Glamping Near Seville: Huttopia Doñana with Kids (Review & Cost)

After our crazy travel day and a night in a five-star hotel in Seville, we were finally rested and ready to check into our glamping tent at Huttopia Parque de Doñana. Huttopia is a French campground company, founded in Lyon in 1999, that now runs dozens of nature-focused campsites across Europe and North America, many with furnished canvas tents like the one we booked. We'd chosen a two-bedroom safari tent.

This was one of the first things we booked once we had our rough schedule, and we were excited about it: extended time in nature after a few weeks of city stays. We love being outdoors (Iceland is still one of our favorite trips), and this was the stretch of the trip I'd been looking forward to most.

Tuesday: Checking in at Huttopia Doñana

After our room service breakfast, we checked out, grabbed groceries from the shop across the street, and climbed into our new rental car. The drive south from Seville took about 50 minutes, and Huttopia sits near the town of Hinojos, just outside the edge of Doñana National Park.

The grounds were perfect for a family. There's a fully staffed reception and bar, a shop, indoor and outdoor games you can borrow, and a huge playground. We scoped out the pool first: it's large, with a zero-entry area that's great for kids, and, something I wasn't expecting, it's surrounded by beach sand. The kids could not wait.

The Huttopia Doñana pool seen through pine trees, a curved blue pool with a rock feature, surrounded by pale beach sand, umbrellas and lounge chairs — The pool, with its own beach. The sand was a surprise, and the kids' favorite part.

A parent pulling a green wheeled cart piled with backpacks and grocery bags down a sandy path through the pine trees toward the tents — Backpacks, groceries, and a cart to haul them to the tent.

But first, the tent. It was just what we'd been hoping for: clean, roomy enough for the four of us, with great outdoor seating on a deck out front. One bedroom had a double bed and the other had bunk beds for the kids, which they were thrilled about. The kitchen had a full-size fridge, a microwave, a stovetop, a sink, and plenty of cooking and eating utensils. We even brought our own moka pot, which we bought in Barcelona, so we could make proper coffee on the deck every morning.

The side of the canvas safari tent on its wooden deck among tall pine trees, with Remi and Arlo sitting on the front steps — Our safari tent, with Remi and Arlo claiming the front steps.

We paid about $500 USD for six nights in a two-bedroom safari tent in late October. Bedding and towels were included. There's an optional cleaning fee at checkout, which we skipped by cleaning up ourselves. Laundry is €4 for a washer and €4 for a dryer.

We went for a swim (the pool isn't heated, so it was a quick, cold dip), played on the soccer field and the playground, and let ourselves relax.

Arlo in his Barça kit kicking a red ball across a sandy soccer field while Remi runs after it, a goal net and pine trees behind them — Remi's favorite: a soccer field right at the campground.

Wednesday: El Rocío and where to book a Doñana tour

We started at the reception desk, where our host told us the only way into the national park is on a tour, and that the place to book one is the town of El Rocío. It's a famous little town known for its white buildings and the horses in its streets, and it's the destination of a huge religious pilgrimage every year. The Romería del Rocío takes place at Pentecost, when brotherhoods from all over Spain travel to the town, many on horseback or in carriages, to honor the Virgen del Rocío, a statue of the Virgin Mary said to have been found in a tree trunk nearby (accounts of the legend place it anywhere from the 13th to the 15th century). It draws as many as a million pilgrims.

A wide sandy street in El Rocío with tire tracks, low white buildings with wooden balconies, and a church tower in the distance under a bright sun — Sand where the pavement should be: a street in El Rocío.

When we arrived, we saw what she meant. Instead of paved streets, the roads are sand, and horses pull carriages down them. The shops that were open were full of cowboy hats and leather goods. It was quiet, since it's the off season, but we wandered until we found the main square, with a beautiful church to peek into, and nearby, the tour company we were looking for: Doñana Nature. They run tours in the early morning and late afternoon, when the animals are most active.

The white church and bell tower of El Rocío beside the wide sandy main square, with palm-trunk decorations and a blue sky

Inside the church in El Rocío, rows of dark wooden pews leading to a gilded golden altar under a white domed ceiling

The church in the main square, outside and in. The gilded altar holds the Virgen del Rocío.

