might not actually be aware that they're walking alongside one of the world's largest places of worship. Once inside, however, visitors are left in little doubt of its beauty, scope, importance and magnitude.

Completed in 1519 after more than a century of building work, the Cathedral replaced the former mosque, with only the Giralda Tower surviving the transformation, albeit only after undergoing a few decorative changes. Inside the tower, visitors can scale the wide and gently-ascending ramps (built to ensure the old Muezzin guards could scoot up and down the tower on horseback) to the top, where excellent views of the cramped old town (indeed, as far as the eye can see thereafter) can be enjoyed.

Inside the main Cathedral, the 42 metre-high nave is also the longest in Spain, dominated by a huge retablo that depicts important scenes from the Life of Christ. Elaborate, hauntingly beautiful and home to Christopher Columbus' tomb, the weight of history inside here is immense; the echoes of ghosts' past reverberating throughout its gilded walls.

SEMANA SANTA: Any fears that the Western World is rapidly merging into some sort of universal uniformity of consumerism are banished by Seville's Semana Santa (Holy Week). While the UK, the USA and countless other Western nations are enjoying an Easter celebration that centres on the vast consumption of overpriced chocolate eggs and a strange fixation with bunny rabbits, Seville's approach is a much more traditional affair, dramatically captured by the sombre spectre of the week-long processions that march solemnly, slowly and intensely through the city's streets. The participants' pointed hats, staccatto drum beats and depictions of the Virgin Mary create a perfect photo opportunity for the many thousands of tourists that flock to the city during this enormous spectacle, but mean something much deeper to the devoutly Catholic inhabitants of the city.

The Semana Santa runs from Palm Sunday until the morning of Easter Sunday, with the evening of Holy Thursday marking the climax of the week, before the Good Friday procession – which arrives at the Cathedral at dawn and is known as the Madrugá – brings about the end of the somewhat muted and reflected celebrations.

PLAZA DE ESPAÑA: Yup, more tradition, more history, and more majestic buildings. Seville has plenty more going for it than a rich history – one glimpse at any of the impossibly modern spaceship-like buildings that have sprung up on the city's outskirts in recent times will confirm this – but it is a place that is so firmly rooted in the past that to ignore its historic heart would be like buying a TV without a remote or a laptop without WiFi connectivity: not entirely pointless, but also not doing the object or your desire justice, either.

So here's the Plaza de España. A quick glance – even a prolonged, investigative stare – at it will make most think of Spain's other age-old monuments, but in fact the Plaza de España is a relative newbie, having been built in 1929 as a showpiece structure for the city's hosting of the Spanish-American Exhibition.

It's an easy mistake to make. The Exposition Building was intentionally constructed in a Moorish Revival fashion, covering a semi-circular plaza that is ringed by an ornate moat and crossed by numerous mosaic bridges. Today, this large open space is home to street vendors and horse-drawn cart operators, while the lovely Maria Luisa Park languishes opposite, adding an extra sheen of serenity to proceedings. Take a boat on the moat, hitch a horse ride or simply lounge around the central fountain – the Plaza de España is a must-see on your trip to Seville.

For Triana – Forming the majority of western Seville, the neighbourhood of Triana is an intriguing section of town. Culturally and economically independent, Triana is both apart from Seville and integral to its makeup. Essentially an island in the heart of the city – the area is built upon the split of the Guadalquivir River – Triana is the home of the city's largest Gitano population, mixing its earthy architecture with some of the city's more aspirational neighbourhoods and so creating a fascinating melting pot of cultures and architecture.

While most tourists will only glimpse Triana from atop their tour bus – the multilingual guidebook headsets proffering a sanitised version of the region's being – the best way to experience the area is on foot. So cross the beautiful Puente de Triana and be prepared for anything – a friendly wave, street flamenco, hidden bodegas serving delightful local delicacies and strong sherries, unseen squares where families spend the entire day picnicing and chatting...anything goes in Triana.

Points of interest include the Convento de San Jacinto, the bustling Triana Market, the Iglesia de Santa Ana and the colourful Calle Pureza.

