Ankara or Istanbul?

Ankara has no beach at all. It lies several hours inland, its lakes at Eymir and Mogan are for rowing, and a summer swim means a pool. Istanbul is not a beach city either, but the long sandy beaches of Kilyos and Sile on the Black Sea are about an hour away, and the Princes' Islands have pebbly coves a ferry ride from the centre.

So a half day by the sea is easy from Istanbul, as long as you swim only where lifeguards are on duty on those Black Sea beaches with their strong currents. From Ankara, the coast is a separate trip.

Ankara eats well but within a narrow range: kebab and pide houses, steam trays of stews in the esnaf lokantası canteens, long breakfasts and its own baked Ankara tava, with tea and simple meals in the restored houses of Hamamönü. The food is dependable, but it is not a reason to travel.

Istanbul brings the whole country's cooking together, from Black Sea anchovies to south-eastern kebabs and Ottoman palace dishes. It also has what Ankara lacks: street food on every corner, fish sandwiches by the Galata Bridge, and long meze evenings in the meyhanes of Beyoglu and Kumkapi. Kadikoy's market streets alone can fill a day of grazing.

Ankara has two excellent sights: the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, with its Hittite and Phrygian collections, and Atatürk's mausoleum at Anıtkabir. Add the citadel, the Roman baths and the Temple of Augustus, and you can see everything in two or three days. Beyond Ulus the city is modern and planned.

Istanbul is on another scale. Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace, the Blue Mosque and the Basilica Cistern are all a short walk apart, and Süleymaniye, the Chora mosaics, the Theodosian land walls and the Bosphorus palaces can keep you busy for a week. For sightseeing it is the clear choice, though anyone drawn to ancient Anatolia should not miss Ankara's museum.

Nights out in Ankara revolve around students. Beer and rock bars fill the crowded buildings off Kızılay, Tunalı Hilmi has more polished places, and evenings often stretch around a long dinner with rakı. There are few clubs, and summers are quiet.

Istanbul's nights are bigger and later. There are rooftop bars and meyhanes full of singing in Beyoglu, cocktail bars in Karakoy, and cheap, packed bar streets in Kadikoy and Moda. In summer the clubs on the Bosphorus shore at Ortakoy and Kurucesme stay open until dawn, and Ankara has nothing like them.

Ankara's open plateau gives you space but not much scenery. Its green corners are the Atatürk Forest Farm and the lakes of Eymir and Mogan, with the pinewoods of Soğuksu National Park an hour to the north. Its one truly unusual sight is the white salt pan of Tuz Gölü to the south, where flamingos gather in spring.

Istanbul has the advantage of a wooded strait running through the middle of the city. You can walk the shore from Bebek to Rumeli Hisari, see the April tulips at Emirgan, follow the shaded trails of Belgrad Forest or cycle among the pines on the car-free Princes' Islands. None of it is rugged, but being outdoors here is a daily pleasure, while from Ankara it usually means a drive out.

Both cities make reasonable bases, but the trips from each are very different. From Ankara you head into the Anatolian interior by high-speed train or by road: Konya's Mevlana Museum, the painted houses of Odunpazarı in Eskişehir, King Midas's burial mound at Gordion and the timber town of Beypazarı, with Hattusa as a long day.

From Istanbul the best outings are on the water: a ferry to the Princes' Islands or a cruise up the Bosphorus to Anadolu Kavagi, with Bursa the main town trip. Getting out of Istanbul's sprawl takes longer, while from Ankara you reach more historic sites with less effort.

Children are made welcome in both cities, and each has a Rahmi M. Koç Museum full of vehicles to climb into: Ankara's is in an old caravanserai, while Istanbul's is on the Golden Horn and has a submarine. Istanbul has more besides: Bosphorus ferries, Miniaturk, aquariums, a theme park and seaside parks on the Asian shore. Ankara's highlights are the dinosaurs at the MTA Natural History Museum, Gençlik Parkı and its large malls.

Istanbul's crowds, hills and long transfers are hard on small children, but Ankara's hilly centre and heavy traffic are no easier, so the wider choice tips the balance to Istanbul.

Ankara's metro and Ankaray light rail cover the Ulus-Kızılay-Çankaya spine well. Beyond it the city is built for cars, with wide boulevards and underpasses, so taxis fill the gaps and walking works only within Ulus or Tunalı Hilmi.

In Istanbul one card covers the metro, the T1 tram, Marmaray, the funiculars and the ferries, and you can walk the old city, Galata and Beyoglu. The ferries make crossing the city a pleasure, though crowded trams at rush hour and slow road traffic come with its size.

Ankara's shopping is mostly malls and the boutiques of Tunalı Hilmi. The only streets with real character are below the citadel around Samanpazarı, where coppersmiths, carpet sellers and angora wool make for a pleasant afternoon.

Istanbul is worth the trip for shopping alone. There are the covered streets and hans of the Grand Bazaar, the Spice Bazaar, and trades still grouped by craft in the streets between them, along with designer shops in Nisantasi, antiques in Cukurcuma and the flea markets of Kadikoy. Haggling is part of the fun in the old markets.

Ankara is the cheaper stay because it is a government and university city with no tourist pricing, so hotels, kebab houses, the metro and taxis all cost well below Western European levels. Istanbul can be cheap too if you eat in workers' lokantas and travel by ferry. But rooms and menus in Sultanahmet, Galata and along the Bosphorus climb towards Southern European levels.

Alcohol is heavily taxed in both cities. Istanbul's major monuments also charge foreign visitors high entry fees, which adds up if you do a lot of sightseeing. Staying in Kadikoy narrows the gap.

The two are close, but their strengths differ. As the capital, Ankara is home to the state institutions: the State Opera and Ballet near Ulus, the Presidential Symphony Orchestra and the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, with tickets easy to get. Live music in its bars leans towards Turkish rock and folk.

Istanbul has its own state opera and ballet at the Atatürk Cultural Centre on Taksim Square, and adds things Ankara lacks: summer music and jazz festivals in historic courtyards, Sema ceremonies in old dervish lodges, fasil musicians in the meyhanes and jazz in Beyoglu and Kadikoy. In both cities theatre is mostly in Turkish.

Both cities have working hammams. In Ankara they are plain neighbourhood baths in Ulus and Hamamönü, and for thermal springs you travel an hour to Kızılcahamam or Haymana. Istanbul's baths are worth visiting in their own right: Sinan's hammams such as Cemberlitas and Haseki Hürrem, with star-shaped skylights in their domes and a heated marble stone to lie on. Large hotels add full spas.

Istanbul is the more hectic city. Even so, a bath, tea on a Bosphorus terrace at Emirgan or a slow ferry ride give it better ways to switch off than Ankara's tea gardens and lakeside parks.