We looked at the tour options. The big group tours run on a bus and are offered in Spanish only, at €33 per person, which would have been fun, but my Spanish has been fine for getting us around, not good enough yet to follow a tour or translate live for the family. So we booked a private tour in English for Friday. A private 4x4 safari for the four of us came to €195 in total.

You can't walk or drive into the core of Doñana National Park on your own; access is by guided tour. We booked in person at Doñana Nature in El Rocío, and tours run in the early morning and late afternoon. The shared bus tour was €33 per person but only in Spanish. A private English-language 4x4 tour for our family of four was €195 total. If you would rather book ahead online, you can browse Doñana National Park tours on GetYourGuide.

After a café lunch, we decided to be the tourists we are and took a horse-drawn cart ride. Our driver, Manuel, took us on a big loop and pointed out interesting things about the town. All the buildings have hitching posts along the front for horses, and some restaurants even have tall tables so customers can have a beer without getting off their horse. The large town square is surrounded by houses that, he says, each host 10, 20, or 30 people during the festival days. And because Dani mentioned being from Australia, Manuel pointed out the eucalyptus (gum) trees, brought over from Australia when it was first discovered and planted all over this region.

View from the back of a horse-drawn cart with a striped canopy, the driver in a straw hat up front, Arlo and a parent riding along a sandy street lined with white houses — Our cart tour with Manuel.

After our tour, Manuel threw in a free pony ride for both kids, and they were thrilled. Remi is now planning to be a cowboy for Halloween.

Remi grinning on a small dark pony in the sandy square of El Rocío, led by a parent, with the white church tower behind them

Arlo smiling in the saddle of the same pony, a parent steadying him, the white church behind

Free pony rides for both kids, courtesy of Manuel.

Thursday: The Huttopia Doñana pool and sand beach

We stayed at the campground on Thursday to enjoy our surroundings. The pool and the man-made beach around it were perfect for the kids, and pretty quiet (it got busier on the weekend). They dug in the sand for hours, and Arlo even made a new friend. The toy buckets and shovels were the real icebreaker.

Arlo in a teal rash guard and a little girl in a bucket hat digging together in a big pile of wet sand beside the pool

Remi in a red shirt and damp hair patting a big sand castle on the pool beach, pine trees and the pool in the background

Arlo in his Barça jersey picking up a boules set of red, green and yellow balls from the sand, a pink bucket beside him and the pool behind

Sand castles with a new friend, Remi building a sand castle, and Arlo with a boules set.

Dinners were simple, cooked in our tent kitchen: grilled chicken, tacos, hot dogs, and eggs and bacon for breakfast. After a few weeks of eating out, cooking basic meals felt like a nice change.

Friday: Doñana National Park safari and pizza night

Friday morning was our private tour of Doñana. We arrived before sunrise (and on time!) to meet Jose, our driver and guide, who was talkative and informative, which made it easy to sit back and look around.

A quiet street in El Rocío just before sunrise, a pink and blue sky, strings of lights hung between palm trunks, and white buildings lit by street lamps

Like the Camargue, Doñana has a lot of marshland. It was completely dry when we visited, but starting in December it looks completely different. First we drove through forest, which Jose said was our best chance to see the elusive Iberian lynx. He didn't see one, and neither did I, but Remi says she did (it could have been a low branch, but she does get lucky like that). Mostly we saw red deer making their way into the shelter of the trees from the grassy areas where they'd been feeding. Some of the groups were huge, and it was interesting, if a bit similar to the white-tailed deer we see everywhere at home ;)

Remi and Arlo side by side in the back of the 4x4, each holding binoculars up to their eyes and looking out the window

Remi in a black kit holding binoculars to her eyes on a sandy track, with an adult standing behind her smiling, scrubby bushes and morning sky behind them

Binoculars were the best part of the safari for both kids.

Entering the marshlands was breathtaking: how far you can see, and the groups of horses dotted across the landscape. We learned about the horses and the farmers, the birds we spotted, and how the marsh changes through the year. The tour was just long enough at around 2½ hours. As with our French safari, the animals are limited this time of year, but we felt like we'd made the most of the area we were staying in. It was cool when we set out, but by midday we were ready to get back to our pool.

A wide stretch of dry golden marsh grass under a clear blue sky, with a parent in the foreground carrying Arlo — The marsh, dry for the season.

