Alanya or Antalya?

The two are evenly matched for swimming, and the real difference is what is underfoot. Alanya's two main beaches are sand on both sides of the castle rock, with gentle water close to the town centre.

In Antalya, the city beach at Konyaaltı is coarse pebble and gets deep quickly. The sand is out at Lara among the big resorts. In return, Antalya has more variety within an hour, including the pine-backed coves towards Phaselis, the long sands at Belek and swimming off the rocks in the old harbour.

Antalya is the better city to eat in. It has dishes of its own, such as piyaz with tahini beside grilled şiş köfte and slow-cooked tandır lamb, plus generous breakfasts and plain köfte houses all over the modern city.

Alanya's seafront is mostly picture menus and buffets. Good pide, grilled fish and gözleme are there if you go into the back streets or up into the hills, and the small local bananas are a treat. In both cities the weekly market is the best place to taste olives and cheese.

Antalya has more to see. Kaleiçi is a whole walled quarter of restored Ottoman houses, entered through Hadrian's Gate, and the Antalya Museum's marble figures from Perge are worth half a day on their own.

Alanya's history is all on one rock. The Seljuk castle walls climb to the summit, and the Red Tower and the rock-cut Tersane shipyard stand at the water's edge. It is impressive, but one or two days covers it, and the rest of the town is modern.

Alanya goes harder after dark. Its harbour bar street, karaoke bars, open-air clubs and party boats are packed into a small area for a young resort crowd, and the busiest places stay open until the small hours.

Antalya's nights are calmer and more spread out. There are courtyard bars in Kaleiçi and beach clubs at Konyaaltı and Lara, but getting between them usually means a taxi. Both cities go quiet in winter.

Both cities have the Taurus Mountains behind them, but Antalya makes far more of them. The Beydağları rise across the bay, a cable car climbs Tahtalı Dağı to about 2,365m, and the Lycian Way runs along cliffs past Olympos. Within the city, the Düden falls drop straight into the sea, and Saklıkent adds skiing in winter.

Alanya's outdoors is easier to take in. There is the Dim River valley and its cave, the Sapadere gorge walkway, jeep trips up to summer pastures and paragliding above the town. The bigger rafting rivers lie to the west, closer to Antalya.

Most of the region's famous ruins lie on Antalya's side of the coast. From there, Perge is a short drive, Aspendos and Side are easy outings, and Termessos sits high in the mountains. Further west are Phaselis and Olympos, and Demre and Kekova make a long but rewarding day.

From Alanya, Side is a little over an hour away, but Aspendos, Perge and Antalya's museum are around two hours each, so most trips are organised coach tours. To the east there are only the smaller cliff-top ruins and distant Anemurium.

Both work well with children, and in either city waiters and shopkeepers make a fuss of them. Alanya keeps everything close together: gentle sandy beaches beside the centre, a cable car up to the castle and pirate-style boat trips. Families should not stay near the harbour, though, because it is noisy late into the night.

Antalya has more to do on a hot or rainy afternoon, with the walk-through aquarium and Belek's theme park, and Lara's shallow sand suits small children. The drawback is Kaleiçi, where the steep, uneven lanes are hard work with a pushchair.

Getting around is equally easy in both, just in different ways. In Alanya you walk: the centre, harbour and both main beaches are linked by one seafront promenade, and dolmuş minibuses run out along the resort strip. The big Antalya airport is around two hours away, although a smaller one is much closer.

Antalya is a larger city but has a tram running from the airport through the old town to the Konyaaltı side. The catch is the resort belt at Lara, Belek and Kemer, which stretches for tens of kilometres. In both places the mountains and ruins need a hire car or a tour.

Neither city is a shopping destination, but Antalya has more range. Kaleiçi sells carpets and ceramics alongside the usual leather and spices, the malls are a cool escape in summer, and the neighbourhood markets are aimed at local shoppers.

Alanya's harbour streets mostly sell towels, imitation brands, gold and Turkish delight, and you are expected to haggle. Its large weekly market is the one stop worth making a trip for.

Costs are similar, and both reward the same habits: eat in plain local places, shop at the markets and come outside midsummer. Alanya's strength is the all-inclusive package, which covers most of a week's spending. In Antalya the extra costs come from Kaleiçi restaurants, beach clubs and sea-view rooms, but the tram and cheap köfte houses make a self-planned city stay easy to keep on budget.

Antalya is well ahead here. A state opera and ballet company and a state theatre perform through the winter. In summer, the opera and ballet festival at Aspendos puts performances on a Roman stage under the stars, which is reason enough to plan dates around it.

Alanya has little beyond hotel shows and Turkish-night dinners. The exception is its early-autumn jazz festival, with concerts in settings such as the old shipyard.

Antalya edges ahead because it has old hammams. In Kaleiçi you can have the scrub and foam wash on the warm marble of a bathhouse with real age, and the spas at the big resorts in Belek and Lara are among the largest on the coast.

Alanya's bathhouses were built for visitors, but they are good and easy to fit in. The town also has the humid Damlataş cave, long visited by people with breathing complaints. For quiet in summer, in either city, stay away from the centre.