Alexandria or Luxor?

The gap here is total. Alexandria is Egypt's classic summer resort, and its sea is warm from June to September. The Corniche beaches are narrow and crowded, though, the better sand at Montaza and Mamoura sits behind paid gates, and bikinis really belong at private clubs.

Luxor has no beach at all, and the Nile is not for swimming, so bathing means a hotel pool. Neither city makes a beach vacation, but only Alexandria lets you swim in the sea between sights.

Alexandria eats noticeably better, mostly because of the sea. Fish chosen from the ice at Anfushi and grilled or baked in clay, liver sandwiches and fiteer late at night, and the old Greek and Italian patisseries downtown give the city a food culture of its own, even if the range is narrow.

Luxor's cooking is plainer Egyptian fare: koshari, taameya, grilled pigeon and bread straight from the oven. The hotel buffets and rooftop restaurants rely on their temple views, and a home-cooked dinner at a West Bank guesthouse is often the best meal of the trip.

Alexandria's history is rich but much younger than Luxor's, since it begins with the city's founding in 331 BC, and most of it lies underground or under the sea. You piece it together from fragments: the tomb carvings of Kom el Shoqafa, the theatre at Kom el-Dikka, Pompey's Pillar and the Graeco-Roman Museum. What it has that Luxor lacks is a later, cosmopolitan layer of belle époque façades, old cafés, Cavafy's house and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina.

Luxor is in another league. Karnak and Luxor Temple on the East Bank, and the Valley of the Kings, Deir el-Bahari and Medinet Habu across the river, make one of the densest gatherings of pharaonic monuments on earth. These temples and painted tombs are still standing rather than buried, and they fill several full days.

Neither city is a place for a night out, but Alexandria at least has an evening life. In summer the coffee houses and shisha terraces on the Corniche stay busy past midnight, and a few old bars from the Greek era survive downtown. Luxor goes to bed early before the dawn starts, which leaves hotel bars and rooftop terraces for a quiet drink.

Luxor has the stronger landscape: a green strip of palms and sugar cane set against bare desert cliffs. You can sail a felucca at sunset, watch herons and kingfishers on the river islands, or take the path over the Theban hills from the Valley of the Kings to Deir el-Bahari. Cycling through the West Bank villages is easy in the cool months.

Alexandria's nature is the sea and its sunsets over the Eastern Harbour, with flat farmland and Lake Mariout behind the city. Its one distinctive draw is diving on the sunken remains of the Pharos and the Ptolemaic quarter.

Luxor has the stronger day trips, though every one of them is a temple. Dendera's painted ceilings are an hour north, Esna has strikingly vivid reliefs, and Edfu is the most complete Ptolemaic temple in Egypt. Abydos makes a long but rewarding day.

Alexandria's outings are more varied but less remarkable: Ottoman merchant houses at Rosetta, the war cemeteries at El Alamein and the ancient monasteries of Wadi Natrun. Cairo is within reach by train, but the pyramids deserve a stay of their own.

Both cities suit older children with an interest in history better than toddlers, and Egyptians in both are warm towards children. The difference is in what fills the day. Alexandria has the summer seafront, with paddling, ice cream, horse carriages and Montaza's gardens, but also crowded beaches and fierce traffic on the Corniche.

Luxor offers real adventure for a child who loves mummies, from crawling into painted tombs to a dawn balloon flight, but it also means long walks over hot, shadeless ground. A hotel pool is essential there, and winter is far easier.

A long coastal strip against a town split by a river: that is the real difference here. Alexandria stretches along about 20km of coast, so you depend on cheap taxis and ride-hailing that often sit in traffic. The old tram is slow, and crossing the Corniche is dangerous.

Luxor's East Bank is compact enough to walk, though it is hot and full of touts. The West Bank sites are spread along the desert edge and need a driver hired for the day, or a bicycle in winter. The ferry across the river is simple and pleasant, and every fare in Luxor should be agreed before you set off.

Neither city is a shopping destination, but Alexandria has a little more character. Looking through the antique dealers of the Attarin quarter for relics of the cosmopolitan era, or the fabric and spice souks of Manshiyya, feels like local life rather than a souvenir trail. In Luxor most of what you find is mass-produced souvenirs, sold hard in the tourist souk and outside the sites. The alabaster workshops on the West Bank are the one place worth a look.

Both are very cheap by Mediterranean standards, and rooms, local food and transport cost little in either. The difference is where the money goes. In Alexandria the main costs are modest site fees, plus higher room rates in summer when Egyptians head for the coast.

In Luxor the entry fees at every temple and tomb, the extra charges for special tombs, and the drivers, guides and balloon flights soon make up most of the budget. Inflated quotes are common, so agree every price first.

Alexandria has a real stage, even if the programme is irregular. The Sayed Darwish Theatre puts on opera, ballet, orchestral concerts and Arabic music, and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina runs concerts and films, so it is worth checking what coincides with your dates. Luxor's only regular show is the sound-and-light walk through floodlit Karnak, along with the belly dance and tanoura whirling staged for guests at hotels and on cruise boats.

Rhythm rather than facilities gives Luxor the slight edge, since in both cities a spa means one of the larger hotels. Alexandria is most relaxing outside summer, with slow mornings in old cafés and sea air on the Corniche, but its traffic and crowds make calm harder to find.

Luxor's day falls into a restful pattern of early starts, a long afternoon by the pool and sunset on the river, and some hotels add a hammam. It is calmest from a mud-brick guesthouse among the West Bank fields.