Albufeira or Coimbra?

Albufeira is a beach resort through and through, with golden sand, ochre cliffs and coves running from Praia dos Pescadores below the old town out to Falésia in the east and São Rafael in the west. In summer the water is calm and mostly lifeguarded.

Coimbra is a river city, and its sea beach at Figueira da Foz is an hour's trip to colder open Atlantic with stronger surf. The grassy river beaches in the hills are pleasant for a summer afternoon, but they can't replace a week on Albufeira's sand.

Coimbra has a slight edge because its eating is more rooted in the region: crackling suckling pig from the Bairrada towns with local sparkling wine, goat stewed in clay pots, and convent pastries, all in cheap family tascas.

Albufeira's best food is from the sea, with grilled sardines, cataplana and octopus near the fishermen's beach. You have to look past the Strip's full breakfasts and curries to find it, though.

The two are far apart here. Coimbra's hill is lined with things to see: the old university in a former royal palace, the gilded Biblioteca Joanina, the Sé Velha, a museum built over a Roman cryptoportico and the tombs of Portugal's first kings at Santa Cruz. It deserves one or two full days.

Albufeira offers a pleasant wander through whitewashed lanes, a clock tower and two small museums. Anyone who wants more history drives inland to Silves or along the coast.

For a big night out, Albufeira clearly leads. The Strip in Montechoro runs neon bars, karaoke and clubs until dawn in high summer for a young crowd that is often British or Irish, and Oura and the old town square are a little calmer. It largely shuts from November to March.

Coimbra's nights follow the academic year, not the summer. Students fill the bars around Praça da República in term and the city goes wild for the Queima das Fitas in May, but July and August are quiet.

Both have plenty of outdoors, but of different kinds. Albufeira's is the limestone coast, with the Seven Hanging Valleys cliff path, boat and kayak trips into the Benagil caves and dolphin-watching offshore.

Coimbra's is green and inland: the monastic Buçaco forest, slate villages in the Serra da Lousã, kayaking down the Mondego from Penacova and real mountain walking in the Serra da Estrela.

Coimbra is the stronger base. It sits on the Lisbon to Porto rail line, so Porto and the canals of Aveiro are each about an hour away. The Roman mosaics of Conímbriga are just south, and the monasteries of Batalha, Alcobaça and Tomar are an easy drive.

Albufeira's outings are pleasant Algarve towns, such as Silves with its red castle, Faro's walled centre and Tavira's Roman bridge. None of them is a major heritage site, and most are easier by car.

Albufeira is built for a summer family vacation, with calm lifeguarded beaches at Oura, Galé and Falésia, the Zoomarine marine park and water parks nearby, and resort complexes with kids' clubs and shallow pools. The things to avoid are the Strip and the steps of the old town.

In Coimbra, Portugal dos Pequenitos and the Exploratório science centre make a good couple of days. Beyond them, the university sights will appeal more to older children than to toddlers.

Coimbra is the easier place to stay without a car. Everything worth seeing is within a couple of kilometres. There is a lift and a funicular for the climb to the university, buses go across the river, and trains go straight to Lisbon and Porto.

Albufeira's centre is walkable, but the resort spreads for kilometres through hotel zones with patchy buses and a station 6km inland. Most visitors end up using taxis and a hire car.

Neither is a shopping destination, but Coimbra offers a little more. The pedestrian streets of the Baixa have clothing and old specialist shops, and there is hand-painted Coimbra faience and Bairrada wine to take home. Albufeira mostly sells beachwear and souvenirs, with Algarve pottery, cork and medronho as the more authentic finds and the Guia mall for anything else.

Coimbra is the cheaper of the two, since a large student population keeps set lunches, coffee and drinks cheap all year and rooms near the old town are fairly priced. Its main expense is the university ticket.

Albufeira is reasonable for a beach resort, but its prices swing with the season. Sea-view rooms, beachfront meals and car hire cost much more in July and August, and the same apartments are a bargain from October to May.

Coimbra has a performance tradition of its own: Coimbra fado, sung by men in black academic capes to the Coimbra guitar in small old-town houses, and as serenades on the cathedral steps. The Gil Vicente theatre and the arts centre in the former Convent of São Francisco add concerts and dance.

In Albufeira, live entertainment means cover bands, hotel cabaret and fado dinner shows put on for tourists, plus free summer concerts by the fishermen's beach.

Coimbra is close to real spa country. Luso, with its mineral water fountain and thermal spa below Buçaco, and Belle Époque Curia are both about half an hour north. Back in the city, the botanical garden and the Mondego riverbank are easy places to slow down.

Albufeira's wellness is mostly resort hotel spas. Its real draw is a mild, sunny winter, and the nearest thermal waters are at Caldas de Monchique, an hour inland.