Albufeira or Tangier?

Albufeira is built around its beaches. Golden sand runs between ochre cliffs and sea stacks, from Pescadores just below the old town to the long sweep of Falésia. In summer the water is calm and there are lifeguards and sunbeds.

Tangier's bay beach is more a backdrop to the promenade than a place to swim. The better sand lies to the west at Achakar and Cap Spartel, where there is surf, or down the coast at Asilah. People dress more modestly on the beach too, so Tangier suits a day by the sea rather than a week on the sand.

Tangier eats better, though the range is narrow. There is grilled fish chosen at the port, tagines, bissara at breakfast and harira, with street snacks around the Grand Socco. Long mint-tea sessions on terraces such as Café Hafa above the Strait are part of the day. Alcohol is limited to certain restaurants and hotels.

In Albufeira, the real Algarve cooking hides behind the Strip's full breakfasts and curry: cataplana, charcoal-grilled sardines and octopus. It takes some looking in the old town backstreets and near the fishermen's beach. Wine and beer, though, are easy to find everywhere.

Here Tangier is far ahead. The kasbah palace museum looks across the water to Spain, and the medina runs down from it to the Petit and Grand Socco. The American Legation, St Andrew's church and the Art Deco Ville Nouvelle tell the story of an international city once home to Paul Bowles.

Albufeira's whitewashed old town, with its fragments of Moorish wall and its clock tower, is pleasant for an evening stroll. History lovers end up driving to the older towns along the coast and inland.

Albufeira wins for anyone who wants to go out. In high summer the Strip in Montechoro has bars, karaoke and clubs open until dawn, with a young crowd that often comes in stag and hen groups. Oura and the old town square are calmer. From November to March it all goes much quieter.

Tangier's evenings are spent on café terraces and walking the seafront. For a drink there are a few old bars from the international era, hotel lounges and summer beach clubs, and there is no club district at all.

Albufeira has the more striking coast. It has eroded limestone cliffs, arches and sea caves, with the Seven Hanging Valleys trail about half an hour away and boat trips to the Benagil grotto. For gentle hiking inland there is the Serra de Monchique.

Tangier's outdoors centre on Cap Spartel, where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean, along with the wooded Perdicaris park and the Caves of Hercules. Birds migrate over the Strait in spring and autumn. Proper mountain walking in the Rif needs an overnight stay.

Tangier has the richer list. Asilah and Tetouan, whose medina is on the UNESCO list, are an hour or less away, and Chefchaouen makes a long day. The fast train reaches Rabat in under two hours, and the ferry takes you to Tarifa in Spain in about an hour.

Albufeira's outings are Silves castle, Loulé's market hall, walled Faro, Lagos and Tavira. They are pleasant Algarve towns rather than major sights, and most are easier to reach by hire car than on the slow buses.

Albufeira is set up for children. Zoomarine is just outside town, water parks are a short drive away, and beaches such as Oura and Galé have lifeguards. Many resorts have shallow pools. Families mostly avoid the Strip and the stepped old town.

Tangier welcomes children but has little made for them. There are the promenade, Perdicaris park and the caves, and the ferry over to Spain is the outing they will remember.

Getting around is about equally hard in both, but in different ways. Albufeira's centre is walkable, with a lift and an escalator up from the beach. Beyond it, though, the resort stretches for kilometres through Montechoro, Oura and Galé with only patchy buses, and the station is 6km inland, so most visitors hire a car.

Tangier's medina, kasbah and Ville Nouvelle can be covered on foot, and cheap blue petit taxis handle the rest. Its ferry port in the city centre and its trains to Rabat and Casablanca make onward travel simple without a car.

Tangier has more worth buying. The medina lanes around the Petit Socco sell leather slippers, rugs, lanterns and red-and-white Rif cloth, and bargaining is expected. On Saturdays, farm women from the hills bring produce to the Grand Socco.

Albufeira's shops are mostly beachwear and football shirts. Painted pottery, cork goods and medronho make the best souvenirs, and Loulé's market is the place to go for crafts.

Your budget goes further in Tangier. Grilled fish, tagines, mint tea, petit taxis and medina riads all cost little, though alcohol does not.

Albufeira is reasonable for Western Europe, with cheap set menus, beer and self-catering. In summer, though, sea-view rooms, taxis and car hire push costs up, and the real bargains come between October and May.

Neither city is a place to plan around shows, but Tangier's music is more its own. Andalusian classical music, gnawa and Jilala turn up at festivals, there is a long-running jazz festival, and the historic art-house cinema stands on the Grand Socco. Albufeira mostly offers cover bands, hotel cabaret and fado put on for visitors, plus free summer concerts by the fishermen's beach.

Tangier offers the more distinctive way to unwind. Neighbourhood hammams give you steam, black soap and a kessa scrub, riad spas offer a gentler version, and afternoons go slowly over mint tea on terraces above the Strait.

In Albufeira, relaxing means hotel spas and the calm cliff-top resorts west of town and around Galé and Falésia. Its mild, sunny winters suit a quiet stay, and the nearest real thermal waters are an hour away at Caldas de Monchique.