Antalya or Larnaca?

The two are close on beaches, but the sea feels different in each. Antalya gives you range. Konyaaltı is a long pebble shore under the mountains, where the water deepens quickly. Lara has sand backed by resorts, and the pine-ringed coves towards Kemer and Phaselis are under an hour away. The catch is crowding on the main beaches in July and August.

Larnaca's strength is convenience. Finikoudes is fine grey sand right in front of the old town, and the water is shallow enough to wade far out. The town beaches are pleasant rather than beautiful, though. For white sand and turquoise water you travel to Ayia Napa or Protaras.

Antalya has more to explore at the table. Grilled şiş köfte comes with piyaz in a tahini dressing, and there is slow-cooked tandır lamb, fish from the Gulf and long breakfasts. Weekly markets are piled with citrus and pomegranates from the plain. The best of it is in plain köfte houses in the modern city, away from Kaleiçi's menus aimed at visitors.

Larnaca mostly means meze, a long run of small plates from halloumi and dips to sheftalia and kleftiko. The best of these are eaten in village tavernas inland. Beyond that the range is narrow, and the seafront leans towards international menus.

Antalya has much more to see. You enter Kaleiçi through Hadrian's Gate and walk lanes of restored Ottoman houses under the fluted Yivli Minare. The Antalya Museum holds marble statues and sarcophagi from Perge, and it is one of the country's better archaeological collections.

Larnaca's sights are few but worth seeing. They include the ninth-century Church of Saint Lazarus with its carved iconostasis, Hala Sultan Tekke on the shore of the Salt Lake, the remains of Phoenician Kition and the potters of the Skala quarter. Together they fill a day or two.

Going out in Antalya is a summer affair spread across the city. Courtyard bars in Kaleiçi and around the harbour stay busy until late, while beach clubs and big open-air venues line Konyaaltı and Lara. That gives you far more choice of where to go, though a night out often means taxis between areas. In winter it shrinks to a few bars for locals and students.

Larnaca's evenings mostly happen in one place and at an easier pace. People go to the cocktail bars and late cafés along Finikoudes, plus the beach bars with DJs at Mackenzie. Anyone who wants proper clubbing makes the forty-minute trip to Ayia Napa. Out of season the town goes quiet.

This is one of the widest gaps between the two. In Antalya the Taurus mountains rise straight from the sea, and the Düden falls pour off a cliff into the water. A cable car climbs Tahtalı Dağı to about 2,365m, and the Lycian Way runs past Phaselis and Olympos through pine forest. Rafting, paragliding and winter skiing are all close by.

Larnaca's surroundings are flat and sunbaked, though they have their moments. Flamingos crowd the Salt Lake in winter, and the Zenobia wreck makes diving a real draw. Cape Greco's sea caves and the Troodos forests are each an hour or more away.

Antalya is surrounded by ancient cities. There is Perge's colonnaded street, the very well-preserved theatre at Aspendos, the temple of Apollo at Side and Termessos high on its mountain. Further away are Myra and the sunken city at Kekova. Few places in the Mediterranean have so many ruins within reach.

Larnaca's day trips are more varied, if less grand. Its central position puts Nicosia, the divided capital, about forty minutes away, where you can cross into the north at Ledra Street. Lefkara's lace village, Neolithic Choirokoitia and the clifftop ruins of Kourion are all within reach. Both places are much easier to explore with a car.

Antalya is built for children in a way Larnaca isn't. Resorts in Lara, Belek and Kemer have water slides and kids' clubs, Belek has a theme and water park, and the city aquarium has a walk-through tunnel for the hottest hours of the day. Kaleiçi's steep lanes are hard work with a pushchair, though.

Larnaca makes up for it with ease. The town beach slopes so gently that toddlers can paddle safely, the promenade has playgrounds, and the flight home starts minutes from the hotel. Outings, however, mean the camel park or Ayia Napa's waterpark.

Getting around is about equally easy in both, but in different ways. Antalya is a proper city with a tram that links the airport, bus station, old town and Konyaaltı. However, the resort coast stretches for tens of kilometres, and most guests rely on hotel transfers.

Larnaca is small and flat enough to walk everywhere in the centre, and the airport is just south of town. Outside town, Cyprus has no railway and few local buses, so most visitors hire a car and drive on the left.

Haggling in Kaleiçi's lanes is the classic way to shop in Antalya. The stalls sell carpets, ceramics, leather and spices, with a lot of repetition between them. Large malls offer a cool escape from the summer heat, and the weekly neighbourhood markets are the place for spices and dried fruit to take home.

Larnaca has less to browse. Its central streets, Ermou and Zinonos Kitieos, hold ordinary high-street chains. The things worth taking home are crafts: Lefkara lace and silver filigree, Skala pottery and a bottle of Commandaria. Neither place is a destination for fashion.

Antalya stretches a budget further, provided you eat where locals do. Köfte houses, bakeries, markets and the tram cost little, and all-inclusive resort packages can work well for families. Kaleiçi restaurants, boat trips and beach clubs charge noticeably more.

Larnaca is moderately priced. Meze is generous and many sights are cheap or free, but the hire car most visitors want is a real extra cost. In both places, eating a few streets back from the seafront and travelling outside high summer saves the most.

Antalya has a real cultural season. State opera, ballet and theatre companies perform through the winter, and in summer the festival at Aspendos stages opera and ballet in the Roman theatre under the stars.

Larnaca offers far less. The municipal theatre puts on Greek-language plays, the summer Larnaca Festival brings music and dance to the fort, and some tavernas have bouzouki music at weekends. The island's orchestras are based in Nicosia.

Antalya has a bathing tradition to enjoy. The old hammams of Kaleiçi offer the full scrub and foam massage on warm marble, and the big resorts in Lara, Belek and Kemer have extensive spas.

Larnaca has no bathing culture of its own, and its spas are in the resort hotels east of town. What it offers is slowness: long seafront coffees, evening walks along the promenade, and a mild, quiet winter that suits rest better than spa treatments.