Abu Dhabi or Muscat?

Abu Dhabi has the better beaches for plain, easy swimming. The pale sand runs into shallow, flat water, from the lifeguarded Corniche in town to the wide, dune-backed natural beach on Saadiyat where turtles nest. The appeal is safety and space rather than scenery.

Muscat's shore is more varied but matters less to a stay. It has the long strand at Qurum, small rocky coves at Qantab and Yiti, and boat trips to cliff beaches and to the Daymaniyat Islands for snorkelling over coral. Its sea, on the Gulf of Oman, is also a little warmer in winter.

Abu Dhabi has more range. Its hotel kitchens cook at a high level and the Friday brunch is a weekend ritual. The older downtown blocks add cheap Keralan, Lebanese and Iranian cooking.

Muscat has the same South Asian canteens around Ruwi and Mutrah but fewer good restaurants overall. Its draw is Omani food itself: shuwa, grilled kingfish and halwa with cardamom coffee, eaten sitting on the floor at a handful of traditional places. In both cities, wine means a hotel.

Both cities centre on a great white-marble mosque. Abu Dhabi adds the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the other museums on Saadiyat and the ceremonial halls of Qasr Al Watan, which make a heavier list of major visits. Its old town, though, is little more than Qasr Al Hosn.

Muscat has fewer headline sights but a stronger sense of place. There is the walled cove of Old Muscat with its Portuguese-era forts, the National Museum and Bait al Zubair nearby, and the merchants' houses facing the dhows at Mutrah. Two or three days covers it.

Neither suits a big night out, as drinking happens inside licensed hotels in both. Abu Dhabi at least has groups of rooftop and beach bars, pubs and clubs on Yas and Al Maryah, and race and concert weekends that fill them.

Muscat is quieter still, with a few hotel lounges and clubs that come alive only on Thursday and Friday. Its real evening life is sober: families walking the Mutrah corniche and a seat at a shisha café.

Here Muscat is far ahead. The Hajar mountains rise straight behind the city, and in a day you can wade through the pools of Wadi Shab, look into the Bimmah sinkhole or walk the rim of Jebel Akhdar. At sea you can dive with turtles in the Daymaniyat reserve, and boats find dolphins most mornings.

Abu Dhabi is flat sand and lagoon. Its best outings are kayaking the mangrove channels at Jubail, a dune drive in the desert, or the drive to the bare ridge of Jebel Hafeet near Al Ain.

Muscat has the richer interior. Nizwa has its great fort and Friday livestock auction. Nearby are the mud-brick walls of Bahla, the painted rooms of Jabrin Castle and the hanging village of Misfat, and down the coast Sur still builds dhows. All of them need a car or a driver.

Abu Dhabi has three good outings and little beyond them: Dubai's skyline and creek, the palm oases and forts of Al Ain, and Sharjah's museums and heritage quarters.

Abu Dhabi is one of the easiest family destinations in the region. The Ferrari, Warner Bros, water and marine parks are close together on Yas Island, and many resorts are built around children's clubs and shallow pools.

Muscat is safe and relaxed with children but has no theme park. Days there are made of calm hotel beaches, dolphin boats, the lakes and play areas of Qurum park, and the aquarium and snow park in the Seeb mall. Both cities keep children indoors from May to September.

Both cities are built around the car, neither has a metro, and walking is limited to short stretches in the cool evenings. The difference is in how you get about. In Abu Dhabi the sights are spread over separate islands, and taxis and ride-hailing handle most trips easily. Muscat stretches for 50km along the coast and most outings head inland, so a hire car makes more sense there.

For brands and luxury, Abu Dhabi has the edge. It has big malls, the luxury houses on Al Maryah Island, and dates, oud and carpets at the Central Market and Qaryat al Beri.

Muscat's malls are ordinary, but Mutrah Souq has more atmosphere. Its covered lanes smell of frankincense, and you can buy silver, khanjar daggers and perfume oils without hard selling.

Muscat is somewhat easier on the budget. Local canteens and fuel are cheap and the mosque and forts charge little, though its beach resorts are expensive and a hire car is an extra cost.

Abu Dhabi's chain hotels can be good value outside the peak weekends. Drinks, hotel brunches and theme park tickets, however, make a family resort trip there costly.

Muscat has the one serious stage between the two cities, the Royal Opera House, with touring opera, ballet, orchestras, jazz and Arab music stars from autumn to spring. Abu Dhabi has no opera house or resident orchestra. It relies on arena shows on Yas Island, the spring Abu Dhabi Festival and occasional concerts on Saadiyat.

Both cities offer rest through resort spas with hammam rooms, but Muscat is the better place to slow down. The city is low-rise and uncrowded, the resorts in its coves offer frankincense treatments, and the warm springs at Nakhal and Rustaq make an outing. Abu Dhabi's palace hotels and Saadiyat resorts do long pool days well, but outside them the city is built around the car and is not especially restful.