Andalusia or Mallorca?

Mallorca has slightly the easier beaches. The white-sand calas of the southeast have turquoise water between the pines, Es Trenc is an undeveloped dune beach, and the shallow northern bays are good for long days, all in warmer water. The pebble coves under the Tramuntana suit snorkellers more than sunbathers.

Andalusia offers more coastline and two very different coasts. On the Costa de la Luz, Bolonia and Zahara have wide golden sand backed by dunes, though the Atlantic water is cooler and the levante wind can blow hard. The Costa del Sol is convenient, with long promenades, but its sand is greyer and the shore is heavily built up.

Andalusia is the better place to eat and drink, mainly because of its bar culture. You can work your way along the tapas counters of Triana, get a free tapa with each drink in Granada, eat fried fish on the coast and drink cold fino in the bodegas of Jerez and Sanlúcar. Dishes change from Córdoba's oxtail to Huelva's jamón, which rewards a trip that moves around.

Mallorca's kitchen of sobrassada, pa amb oli and ensaïmadas is good but narrower. You have to look for it in Palma's markets and in the old cellers of Inca and Sineu, because the resort strips mostly serve international menus. Wines from Binissalem make a pleasant local counterpart to sherry.

The gap here is wide. Andalusia has the Alhambra, the Mezquita, and Seville's cathedral and Real Alcázar. Behind them come Úbeda, Baeza, Ronda and Cádiz, with Roman, Moorish and Christian layers, and a week barely covers it.

Mallorca's heritage is concentrated in Palma. La Seu over the sea wall, the Almudaina and round Bellver Castle fill a good day, with the Miró studios and Chopin's charterhouse at Valldemossa beyond. They add to a beach stay but are not a reason to come on their own.

Andalusia's nights are longer and more local. People fill the terraces on the Alameda de Hércules and in Triana after a ten o'clock dinner, Granada has cheap student bars and Málaga's old town stays up late, while Marbella and Torremolinos supply the clubs in summer.

On Mallorca, going out splits more sharply. Palma has cocktail bars and clubs on the Paseo Marítimo, while Magaluf and Playa de Palma are mass party resorts. The rest of the island goes quiet after dinner, and outside summer only Palma keeps going.

For the outdoors the two are equally strong, but the landscapes differ. Andalusia works on a bigger scale: the Sierra Nevada near 3,500m with winter skiing, the Caminito del Rey gorge, the lynx and birds of Doñana, and kitesurfing at Tarifa.

Mallorca's offer is more compact. The Tramuntana drops straight to the sea, the GR221 runs from village to village, and the island adds the Torrent de Pareis gorge, road cycling up the Sa Calobra hairpins and climbing on sea cliffs. Spring and autumn suit both.

Andalusia offers far more days out, and bigger ones: Roman Itálica, the Jerez bodegas, Ronda, the Antequera dolmens, the white villages of the Cádiz hills, Gibraltar, and a ferry from Tarifa to Tangier in another continent.

Mallorca's outings are pleasant but smaller in scale. They mostly circle stone villages such as Deià and Fornalutx, with the wooden train to Sóller, market days in Sineu and Santanyí, boats to Cabrera and a long day on Menorca as highlights.

Mallorca makes the simpler family vacation. The north bays and Cala Millor shelve gently into calm water, resorts are built around children with pools and kids' clubs, and the boat ride across the Caves of Drach is a memorable outing. Drives are short and the summer heat is milder.

Andalusia works well on the Costa del Sol, with Fuengirola's zoo and Benalmádena's aquarium, and Granada's science museum is excellent. Its greatest sights, though, are in inland cities that are punishingly hot for small children in midsummer.

Without a car, Andalusia is easier to get around. High-speed trains join Seville, Córdoba, Málaga and Granada, and Seville and Málaga have trams and metro lines. Mallorca's buses and few rail lines are enough for a stay in one resort, but the coves, the Tramuntana and the markets more or less require a hire car, with narrow mountain roads and full car parks in summer.

Andalusia's catch is distance. The white villages, the Costa de la Luz and the remote Almería coast also really need a car, and there is far more ground to cover than on an island you can cross in an hour and a half.

Neither is a shopping destination, and both are best for things made locally. Andalusia has Triana tiles and ceramics, flamenco dresses and fans made to be worn, Ubrique leather and Marbella's luxury boutiques. Mallorca has Palma's Passeig des Born, Inca shoes and leather, Manacor pearls, and baskets and pottery at village markets such as Sineu.

Andalusia is clearly the cheaper trip. Tapas and drinks cost little, especially with Granada's free tapa. Inland towns and the Almería coast keep rooms modest, except during Holy Week, the spring fair and high summer on the Costa del Sol.

In July and August Mallorca costs more than the mainland, as Palma's boutique hotels, Tramuntana estates, car hire and sunbeds add up. Package resorts in the north and east, and trips in May, June or late September, narrow the gap.

Flamenco gives Andalusia a lead Mallorca cannot match. There are nightly shows in Seville's Santa Cruz and Triana, the peñas of Jerez, the zambra in the Sacromonte caves and the Bienal in Seville, backed by the Maestranza and Granada's festival in the Alhambra gardens.

Mallorca has a short opera season at Palma's Teatre Principal, a winter symphony season and summer concerts at Bellver Castle, Valldemossa and Pollença. On most nights, live music there means bar bands or resort shows.

For rest the two are about level, and neither has a living bathing culture. Andalusia has recreated Moorish bathhouses in Granada, Córdoba, Seville and Málaga, old spa towns such as Lanjarón, and Marbella's resort spas. Mallorca has only the small Font Santa spring and good hotel spas, and its calm comes mostly from country estates among almond and olive groves and yoga retreats in spring and autumn.