Albufeira or Granada?

Albufeira is built around its beaches. Golden sand between ochre cliffs lies right below the old town, a long run of sand stretches east towards Falésia, and quieter coves such as São Rafael lie to the west. From June to early October a swim is part of every day, though the Atlantic stays on the cool side.

Granada has no beach of its own. The Costa Tropical is about an hour south over the mountains. Its beaches are pebble and dark sand, the Mediterranean there is slightly warmer, and the coves at La Herradura are good for snorkelling. In the city itself, a swim means a pool.

Granada eats better. The tapas round brings a small plate with every drink in the bars of the Realejo and the lower Albaicín, so an evening becomes Alpujarras ham, fried aubergine with cane honey and remojón salad. The teterías of Calderería Nueva add mint tea and Moorish pastries.

Albufeira's good cooking is simpler and coastal: charcoal-grilled sardines and clam cataplana near the fishermen's beach. To find it you have to look past the Strip's full breakfasts and curry. Come for a fish lunch by the sea rather than a food trip.

On sights, the two are far apart. Albufeira's old town has whitewashed lanes, a clock tower and fragments of Moorish wall, enough for a pleasant hour or two. Anyone keen on history drives to Silves or Faro for more.

Granada has the Alhambra, one of Europe's great monuments, with its Nasrid palaces and the Generalife gardens. Around it are the Albaicín, the cathedral and Royal Chapel, the Carthusian monastery and the cave houses of Sacromonte. Plan on several days.

Albufeira has the bigger night out, if a blunt one. On the Strip in Montechoro, neon bars, karaoke and clubs run until dawn for a young crowd, often in stag and hen groups. Much of it shuts from November to March.

Granada's nights are led by its students. They move on from the tapas bars to Calle Elvira and the pubs around Pedro Antonio de Alarcón, and the scene is more local and less raucous. It also goes quiet in summer when the university empties, just as Albufeira is at full volume.

Granada has the mountains. The Sierra Nevada rises over the city, with skiing above Pradollano in winter, summer routes towards Mulhacén, and old mule paths through the terraced valleys of the Alpujarras.

Albufeira's outdoors is the coast, and a very good coast. There is the Seven Hanging Valleys cliff walk, boat and kayak trips into the Benagil caves, and dolphin-watching offshore. For anything on or by the sea it is the better base, but the range of landscapes is narrower.

Granada's day trips include some of Spain's greatest sights. Córdoba's Mezquita is a fast train ride away, and there are the UNESCO-listed Renaissance towns of Úbeda and Baeza, the Antequera dolmens and the white villages of the Alpujarras.

From Albufeira the choice is a string of pleasant Algarve towns within an hour: Silves with its red castle, Loulé's market hall, walled Faro, Lagos and Tavira. They make good outings, but none of them is a major heritage site.

Albufeira is made for a family summer. Zoomarine is just outside town and water parks are a short drive away. The beaches are calm and lifeguarded, and resort hotels have kids' clubs and shallow pools. Families do best to stay away from the Strip.

Granada suits older children, who will enjoy the hands-on Parque de las Ciencias and the Alhambra's fountains, and Spanish evenings make room for them late. Both old towns are steep and stepped, which is hard with a pushchair, but Granada's inland July heat is harder on small children than the coast.

Granada is the easier place to get around on foot. The lower town is flat and walkable, and small red buses climb to the Alhambra, the Albaicín and Sacromonte, so most visitors never need a car.

Albufeira's centre is compact but steep. Beyond it, the town stretches for kilometres through Oura, Montechoro and Galé, with patchy local buses and a railway station about 6km inland. Expect to take taxis at night and hire a car for the coves and cliff walks.

Neither is a shopping destination, but Granada has more worth looking for: inlaid taracea woodwork, blue and green Fajalauza ceramics, leather and guitars from the city's workshops. Browse in the Alcaicería, and go to Calle Recogidas for the Spanish chains.

Albufeira sells mostly beachwear, football shirts and trinkets. Painted Algarve pottery, cork goods and a bottle of medronho are the things worth taking home, and the mall at Guia covers everything else.

Both are easy on the wallet, but the savings come in different ways. In Albufeira, competition among restaurants and the large supply of self-catering apartments keep costs down. Outside July and August the same rooms become a winter bargain.

In Granada, the free tapa with every drink makes eating out cheap all year. The costs gather around the Alhambra: boutique stays in the Albaicín, terraces with palace views and busy spring weekends.

Granada has a real stage life. Zambra flamenco is danced in the caves of Sacromonte, and the peñas offer rawer evenings. Each summer the International Festival of Music and Dance fills the Alhambra's palaces and the Generalife's open-air theatre, and the city orchestra plays through the rest of the year.

Albufeira's live performance is resort entertainment: tribute acts, hotel cabaret and free summer concerts on the square by the fishermen's beach. There is nothing to plan a trip around.

Granada has a bathing tradition behind it. Hammams in the lower Albaicín recreate the warm and cold pools of the old Arab baths, and the thermal towns of Lanjarón and Alhama de Granada are within an hour. Long lunches and tea houses set a slow pace.

In Albufeira, wellness means hotel spas and a few massage studios, and the nearest thermal water is at Caldas de Monchique. What it does offer is a mild, sunny and quiet winter, well suited to a long, slow stay in the cliff-top resorts west of town.