Alicante or Granada?

Here the two cities are furthest apart. In Alicante, the beach is part of every day. Postiguet is a short walk from the old town, and the tram runs out to the long pale sand of San Juan, where the water is shallow and calm. There is also the boat to Tabarca and the coves up the Costa Blanca.

Granada has no beach of its own. The Costa Tropical is about an hour south over the mountains, with pebble and dark sand around Salobreña and La Herradura and clear coves for snorkelling. It makes a good day out, but in the city a swim means a pool.

The two are broadly level, but you eat very differently in each. Alicante is a rice city. Arroz a banda and black rice are long lunches for two or more, and the modernist Mercado Central has red prawns, mojama and counters for a drink.

Granada eats in rounds. A free tapa comes with each drink, so an evening means moving from bar to bar through the Realejo and around Calle Navas. The Moroccan tea houses of Calderería Nueva add something Alicante has nothing like.

Granada has far more to see. The Nasrid palaces and Generalife gardens of the Alhambra are among the great monuments of Europe. Around them are the Albaicín, the cathedral and Royal Chapel, the Carthusian monastery and the cave houses of Sacromonte, enough to fill several unhurried days.

Alicante's sightseeing centres on the Santa Bárbara castle, the flowerpot steps of Santa Cruz and the excellent MARQ archaeological museum. It is enjoyable, but two days covers it, and it makes a pleasant addition to a beach stay rather than a reason to go.

Both cities go out late, and neither is a clubbing destination. Alicante's nights are in El Barrio's small bars on the steps below the castle, with dressier bars at the marina and beach terraces at San Juan. It is at its liveliest in summer.

In Granada, the university sets the pace. The night runs from tapas to Calle Elvira and the student bars and clubs of Pedro Antonio de Alarcón, so it is busiest in term time and quieter once the students leave for the summer.

Granada has the bigger landscape. The Sierra Nevada rises right behind the city, with skiing above Pradollano in winter and summer routes towards Mulhacén, the highest peak in mainland Spain. The Alpujarras add terraced valleys and old mule paths between villages.

Alicante's outdoors is mostly about the coast. You can snorkel and dive in the Tabarca marine reserve, paddle around the bay and see flamingos on the Santa Pola salt lagoons. The limestone peaks of Aitana and the crags at Sella offer good hiking and climbing, but you need a car to reach them.

Both cities have rewarding trips, of different kinds. From Alicante, the coastal tram reaches the painted houses of Villajoyosa and the white town of Altea. Elche's UNESCO palm grove is half an hour away, and Valencia makes a longer day by train.

Granada's trips are richer in monuments. Córdoba and its Mezquita are about an hour and a half away by fast train, and Úbeda, Baeza and the Antequera dolmens are all UNESCO-listed. The white villages of the Alpujarras add mountain scenery.

Alicante is the easier family base. Children can paddle in the shallow water at San Juan, ride scooters along the palm-lined promenade and take the boat to Tabarca. A theme park, water parks and a marine park near Benidorm are less than an hour away by car.

Granada has one strong draw in the Parque de las Ciencias, with its planetarium and butterfly house. But the Alhambra hill and the Albaicín are steep, cobbled and stepped, which is hard work with a pushchair, especially on a hot afternoon.

Both are easy to get around, but the effort comes in different places. Alicante is a flat seafront city. You can stroll between the old town, the port, the market and the town beach, and the one real climb, up to the castle, is done for you by lift. The coastal tram adds a lot. It is slow, but it follows the shore out to San Juan and on up the Costa Blanca, and trains reach Elche and Valencia.

Granada's flat lower town is just as easy, but its best sights are up on the hills. Getting to the Alhambra, the Albaicín and Sacromonte means steep cobbled lanes or the small red minibuses that climb them. The light rail serves the suburbs and the station rather than the sights. Access to the old centre is restricted, so a car there is more trouble than help. It only earns its keep once you head out to the Alpujarras and the mountain villages.

Neither city is worth choosing for its shops, and both have Spanish chains for everyday needs. The difference is in what you bring home. Alicante's best souvenirs are edible, such as Jijona turrón and saffron from the Mercado Central, and Elche's shoe outlets are half an hour away.

Granada's finds are crafts: taracea inlaid woodwork, blue and green Fajalauza ceramics and guitars from local workshops. You can browse around the Alcaicería, though much of what it sells is souvenirs.

Both are reasonably priced by Spanish standards. Granada's free tapa with every drink makes an evening out especially cheap. In Alicante, the savings come from set lunches and from free sights such as the castle grounds.

Where you pay more also differs. In Alicante, beachside rooms in July and August cost more. In Granada, prices rise around the Alhambra, with boutique stays in the Albaicín, terraces with palace views and busy spring weekends.

Granada has much more live culture. Flamenco runs from the zambra in the Sacromonte caves to rawer evenings in Albaicín bars. Its summer music and dance festival, held since 1952, puts concerts and ballet inside the Alhambra palaces and the Generalife's open-air theatre.

Alicante offers Spanish-language drama at the Teatro Principal and orchestral concerts at the ADDA. These make a pleasant evening, but there is nothing to plan a trip around.

Granada has the edge, with a bathing tradition you can actually use. Hammams in the lower Albaicín recreate the Moorish sequence of warm, tepid and cold pools. The spa towns of Lanjarón and Alhama de Granada are both within an hour.

Rest in Alicante means the sun and the seafront, a slow lunch and a siesta. Its nearest thermal springs are across the border in Murcia, and otherwise there are hotel spas.