For the commercial and culinary feasts – Gleaming air-conditioned department stores aside, shopping in Seville is an enduringly excellent experience. While most countries or cities 'blessed' with such crooked, narrow and hidden streets might deem them worthless for your average consumer (marketing men in particular might ask: 'How will people find us? Where can we display our sparkling new signage?'), Seville's patchwork of alleys hide some wonderful stores. And not just your typical tourist-targeted tat merchants either; there are fabulous leather and lace goods, bohemian-style new age stores, delicatessens, independent bookstores and music shops, all waiting to be discovered. Again, in the face of faceless high street uniformity, Seville is a refreshing change.

Then there's the bars and restaurants. Although Seville suffers from a couple of tourist traps, most eateries in and around the old town remain authentic. The rule is – if it looks chaotic, busy and a little daunting, then it's going to be great. Pristine restaurants and sedate bars in Seville should be avoided; if the locals shun them, you should too. Sure, you're going to need a little bit of Spanish, you're going to have to speak up, and you're going to have to ignore some of the less-than-hygienic practises of many bars (writing your order in chalk on the actual bar while handing you your beer and a bar-decorative tray of olives being one particularly memorable practise favoured by many a bartender in the depths of Seville) in order to get what you want, but you won't regret it. Affordable beverages abound, while the choice, inventiveness and downright deliciousness of the hundreds of tapas dishes available throughout the city will make your head spin. You first have to find these places, and then drum up the courage to enter and order, so swot up on your Spanish now!

For the strange, strange world of the Expo 92' Site – Post-apocalyptic landscapes certainly have their appeal. In Ukraine you can helicopter over eerily empty towns and go wild wolf hunting in the vast depopulated areas of post-1986 Chernobyl. In Pompeii, the lava-hardened bodies of the town's unfortunate residents have been drawing in tourists for centuries. And, well, in Birmingham there's that new gleaming Bull Ring Mall to amble around in. But the Universal Exposition of Seville 92' takes some beating in the post-event intrigue stakes.

At the time, though, this spectacular event was undoubtedly impressive. Set across 215 hectares of land on the city's Isla de la Cartuja, the Expo's Age of Discovery theme coincided with the 500^th anniversary of Columbus' America discovery, at the very location it is believed he set sail from. 58 countries set up pavilions for the show, leading to some impressive architectural and design feats, most notably from the Japanese, whose pavilion was, and still is, the largest wooden structure in the world. Recreations of palaces, mansions, lakes, boats and modernist cubes abounded, traversed by rivers and moats and all kept cool by an innovative microfilter water air conditioning system that lined the main streets and sprayed a cooling mist on visitors.

And then, in October 1992 after wowing visitors for six months, the fair was over. People went home. Nations abandoned their temporary homes, taking the inner workings but leaving behind the structures. As a result, the effect today is rather startling. Much of the site still stands, looking less modern and more decrepit with each passing day. Weeds and grass shoot through the pavements as nature – unchecked – slowly reclaims the land. A half-hearted research and development park exists there now, but much of the site is abandoned, and free to stroll around. The spectacle of deserted streets coupled with ostensibly fun-filled, interactive buildings and stalls lying empty is an eye-raiser. There's certainly a post-apocalyptic atmosphere hanging over the site, albeit a non-threatening one. Conversely, right next to it sits the popular Isla Mágica theme park, which is one of the most popular fun fairs in Spain and a must-visit if you have little ones in tow.

For the Feria de Abril (April Fair) – While the old expo grounds may have seen better days, the rest of the city enjoys the very best of days during the week-long Seville Fair. Occurring a couple of weeks after the end of Semana Santa, the Feria de Abril is the fun-filled feast of frivolity the locals have been waiting for after the solemnity of the preceding weeks. Traffic, businesses and even, it seems, the police come to a standstill as Sevillanos gorge themselves on fine food and wine, dance until dawn each day, throw impromptu street parties, daub the city in splashes of colour and celebrate their most famous traditions, such as bullfighting and flamenco. Such a brilliant spectacle is well-worth seeing, so make sure you book your hotel room well in advance!