Alicante or Andorra la Vella?

Alicante is a true beach city. Postiguet lies under the castle at the edge of the old town, and the tram runs out to the long fine sand and shallow water of Playa de San Juan. For variety there are Tabarca and the Costa Blanca coves, though the city beaches get packed in high summer.

Andorra la Vella has no beach at all. The coast is about three hours away by road and the mountain lakes are too cold for a swim, so warm water there means a hotel pool or the Caldea lagoons.

Food is a real reason to visit Alicante. Arroz a banda, black rice and arroz con costra fill lunchtime tables, the modernist Mercado Central sells red prawns and mojama, and the tapas bars near the market and in the old town are good for everyday eating.

Andorra la Vella offers hearty Catalan mountain cooking: escudella, trinxat and lamb grilled over wood fires. It is at its best in the stone bordas of the side valleys, while the restaurants on the shopping avenues are uneven. You will eat well after a day on the slopes, but the food is not a reason to come.

Neither city is a major cultural destination, but Alicante has more to fill the time. The Castillo de Santa Bárbara looks over the bay, the flowerpot-lined steps of Santa Cruz climb below it, and the MARQ archaeological museum is excellent. Two days covers the city well.

Andorra la Vella's heritage fits into the Barri Antic, with the fortified Casa de la Vall, the old seat of parliament, as its centrepiece. The more rewarding sights are the Romanesque churches out in the valleys, such as Santa Coloma with its round bell tower. A day is enough.

Alicante has proper nights out. Dinner starts after nine, and afterwards the small bars of El Barrio spill onto the steps until the early hours. The port has dressier bars and clubs, and Playa de San Juan stays busy on summer nights, though serious clubbers will find little.

Andorra la Vella is quiet after dark. There are a few pubs and wine bars around the centre and Escaldes-Engordany, but most visitors turn in early, and the real après-ski happens up in the resort villages.

Andorra la Vella is surrounded by high mountains, with peaks near 3,000m all around. The Madriu-Perafita-Claror valley starts almost at the edge of town, and the ski areas are a short ride away. From late spring onwards, trails lead to glacial lakes and mountain refuges.

Alicante's outdoors is drier and mostly coastal: the walk round Cabo de las Huertas, snorkelling in the Tabarca marine reserve, and flamingos on the Santa Pola salt lagoons. Real hiking and climbing on Puig Campana and around Sella need a car, and summer heat limits them to the mornings.

Alicante has a long list of easy outings. Elche's palm grove is about half an hour away, the coastal tram reaches painted Villajoyosa and white Altea, Guadalest sits on its rock inland, and Valencia is a two-hour train ride.

From Andorra la Vella the options are fewer and all by road. La Seu d'Urgell and its Romanesque cathedral are the best of them, with Puigcerdà and Llívia on the Cerdanya plateau and, over the pass into France, Foix's castle.

Alicante is the easier city with children. Playa de San Juan has shallow, calm water, the palm-lined promenade is good for scooters, and children out late with their families are completely normal. Benidorm's theme and water parks are within reach.

Andorra la Vella suits families who come for the mountains, with ski schools, summer toboggan runs and rope courses, and the family pools at Caldea. Away from those, the busy shopping street and its traffic give children little to do.

Both centres are easy to walk, but Alicante connects better. The old quarter, port, market and Postiguet are all within a short walk of each other, a tram runs up the coast, and trains run to Elche, Murcia and Valencia.

Andorra la Vella has buses up the valleys and winter ski shuttles, but no railway anywhere in the country. Getting there means a long drive from Spanish or French airports, and the main valley road often jams at weekends and in ski season.

Andorra la Vella is the better place to shop, as long as you are after bargains rather than style. Thanks to low taxes, the avenues into Escaldes-Engordany form one long strip of perfume, electronics, spirits and especially ski and outdoor gear. There are few independent designers and almost no local crafts.

Alicante's shopping is practical: chain stores around Avenida Maisonnave and edible souvenirs such as turrón and saffron from the Mercado Central. Elche's shoe outlets are the main draw for bargain hunters.

Alicante works out a little cheaper overall. Set lunches, tapas and the tram are fair value, and the castle grounds cost little or nothing. Beachside rooms rise sharply in July, August and during the Hogueras festival, then fall back from October to May.

Andorra la Vella is cheap for spirits, tobacco and gear, and rooms can be good value outside the peak ski weeks. Lift passes, equipment hire and the spa cost what they do in any mountain resort, though, and those are what a typical trip spends most on.

Neither city is a place to plan around performances, but Alicante offers more nights out. The nineteenth-century Teatro Principal stages drama and dance, and the ADDA auditorium hosts the provincial symphony orchestra, although most of the programme is in Spanish.

Andorra la Vella comes alive mainly in summer, with the jazz festival in Escaldes-Engordany and classical concerts in Ordino. For the rest of the year there is usually little on.

Andorra la Vella has the stronger offer, almost entirely thanks to Caldea, the thermal complex fed by Escaldes-Engordany's hot springs. It has lagoons, saunas and an adults-only section, and it makes a good end to a day outdoors. The town itself is busy, so real quiet means the stone villages of the side valleys.

Alicante has no bathing tradition. Rest there means hotel spas, a slow seafront walk and a siesta through the afternoon heat. The nearest thermal springs are in Murcia, about an hour away by car.