Albufeira or Rabat?

The two cities share an ocean but offer very different beaches. Albufeira is built on its sand. Praia dos Pescadores lies right below the old town, and Falésia and Oura stretch east beneath sandstone cliffs. Lifeguards, sunbeds and generally calm, clear water make it easy to spend whole days by the sea, as long as you walk past the crowded central stretches in high summer.

Rabat's city beach under the kasbah walls is a local scene of football, surf lessons and family outings, and the currents keep swimmers close to shore. The calmer sand at Temara, Harhoura and Skhirat is a taxi ride south. Swimwear is also more modest there, so it is more of an afternoon out than a beach vacation.

Rabat eats better, mainly because its everyday cooking is the real thing: tagines, Friday couscous, harira, and msemen and snail broth from evening stalls, with café terraces and pastry shops in between. Alcohol is the catch, as it is served mostly in hotels and a few restaurants.

In Albufeira you have to pick your way through the multilingual menus of full breakfasts and curry around the Strip. Once you do, there are grilled sardines, clam cataplana and octopus in plain places near the fishermen's beach, and local wine with every meal.

This is the widest gap between them. Rabat's monuments are listed by UNESCO as an ensemble. They include the blue-and-white Kasbah of the Udayas with its Andalusian garden, the unfinished Hassan Tower beside the Mausoleum of Mohammed V, and the stork-topped ruins of Roman Sala at the Chellah, set between an old medina and an art deco Ville Nouvelle.

Albufeira's whitewashed lanes, clock tower and two small museums make a pleasant early-evening wander, but nothing more. Visitors with an interest in the past get in the car for Silves or Tavira.

Albufeira is made for a night out and Rabat is not. Along the Strip in Montechoro, neon bars, karaoke and clubs run until dawn in summer for a young crowd that includes many stag and hen groups, while Oura and the old town square offer a gentler mix. Much of the Strip shuts in winter.

Rabat's evenings are spent over mint tea, on walks along the Bou Regreg and on strolls through the medina. Drinks are found in hotel bars and a few lounges in Agdal, and anyone wanting a club goes to Casablanca.

Albufeira has the more dramatic landscape. Its limestone coast of arches, sinkholes and sea caves can be explored by kayak from the marina or on foot along the Seven Hanging Valleys trail, and the cork-oak hills of Monchique are about an hour inland.

Rabat's setting is gentler: the estuary for paddling, surf schools at the river mouth, easy cycling in the vast Maamora cork forest and birdwatching at Sidi Boughaba. Its real mountains are several hours away.

Both cities make good bases, but you reach the day trips in different ways. From Albufeira the outings are mainly by car, to small Algarve towns such as Moorish Silves with its red castle, Loulé's market hall and Tavira's Roman bridge. They are pleasant but much alike, and the slow buses make a hire car almost essential.

From Rabat the train does the work, and the places are bigger and more varied: the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, the kasbah in Tangier, the imperial gates of Meknes, and Salé's medina, a short tram ride away.

Albufeira is set up for a family week by the pool and the sea. Zoomarine is just outside town, several water parks are a short drive away, and many hotels have kids' clubs and shallow pools. The steep old town and the noise of the Strip are the drawbacks, which is why most families stay at Galé or Falésia.

Rabat is calm and friendly towards children, and the tram makes outings easy, but beyond the zoo and the gardens there is little aimed at them. The rough city beaches also need close watching.

Rabat is far easier to get around. The medina, the kasbah, the Hassan Tower and the Ville Nouvelle lie close together on flat ground, the tram and blue petit taxis cover the rest, and Rabat Ville station is in the centre.

Albufeira's centre is walkable but steep, with a lift and an escalator to help you up from the beach. The town stretches for kilometres of hotel zones with patchy buses, and the station is about 6km inland. Taxis in the evening and a hire car for exploring are the norm.

Rabat gives you more to buy that is worth taking home. Rue des Consuls is lined with dealers in deep-coloured local pile carpets, leather, brass and embroidery, the bargaining is relaxed, and Salé across the river is known for its pottery.

Albufeira's lanes mostly sell beachwear, souvenirs and football shirts. The better buys are painted pottery, cork goods and medronho, and for everyday fashion people drive to the mall at Guia.

Rabat costs less day to day. Medina meals, café stops, the tram and taxis are all cheap, and the main sights charge little. Hotels and drinks are the exceptions, since as a capital it has more business hotels than budget riads and alcohol is expensive.

Albufeira is reasonable for a Western European resort, with cheap set menus, beer and local wine. Its costs swing hard with the seasons, though: July and August are expensive, while the same apartments are a bargain from October to May.

Rabat has the stages. The Mohammed V National Theatre and the Grand Theatre on the river put on Arab music and theatre, though not to a regular schedule, and the annual Mawazine festival fills open-air stages across the city with pop, Gnawa and African acts.

Albufeira offers tribute bands, hotel cabaret and fado dinner shows, plus free concerts by the fishermen's beach in summer. Anyone wanting real fado goes elsewhere.

Rabat is more restful in both ritual and pace. Neighbourhood hammams in the medina and Salé offer steam and a black-soap scrub, and hotel spas offer gentler versions. The city's tidy boulevards, the kasbah garden and evening walks by the river keep the pace slow.

Albufeira has no bathing tradition, so wellness means resort spas. Calm depends on staying at the cliff-top hotels or visiting in winter, and the thermal waters at Caldas de Monchique are an hour away.