Agadir or Marrakech?

Agadir is a true beach destination. Close to 10km of fine sand curves around a sheltered bay where the water is usually calm, and the surf beaches of Tamraght and Taghazout are half an hour to the north. The Atlantic is cool, but the steady sunshine makes it a beach for winter as well as summer.

Marrakech has no beach at all. Swimming there means a riad plunge pool or a hotel pool. The nearest sea is at Essaouira, a long drive away, where the water is cool and the wind is strong.

Marrakech is the better place to eat Moroccan food. Tanjia slow-cooked in the embers of a hammam furnace, mechoui lamb from underground ovens and the grill stalls that fill Jemaa el-Fna at dusk give it a real food culture, even if medina menus start to repeat after a few days.

Agadir's best meals are simpler: fish grilled at the port stalls, with Souss flavours such as argan oil and amlou. Beyond that, most eating happens in hotels and along the promenade, where the cooking is uneven.

This is where the two cities differ most. Marrakech's walled medina is a UNESCO site in its own right. The Koutoubia minaret, the Saadian Tombs, the El Badi and Bahia palaces and the Jardin Majorelle are all within easy reach, enough for two or three full days.

Agadir lost almost all of its old town in the earthquake of 1960. The kasbah walls on Agadir Oufella, the rebuilt Medina Polizzi and a small Amazigh museum fill a day, and the view from the hill is the real reward.

Neither city is a place to go for nights out, and in both, alcohol stays inside hotels and licensed venues. What differs is the setting. Agadir's nights are resort nights, with beach clubs at sunset, lounges by the marina and hotel bars that run late mostly in summer.

In Marrakech the evening means Jemaa el-Fna and a long dinner, perhaps with a cocktail on a rooftop over the medina. Anyone looking for clubs heads to Hivernage and Gueliz in the new town.

Both cities have strong outdoor country nearby, but of different kinds. From Agadir it is the coast and the dry land behind it. Tamraght, Taghazout and Imsouane have surf schools and long point breaks. About an hour inland, the road crosses plains of argan trees, where goats climb into the branches, to Paradise Valley, a palm-filled gorge with rock pools and easy walks. To the south, Souss-Massa National Park shelters the rare northern bald ibis, and Agadir suits anyone who wants to spend their outdoor days in or by the water.

Marrakech looks to the High Atlas and the desert instead. Imlil is the trailhead for walks between Berber villages and for the two-day climb of Jebel Toubkal, North Africa's highest peak. The Ourika valley, winter skiing at Oukaimeden, and camel rides and dawn balloon flights over the stony Agafay desert are all within easy reach. Walkers and trekkers get a little more from Marrakech, though summer heat on the plain keeps activity to the early mornings.

Agadir is the better base for days out, mainly because of Taroudant. This market town, enclosed by ochre earthen walls, is an hour and a half inland and has calm souks. Tiznit and its silver jewellery are to the south, and the surf villages up the coast make easy half days.

Most excursions from Marrakech go to mountains and desert, and the towns people most want to see, Essaouira and Ait Benhaddou, are better with a night away. Closer to the city there are the foothill souks at Asni and Amizmiz and the Almohad mosque at Tinmel.

Agadir is far easier with children. The bay is gentle and the promenade suits buggies and scooters. All-inclusive hotels provide pools and kids' clubs, and the crocodile park and the Vallée des Oiseaux make a break from the sand.

Marrakech is harder going, with crowded lanes shared with motorbikes and carts, persistent sellers and draining summer heat. A riad with a plunge pool helps. Older children who like markets enjoy it most, ideally in spring or autumn.

Agadir is a little simpler to get around. You can walk the beachfront promenade between hotels, restaurants and the marina, and orange petit taxis cover the short rides to the souk, the port and the kasbah hill.

The Marrakech medina has to be explored on foot, but its unnamed alleys are easy to get lost in and are shared with motorbikes. Beige petit taxis link it to Gueliz and Majorelle. Neither city has a metro or tram, and trips into the mountains or along the surf coast need a driver, a hire car or a tour.

In Marrakech, shopping is a reason to go in itself. The souks north of Jemaa el-Fna are arranged by trade, from leather and lanterns to carpets and babouches, and Gueliz and Sidi Ghanem add design boutiques and showrooms. The long bargaining tires some visitors.

Agadir has Souk El Had, a large and calmer market where locals actually shop, and the Souss is the place to buy argan oil from the women's cooperatives. Beyond that there are seafront souvenir shops and a mall.

Both cities are inexpensive by European standards, and in both, alcohol costs more because only licensed places sell it. In Agadir the savings come from fish at the port, taxis and off-season beach packages, while prices rise along the promenade.

Marrakech is cheap at the street stalls and for entry to the palaces, and simple medina riads offer character for modest money. It also has a large luxury tier, and what you pay in the souks depends on how patiently you bargain.

Neither city has opera, theatre or a concert season. Marrakech has more to offer because its performances happen in the open every night: gnawa musicians, drummers and storytellers in Jemaa el-Fna, along with the long-running Popular Arts Festival.

Agadir's big moment is the Timitar festival of Amazigh music in summer. For the rest of the year, live performance mostly means hotel entertainment and folk shows put on for visitors.

Marrakech has the deeper bathing culture. Every quarter of the medina has a public hammam, the spa hammams range up to lavish marble spaces, and a riad courtyard with a fountain and orange trees is a real retreat, even though the lanes outside are loud.

In Agadir, the rest comes from the pace of the place instead. Days settle into sun, sea and walks along the promenade. Hotel spas offer black-soap scrubs and argan massages, there is seawater thalassotherapy around the bay, and yoga and surf retreats run along the coast to the north.