The kids went straight back into sand play, with Arlo's little friend and the toys from the day before. We got to chatting with her parents, who are from Portugal, and enjoyed their company while the kids played, then shared a few games of foosball and ping pong later on.

A parent, Remi and Arlo squeezed into a selfie, Remi holding a vanilla popsicle, Arlo grinning at the camera, pine trees behind

Arlo in his Barça jersey and his new friend in a white dress playing at a wooden foosball table in a whitewashed room

A concrete ping pong table in the sand beside a wooden playground, with Remi on one end, a small child sitting on the table and a parent at the other end

A popsicle break, foosball, and an outdoor ping pong table by the playground.

That evening we had pizza from the campground's Friday-night pizza oven. We're spoiled after the pizza in Naples and still thinking about it, but it was a perfect evening and everyone was tired in the best way.

Remi with damp hair in a red shirt grinning with a bite of pizza at a yellow table, a pizza with black olives and melted cheese on a tray in front of her — Friday pizza night.

Saturday: Walking the trails and visiting Hinojos

On Saturday we chose to walk the trail from the campground (renting bikes would have been nice too) just to explore the grounds. The path winds through tall umbrella pines and follows a bike lane, and we walked as far as the sign marking the end of the carril bici at El Arrayán. We'd debated some hiking, but many of the trails would have meant a drive, and another easy day outdoors at the campground won out. With a little more time, or kids a bit older, we'd look at hiking or at the beaches around Matalascañas, roughly a 45-minute drive from the campground.

A sandy path running through tall umbrella pines under a blue sky, with dry grass on either side

A tan Espacio Natural Doñana sign reading Fin de Carril Bici, El Arrayán, beside a palm tree and a low wall

The trail through the pines, and the end of the bike lane.

Instead we walked a bit, played with sticks, did some laundry, and went back to the pool and games. In the afternoon we drove to Hinojos, less than 10 minutes away, to see what it was like and pick up snacks for the bus ride the next day. We hadn't learned yet that Spain shuts down in the afternoon, especially in small towns. Nothing was open when we arrived around 3, apart from a few bars starting to close up and a little playground. We played for a while to kill time and eventually found a small grocery store for snacks. There was a nice main street that would be worth a dinner out, but we left it too late this time.

Remi walking toward a colorful airplane-shaped playground with a slide on bright artificial turf, a white wall painted with figures behind it, in Hinojos — The Hinojos playground, the only thing open at 3 pm.

When we got back, the campground was buzzing. Lots of people were checking in (a long weekend in Spain?) and it was much louder than the other nights. It wasn't loud too late, and the tents are spaced far enough apart that it was fine, but we were glad we'd had the weekdays to enjoy first.

Sunday: Bus from Seville to Albufeira

We took the Alsa bus from Seville to Albufeira, Portugal. It was on time, easy, and direct (there weren't any train options for this route on our Eurail pass).

A parent holding Arlo and standing with Remi in front of a light blue Alsa coach at a bus station — Ready to board the Alsa bus to Albufeira.

In Albufeira, we'd booked a car with Ready2Drive, a local company that met us at the bus station to hand over the car. It couldn't have been easier, and compared to the running around we did with Europcar (see the travel day post), it was a breeze.

Is Huttopia Doñana good for kids?

We loved this place as a chance to get back to nature. Spending full days outside is where travel feels most relaxing for our family, and this was the perfect spot for it. We've talked before about how fun it would be to open our own campground with glamping tents, and I'm definitely feeling inspired!

And in Remi's words: "It was really fun there was a soccer field, volleyball court and so much more."

Where to stay near Doñana National Park

We stayed at Huttopia Parque de Doñana in Hinojos, about 50 minutes from Seville. It's open from mid-March to early January, so check the exact dates before you plan. If you want a different base, you can browse stays in El Rocío, where we booked our tour, in Matalascañas by the beach, or in Seville if you want a city night on either side, like we had.

Doñana National Park tours

We booked our tour in person in El Rocío (see the tip above), but you can also compare Doñana National Park tours on GetYourGuide before you go. Many of the online listings I found are full-day trips from Seville, which is a very different outing from the 2½-hour safari we did from the campground, so check the length, pickup, and language before booking with kids.

Glamping at Huttopia Doñana with Kids: Sand Pools, Pony Rides, and a Sunrise Safari