Ankara or Izmir?

There is no beach in Ankara. Its lakes are for rowing, not swimming, so in summer you are limited to hotel pools, and the sea is a separate journey of several hours.

Izmir cannot offer swimming right in town either, because the gulf off the waterfront is not clean enough. Still, the Çeşme peninsula is about an hour west, with the shallow sand of Ilıca and wilder coves beyond, and there are long family beaches at Gümüldür and Özdere to the south. These work as day outings from a city base, which is something Ankara cannot match.

Ankara cooks solid Turkish staples: kebab and pide houses, steam-tray canteens, long breakfasts and its own lamb-and-rice tava. They are done well but the range is narrow. Izmir has a cuisine with its own character, built on olive oil, wild greens and fish, eaten as long meze spreads with rakı by the water.

Izmir's street food is also better, with boyoz, gevrek and the kumru sandwich, and the Kemeraltı lanes are packed with olives, spices and old dessert shops. Ankara's dining is modest by comparison, and its seafood in particular cannot compete with a city on the gulf.

The two are roughly level, but in different ways. Ankara has two first-class sights, the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations and Anıtkabir, and around them the citadel, the Temple of Augustus and the Roman baths, all of which fit into two or three days.

Izmir's ancient Smyrna shows mainly in the Roman Agora and the walls of Kadifekale. After the 1922 fire, the centre is more enjoyable for its old caravanserais and synagogues in Kemeraltı, the Asansör lift in Karataş and the Levantine houses of Bornova than for any one major monument.

Izmir is the easier place for a night out. Evenings begin with drinks on the Kordon at sunset and carry on in the crowded small bars of Alsancak's back streets until late. In summer the big nights move west to the beach clubs of Alaçatı and Çeşme.

Ankara's scene depends on its students. It is busiest in the multi-storey bar buildings off Kızılay during term time, with a more polished crowd in Tunalı Hilmi. It empties noticeably over the summer break, which is exactly when Izmir is at its liveliest.

Both cities have flamingos, but the settings could hardly be more different. Ankara sits on open, treeless steppe, and its green escapes are the Atatürk Forest Farm, the lakes and the pine forest of Soğuksu an hour north. Proper hiking means going much further afield.

Izmir has the Gediz Delta wetlands right next to the city, cliffs and olive groves on the Karaburun peninsula, and Alaçatı's steady winds for windsurfing and kitesurfing. Inland, Spil Mountain and the high plateau of Bozdağ offer forest walks, and Bozdağ has winter skiing.

Ankara's high-speed trains make it a better base than you might expect. Konya's Mevlana Museum and Eskişehir's painted Odunpazarı quarter are both easy days out, and Gordion's burial mound of King Midas is close by road.

Izmir is in another league, though. Ephesus is about an hour away by train, and Pergamon, Sardis and the Temple of Apollo at Didyma are all within a day's reach. Add Şirince, Old Foça and Alaçatı's stone streets, and a week of different outings is easy to fill, although a hire car helps for many of them.

Izmir is the more relaxed choice with children. The flat Kordon is made for scooters, the Sasalı Wildlife Park and the bay ferries make easy outings, and Ilıca's shallow sand suits toddlers.

Ankara has good indoor options, with the dinosaur skeletons at the MTA Natural History Museum and the climb-aboard trains and boats of the Rahmi M. Koç Museum. However, its steep, traffic-heavy streets and adult-oriented sights make it harder going with young children.

In Izmir you can walk the centre on level ground, along the seafront from Konak to Alsancak, and the bay ferries make crossing the water a pleasure as well as a way to get about. The İZBAN railway runs the length of the gulf and on to the airport.

Ankara works well along its metro spine from Ulus through Kızılay, but beyond that it is built for cars, with wide boulevards and steep climbs, so taxis fill the gaps. In both cities, one card covers public transport.

Izmir's Kemeraltı is a genuine working bazaar, a large maze of lanes and old hans where locals buy copperware, leather, spices and olive oil soap. Kızlarağası Han is its most atmospheric corner.

Ankara's shopping is mostly malls and the boutiques of Tunalı Hilmi. Its character lies in the smaller old quarter around Samanpazarı, with coppersmiths, dried fruit and angora wool, which takes its name from the city's old name.

Ankara is the cheaper of the two. As a government and business city it has no prices set for tourists, so comfortable hotels, canteen meals and taxis stay low. Beyond alcohol, the main extra costs are museum tickets and the international chain hotels.

Izmir is also good value for everyday spending, and its ferry rides cost very little. Bills rise faster at seafood meyhanes, in Çeşme's resort summer and at the gates of Ephesus and the other ancient sites.

As the capital, Ankara has the fuller formal calendar. The State Opera and Ballet performs at the historic opera house near Ulus, and the Presidential Symphony and the Bilkent Symphony both have regular programmes. Tickets are easy to get, and the bars of Kızılay add Turkish rock and folk.

Izmir has its own opera at the Elhamra and a state symphony. Its standout is the International Izmir Festival, which puts concerts in the ancient theatre at Ephesus each summer. Outside the festival season the programme is mostly local.

Izmir has thermal water right on its western edge, at Balçova, the ancient Baths of Agamemnon. Ilıca, on the coast, has warm springs that rise near the shore, and the city's slow seafront evenings help you unwind.

From Ankara, the thermal hotels are about an hour away at Kızılcahamam or Haymana. Both cities have a few old neighbourhood hammams, but Ankara's everyday pace is that of a working capital.