Barcelona or Benidorm?

Barcelona's strip from Barceloneta past Bogatell to Mar Bella is very good for a big city, and you can swim after a morning of sightseeing. But the beaches are man-made, packed in July and August and worked by pickpockets, and for cleaner water you take the train to Sitges or up the Maresme.

Benidorm exists for its beach, and it shows. Levante and Poniente are long, groomed crescents with shallow, clear water. Poniente has more room for families and Levante is nearer the bars, and the sea stays warm enough to swim into October. The rocky coves under the Serra Gelada and the pebbles at Albir add variety without needing a train.

Barcelona is the place to eat well. Catalan cooking is a cuisine in its own right, and you can eat at the counters of Santa Caterina and Sant Antoni markets, drink vermouth late in the morning, and choose anything from workers' set lunches to serious tasting menus. Gràcia, Poble Sec and the Eixample reward wandering, as long as you avoid the Rambla.

In Benidorm the seafront mostly serves full breakfasts, roasts and pizzas for package visitors. The good meals are in the old town's tapas lane and the rice restaurants making arroz a banda and arroz negro, but you have to look for them.

This is where the two are furthest apart. Barcelona has the Sagrada Família, Casa Batlló and La Pedrera, the Roman walls and medieval squares of the Gothic Quarter, Santa Maria del Mar, and museums from Picasso to the Romanesque frescoes of the MNAC. That is enough for a full week.

Benidorm's heritage is a few whitewashed lanes on the headland, the blue-domed church and the view from the Balcón del Mediterráneo, and the skyline of towers is its most striking sight. For history you go to Altea, Guadalest or Valencia.

Barcelona has more range at night. You can drink cocktails in medieval cellars in the Born, find scruffy bars in the Raval, drink outdoors in Gràcia's squares, eat pintxos along Blai and go to serious electronic club nights that last until dawn. It stays busy midweek too.

Benidorm's nightlife is just as late but narrower: themed pubs, karaoke and drag cabaret in the British quarter behind Levante, stag and hen groups in fancy dress, and big clubs on the edge of town. It is cheap and uncomplicated, and it slows sharply outside summer.

Both have mountains close behind the sea, and Barcelona's are a little easier to reach. The Collserola trails start at the edge of Gràcia and Sarrià, the Carretera de les Aigües gives a flat path with views over the whole city, and Montserrat's pinnacles and the Costa Brava cliff paths are reachable by train or within two hours.

Benidorm's outdoors is more dramatic but needs more effort. The Serra Gelada cliff path starts from Levante beach, but Puig Campana, the Bernia ridge and the Algar waterfalls really need a car. In return it has snorkelling and diving around the island offshore. In both places, walking belongs to spring and autumn.

Barcelona sits on fast rail lines, so Girona's walled old town, the Dalí museum at Figueres and Roman Tarragona all make easy days without a car. Montserrat, Sitges and the cava cellars of the Penedès are closer still.

Benidorm's outings are smaller in scale: white Altea and painted Villajoyosa next door, Guadalest's castle on its rock, and Alicante by the coastal tram. Elche's palm grove and Valencia are reachable, but Valencia at two hours each way makes a long day.

Both work well with children, in different ways. Barcelona gives a city break with the aquarium, the CosmoCaixa science museum and the Tibidabo funfair, and Gaudí's buildings appeal to children too. But the narrow old streets are a struggle with a pushchair.

Benidorm is the simpler beach week. Its gentle, calm water and flat promenades are easy with small children, and the theme park, water park, marine park and zoo are all on the edge of town. Staying near Poniente keeps you away from the adult nightlife behind Levante.

Barcelona's flat centre and simple metro mean you rarely need to think about transport. You can walk from the Gothic Quarter to Gràcia, the trams and local trains use the same tickets, and only Park Güell, Montjuïc and Tibidabo involve a climb or a funicular.

In Benidorm, getting around the town is just a walk along the two promenades, and buses and the coastal tram cover the seafront, the parks, Alicante and Altea. The inland villages and mountains, though, are hard to reach without a car or an organised excursion.

Barcelona is a real shopping city. The Passeig de Gràcia has fashion houses among the Modernista façades, and the Born has independent designers, Gràcia has craft shops and the Raval has vintage and records. Espadrilles, ceramics and conserves make good things to take home.

Benidorm sells what a beach week needs: swimwear, sunglasses, cheap electronics and souvenirs, plus weekly markets full of clothes and fakes. For anything better, people take the tram to Alicante.

Benidorm is much the cheaper trip. Its huge supply of rooms and all-inclusive packages keep rates low most of the year, winter is especially good value, and drinks and set lunches cost less than in most Spanish resorts. Only high summer and a family day at the parks push costs up.

Barcelona costs more than most of Spain, mainly because of its hotels, plus the tourist tax and the Gaudí entry fees. You can keep food costs down with weekday set lunches and market counters.

Barcelona has a serious arts calendar. There is opera and ballet at the Liceu, concerts under the stained-glass ceiling of the Palau de la Música, the symphony orchestra at L'Auditori, and jazz cellars and flamenco stages in the old town. Sónar, Primavera Sound and the Grec festival on Montjuïc fill the early summer.

Benidorm's evenings mean dinner-show spectaculars, tribute acts, comedians and drag cabaret, fun but light. Classical music or drama means a trip to Alicante or Valencia.

Neither is a place for a spa retreat, but Barcelona has slightly more to offer. Its Arab-style bath houses in the old town have warm pools and massages, and the Collserola paths and Montjuïc gardens are quiet places to walk in the evening, even though the centre is noisy and runs late.

In Benidorm, wellness means hotel spas and saunas. The town's calm depends on the season: loud in summer, slow and sunny from November to March, when long stays on the quieter Poniente side suit people who mainly want to rest.