Barcelona or Marbella?

Both offer a real beach vacation, but of different kinds. Barcelona's sand is a man-made strip running from Barceloneta to Mar Bella, a metro ride from the sights. The water is warmer in August, but high summer brings heavy crowds and pickpockets, and for quieter beaches you take a train to Sitges or the Maresme.

Marbella's shore runs for about 27km of greyish sand, from the town beaches to the dunes at Cabopino, lined with beach clubs and chiringuitos grilling sardines. The sea is a few degrees cooler and a westerly wind can chill it, but the water is usually calm and clear and the season lasts into October.

Barcelona is the better place to eat. Catalan cooking has a repertoire of its own, from suquet fish stew to calçots in late winter. The neighbourhood markets of Santa Caterina and Sant Antoni, the tapas bars of Poble Sec and Gràcia and a serious tasting-menu scene mean you eat well at every price level.

Marbella has Andalusian grilled sardines and gazpacho, and a handful of acclaimed high-end kitchens around the Golden Mile and Puerto Banús. The middle is thin, though, and many seafront menus are expensive and forgettable. To eat well there, head into the old town or to the beaches in the eastern districts.

This is where the two differ most. Barcelona has a collection of Modernista architecture found nowhere else, with the Sagrada Família, Casa Batlló and Park Güell. Beneath it lies a Roman and Gothic old town, and the museums run from the MNAC's Romanesque frescoes to the MACBA. A week is not too long.

Marbella's heritage fits into an afternoon: the whitewashed lanes around the Plaza de los Naranjos, a museum of Spanish prints, Dalí bronzes on the Avenida del Mar and a Roman villa at Río Verde. For the great monuments of Andalusia you have to drive out.

Both cities stay out late, but Barcelona has far more variety and keeps going all year. Each district has its own character, from cocktail bars in the Born's medieval cellars to outdoor drinking in Gràcia's squares and the pintxos bars of Blai street. Its electronic music scene runs deep, with open-air parties in summer.

Marbella's nightlife belongs to summer and is polished and expensive: champagne bars and clubs facing the yachts in Puerto Banús, beach clubs with DJs along the Golden Mile and quieter terraces in the old town. From November to March it goes quiet.

The two are close here, with mountains and sea at both, but the mountains feel different. Barcelona's outdoors begins in the wooded Collserola park, where the flat Carretera de les Aigües runs above the city, and Montserrat's pinnacles and the Costa Brava's cliff paths lie further out. Summer heat pushes hiking into spring and autumn.

Marbella has steeper ground right behind the town. There is the climb up La Concha in the Sierra Blanca, the fir forests and ibex of the Sierra de las Nieves, and the Caminito del Rey within reach. Mild winters make it a year-round walking base, though most trailheads need a car.

Both make good bases, and the difference is how you travel. From Barcelona, fast trains reach walled Girona, the Dalí museum at Figueres and Roman Tarragona, and Montserrat and Sitges are closer still, so you rarely need to drive.

From Marbella the day trips are classic Andalusia: Ronda's gorge, Málaga's Alcazaba, Gibraltar and the white villages of Casares and Mijas, with the Alhambra a long day away. There is no train, so these trips work best with a hire car.

Barcelona has a slight edge for families who want more than the sand. The aquarium, the CosmoCaixa science museum, the Tibidabo funfair reached by funicular and Gaudí's picture-book buildings are all within the city. The old town's narrow, crowded streets are hard work with a pushchair, though.

Marbella is simpler for a pure beach vacation, with sheltered, lifeguarded beaches, a flat promenade for scooters and resorts built around pools. Its zoos, water parks and marine park are spread along the coast in Estepona, Fuengirola and Benalmádena, which means driving.

Barcelona is far easier to get around. The centre is flat, you can walk from the Gothic Quarter to Gràcia in under an hour, and the metro, buses, trams and local trains share the same tickets, so a car only gets in the way. The only real effort is the climb to Park Güell, Montjuïc or Tibidabo.

Marbella is long and thin. The old town and the seafront promenade are pleasant on foot, but hotels, villas and beach clubs are spread along the motorway from San Pedro to Cabopino. Buses are slow and there is no train, so most visitors hire a car or rely on taxis.

Barcelona is the better shopping trip. The Passeig de Gràcia has luxury and Spanish fashion under Modernista façades, but the more interesting shops are in the small streets: independent designers in the Born, craft shops in Gràcia, and vintage and record shops in the Raval. Espadrilles, ceramics and turrón make good things to take home.

Marbella's shopping centres on luxury labels around Puerto Banús, with fashion and jewellery boutiques facing the yachts and malls nearby. The old town has linen, leather and ceramics, but beyond the big names there is little to browse.

Neither is cheap, but Barcelona is easier on the budget. Hotels, the tourist tax and the entry fees for Gaudí's buildings add up. Set lunches, market counters and good-value transport passes still keep daily spending reasonable.

Marbella costs more to stay in, especially in July and August, and beach clubs, sunbeds in prime spots and dinner around Puerto Banús are well above prices elsewhere on the coast. Old-town tapas bars and off-season hotel rates help, and many visitors save by staying in a neighbouring town.

Barcelona is a real destination for live performance. The Liceu stages a full season of opera and ballet, and even an ordinary concert at the Palau de la Música feels special. Jazz cellars, flamenco stages and festivals such as Sónar, Primavera Sound and the Grec on Montjuïc fill the rest of the calendar.

Marbella's offer is mostly summer entertainment: big pop and rock acts at an outdoor festival in an old quarry, DJs at the beach clubs and flamenco shows aimed at visitors. For opera, classical music or serious flamenco, people go to Málaga.

Barcelona was never built for rest. Its few bath houses are tucked into the old town and work best as a break between sights, a warm pool and a massage on a busy afternoon rather than a reason to travel, and beyond them there are only hotel spas. In Barcelona quiet is something you find in the gaps of a working city, up in the hills or in the gardens above the port. Anyone who wants a whole week of rest will do better in one of the seaside towns along the coast.

Marbella has long been a place people come to specifically to recover, and it shows. On top of resort spas there are medical detox clinics and yoga retreats, and golf gives slow days a shape. Its Arab-style bathhouses follow the Andalusian pattern of alternating hot and cold pools. The restful Marbella is the one outside high summer, though. In July and August the heat and the party crowd take much of the calm away.