Alexandria or Sharm el-Sheikh?

Sharm el-Sheikh is by far the better beach destination of the two. Its hotel beaches at Naama Bay, Sharks Bay and along the Nabq coast face calm, clear water, the coral begins a few steps out, and the swimming season lasts through winter. Reef shoes, and a hotel with a decent stretch of shore, matter more than which bay you pick.

Alexandria's sea is for a summer swim between sights. The Corniche beaches are narrow and packed with Egyptian families. The nicer sand at Montaza and Mamoura is gated and paid, and outside private clubs most women swim covered.

Alexandria is the place to eat well. You pick your fish from the ice in Anfushi and have it grilled or baked in clay, the late-night counters sell liver sandwiches and fiteer, and Greek-era patisseries survive downtown. Together they give the city a food identity that Sharm lacks.

In Sharm most meals are hotel buffets, and the Naama Bay restaurants are built for tourists. The honest alternative is the Old Market, with its grilled fish, koshari and taameya, and a Bedouin dinner in the desert is the outing people remember.

The gap here is wide. Much of Alexandria's past is buried or underwater, but the Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa, Pompey's Pillar, Kom el-Dikka, the Graeco-Roman Museum and the Qaitbay Citadel easily fill two or three days. The old cosmopolitan streets around Cavafy's house are worth wandering slowly.

Sharm el-Sheikh is a modern resort town. The Al Sahaba Mosque and the painted interior of the Heavenly Cathedral make a short evening visit, and for anything more you have to travel out to St Catherine's or further.

Sharm el-Sheikh has the livelier nights. They centre on Naama Bay's bars, DJ nights at beach bars and a few large clubs that stay open late in peak season, although the crowd is almost all tourists. Alexandria has no club scene. Its summer evenings mean shisha terraces, juice stalls and seafront coffee houses until well past midnight, with a few Greek-era bars downtown for a drink.

For the natural world, Sharm el-Sheikh is in a different league. Ras Mohammed lies about 30km south, and with the Tiran Strait reefs and the Nabq mangroves it makes diving and snorkelling the core of a stay. On land, the red granite mountains of South Sinai offer jeep trips, camel rides and nights at Bedouin camps.

In Alexandria, nature means the Corniche at sunset with flat farmland and desert beyond. Its one distinctive outing is a dive over the submerged ruins of the Pharos and the Ptolemaic quarter, which is more archaeology than wildlife.

Alexandria has more within reach. Rosetta's Ottoman merchant houses are an hour east, and the war cemeteries at El Alamein, the ancient monasteries of Wadi Natrun and the ruins of Abu Mena are all possible. Cairo can be done by express train in a long day.

From Sharm the choice comes down to Dahab for an easy day out and St Catherine's Monastery below Mount Sinai, often combined with a night climb to see the sunrise. Organised trips to Cairo or Luxor from Sharm mean very early starts and long hours in transit.

Sharm el-Sheikh is easier with children. The big hotels have kids' clubs, family pools and water slides, and the shallow lagoons are good for a first try at snorkelling. Choose the hotel with care, avoid midsummer with small children and pack water shoes.

Alexandria welcomes children warmly, and summer evenings on the seafront with ice cream and horse carriages are fun. There is little built for children, though, and the Corniche traffic is daunting. The city suits older children who will enjoy catacombs and a fortress more than it suits toddlers.

Neither is easy on foot, but Alexandria is easier to manage. The city runs along a 20km strip with a walkable downtown around Raml Station, a slow old tram and plenty of cheap taxis and ride-hailing cars, though traffic and crossing the Corniche test your patience.

Sharm spreads over about 30km, and only Naama Bay is pleasant to walk. Shared minibuses run along the main road, and taxi fares must be agreed before you get in, so most visitors rely on hotel shuttles and tour pick-ups.

Neither city is a shopping destination, but Alexandria has more character. The Attarin quarter is full of dusty antique dealers selling relics of the cosmopolitan era, and the fabric and spice souks around Manshiyya serve local people rather than visitors. Sharm's Old Market and the Naama Bay promenade sell souvenirs such as perfume oils, papyrus and alabaster, with persistent sales patter and haggling expected.

Alexandria is cheaper by a clear margin. Taxis, street food and seafront hotels all cost little, and the main spending goes on entry fees to sites. Sharm can be good value if you stay inside an all-inclusive hotel. Outside the hotels, prices are set for tourists, and diving, excursions and meals in Naama Bay soon add up.

Alexandria at least has real stages. The Sayed Darwish Theatre hosts opera, ballet and Arabic music, and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina runs concerts and film. The programme is irregular, so catching a show is a matter of luck. In Sharm, performance means hotel entertainment and dinner shows with belly dancers and whirling tanoura dancers.

Sharm el-Sheikh is the better place to switch off. Nearly every large resort has a spa with hammam-style scrubs, steam rooms and massage, and the slow routine of pool, sea and winter sun is restful in itself.

Alexandria has a hotel spa or two and the quieter pleasures of a long café morning or a walk along the harbour. These are best outside summer, when noise and crowds take over.