Andorra la Vella or Zaragoza?

Neither city has a beach, and from both the Mediterranean is a trip of its own rather than an outing. The difference is where you go to swim. In Andorra la Vella warm water means a hotel pool or Caldea's thermal lagoons, since the mountain lakes are too cold. Zaragoza's long, hot summers are spent at the municipal open-air pools.

Zaragoza is the better place to eat. Its tapas tradition is the main draw: the narrow lanes of El Tubo, where each counter has its own speciality, local reds from Cariñena and Somontano that cost little, and the modernist Mercado Central for produce.

Andorra la Vella serves honest Catalan mountain food, such as escudella, trinxat and lamb grilled over a wood fire, and it is best in the stone bordas of the side valleys. In town the restaurants feed shoppers and skiers, and the quality is uneven. Here a good meal rounds off a day outdoors rather than giving you a reason to come.

Andorra la Vella's heritage fits into a day. There is the Barri Antic with the Casa de la Vall, where the parliament sat for centuries, and a few Romanesque churches such as Santa Coloma out in the valleys.

Zaragoza has much more to see. Its history runs from Roman Caesaraugusta through the Islamic Aljafería palace to the Baroque Pilar with its early Goya paintings. Add La Seo's Mudéjar wall, the underground Roman forum and baths, and the Goya Museum, and it needs two or three days.

Evenings in Andorra la Vella are quiet, and the après-ski crowd stays up in the resort villages rather than the capital. Zaragoza has a proper Spanish night out. It starts late with tapas and moves on to the bars around Plaza San Felipe and the Casco, with a few clubs open into the early morning. During the Fiestas del Pilar in October the streets stay full until dawn.

Andorra la Vella sits right in its landscape. Peaks near 3,000m surround the town, the ski areas are a short ride away, and the UNESCO-listed Madriu-Perafita-Claror valley begins at the edge of town. In summer the slopes become hiking, mountain-biking and road-cycling country.

Zaragoza lies on a dry, windswept plain, with riverside paths and large parks in town. Its real scenery is an hour or more away by car: the beech forests of Moncayo, the red towers of the Mallos de Riglos and the Bardenas Reales badlands. The Pyrenees are about two hours north.

From Andorra la Vella the list is short. La Seu d'Urgell, with its cathedral and market, is half an hour south, Puigcerdà and Llívia are in the Cerdanya, and Ax-les-Thermes and Foix are over the pass in France. There is no train, so every outing is by road.

Zaragoza has far more within reach. High-speed trains get to Madrid or Barcelona in about an hour and a half. Around Aragon you can see Loarre castle, Tarazona's Mudéjar cathedral, the ruined old town of Belchite and the cliff-top village of Alquézar, though these are easier with a hired car.

Both cities work well with children, but in different ways. Andorra la Vella suits active families, with ski schools and gentle slopes in winter, and toboggan runs, rope courses and an animal park in summer. Caldea's family pools help on wet days. Without those activities, the traffic-heavy shopping street holds children's interest for little time.

Zaragoza works better for a family city break. The centre is flat with pedestrian squares, there is a river aquarium with play space in the Parque del Agua next to it, and the Pilar fiestas bring parades of giants and big-heads. July and August are very hot there, while Andorra stays mild in those months.

In Andorra la Vella you can walk the town itself, which follows the river into Escaldes-Engordany, but a car starts to matter as soon as you head for the side valleys and trailheads. Valley buses link the parishes and ski buses serve the slopes in winter. Still, everything shares the main valley road, which is slow at weekends and in the ski season, and getting there at all means a long journey by road.

Zaragoza is much easier. The main sights, from the Pilar to the Aljafería, are on flat ground, and the tram, buses and bike-share cover the rest, so you only need a car for rural Aragon. Delicias station is a short ride from the centre.

Andorra la Vella is the place to shop if you want quantity. Low taxes make its long strip of stores running into Escaldes-Engordany worth the trip for ski and outdoor gear, perfume, electronics and spirits, though the strip has little character.

Zaragoza's shopping is the ordinary Spanish high street along Paseo de la Independencia. There is more local flavour in the pastry makers of Calle Alfonso I, the candied fruit and the ceramics from Muel, but there are no bargains worth crossing a border for.

Zaragoza makes your money go further. Hotels, tapas and local wine are cheap for most of the year, sightseeing costs little and the Pilar is free to enter. The exception is the October fiestas, when rooms fill and prices jump.

Andorra la Vella sits in the middle. Rooms are fair value outside the peak ski weeks, and spirits and tobacco cost less than across the borders. Ski passes, equipment hire and spa entry, however, are priced like any other mountain resort.

Zaragoza has a proper season. Touring orchestras and jazz play the Auditorio, the nineteenth-century Teatro Principal stages plays and dance, local bands play the old-town music bars, and the jota is at its liveliest during the Pilar fiestas. Andorra la Vella mostly comes alive in summer, with jazz in Escaldes-Engordany and classical music in Ordino, and for the rest of the year there is usually little on.

Andorra la Vella has the stronger offer, thanks to Caldea. This thermal complex is fed by the hot springs of Escaldes-Engordany and has lagoons, saunas and an adults-only section, which make a good end to a day outdoors. The town itself is busy, so for real calm you need the villages in the side valleys.

Zaragoza has hotel spas and an Arab-style bathhouse, and the nearest thermal waters, at Alhama de Aragón, are more than an hour away. Its relaxation is the slow kind, long lunches and evening walks by the Ebro, though the summer heat and the cierzo wind can wear you down.