Bath or Killarney?

Neither town has a beach, so this matters only for a day out. From Bath the nearest seaside is Weston-super-Mare, where the water is brown, shallow and the tide retreats a long way. For decent sand you face a long day trip to Dorset or Devon, and a summer river swim in the Avon is the more local option.

Killarney comes out ahead because its nearest beaches are genuinely good to visit. Inch and Rossbeigh are about 40 minutes away, long and wild, good for walking and beginner surf lessons, even if the Atlantic is too cold for most swimmers.

Bath eats better. Its independent restaurants, gastropubs and bakeries around the Abbey and Walcot Street draw on West Country cheese, Somerset cider and south-coast fish, and it has baked goods of its own, the Bath bun and the Sally Lunn bun, plus afternoon tea and a farmers' market at Green Park station.

Killarney has plenty of tables for its size and good raw materials, with Kerry lamb, Dingle seafood, chowder and brown bread, but many menus aim at coach parties. Keen eaters often drive to Kenmare or Dingle. Neither town has much street food or international cooking.

This is where the two differ most. In Bath the city itself is the sight: the Circus, Royal Crescent, Pulteney Bridge and Assembly Rooms in honey-coloured stone, the Roman Baths and temple beneath them, and the Abbey alongside. Smaller museums such as the Holburne and No. 1 Royal Crescent fill two or three days.

Killarney's heritage lies at the park's edge rather than in town: Muckross House and its gardens, Ross Castle on Lough Leane and the ruined Muckross Abbey, with Pugin's cathedral in the centre. It makes a pleasant day, but the streets themselves have little to visit.

Both have small-town evenings, but they feel different. Bath's nights revolve around old coaching inns, real-ale pubs and a few wine and cocktail bars, with student clubs in term time, and it goes quiet early on weeknights. Bristol, fifteen minutes by train, is the place for a bigger night.

Killarney is louder and more sociable in summer, with the pubs on High Street and Plunkett Street packed with visitors and locals, and a few late bars after closing. It is a pint-and-conversation town with no cocktail or club scene, and winter weeknights are subdued.

Killarney is the stronger choice for scenery, by a wide margin. The national park offers three lakes, ancient oak and yew woods, Torc Waterfall and native red deer on flat paths, with MacGillycuddy's Reeks, Ireland's highest peak and the Gap of Dunloe beyond. The Kerry Way and the Dingle and Beara coasts add cliff walks and sea kayaking.

Bath's countryside is softer and closer to hand: the Skyline loop over the ridges, the Kennet and Avon towpath, the Two Tunnels Greenway for cyclists and the southern Cotswolds and Cheddar Gorge within an hour. It is lovely rolling England, but not wild.

Bath has the richer choice. Bristol is fifteen minutes away by train, and Stonehenge, Avebury, Wells, Glastonbury, Lacock, Bradford-on-Avon, Salisbury and the Cotswold villages are all within about an hour, so you could fill a week with cathedrals, stone circles and stately homes.

Killarney's outings are mostly drives through landscape: the Ring of Kerry, Kenmare over Moll's Gap and the port of Dingle. Skellig Michael is the great prize when summer seas allow a landing, and Cork with Blarney Castle is the main city trip.

Bath is a little easier with children, mostly because of what lies close by. The steaming Roman Baths and Royal Victoria Park's playground please younger visitors, and Bristol's science centre, aquarium and wildlife park and the Longleat safari park are short trips away, though the steep streets are hard on pushchairs.

Killarney's best family days are outdoors: flat lakeside paths for bikes and buggies, deer, jaunting cars, boat trips and Muckross Traditional Farms. A wet day is harder to fill, with few indoor attractions within reach.

Both centres are compact, but Bath is easier to manage overall. The main sights are about twenty minutes end to end, largely pedestrianised, with direct trains to Bristol and London, and park-and-ride for drivers. A car only becomes useful for the outlying villages.

In Killarney you can walk the town and cycle traffic-free paths to Muckross House, about 6km out, but the wider region needs a hire car or a tour, on narrow roads shared with summer coaches.

Bath is far better for a day of browsing. Milsom Street's Georgian shopfronts, the chains at SouthGate, antiques on Bartlett Street, the makers and salvage dealers of Walcot Street, the old Guildhall Market and the shops on Pulteney Bridge give real variety, if no luxury tier.

Killarney's shopping is a few streets of knitwear, tweed, Celtic jewellery and souvenirs. It is good for an Aran sweater and an hour's wander, but serious shoppers head to Cork.

Neither is cheap, but Killarney goes a little further. Its many family-run B&Bs keep rooms reasonable outside July and August, and the national park costs nothing to walk or cycle, though meals, drinks and car hire add up.

Bath's central hotels are dear and fill early on summer weekends and at Christmas, and the Roman Baths and spa are costly. Walking everywhere and eating pub lunches help, and sleeping in Bristol saves the most.

Bath offers the broader stage. The gilded Georgian Theatre Royal runs drama, opera, dance and pantomime year-round, with a studio and a children's theatre, and there are concerts in the Abbey and Assembly Rooms and festivals of literature, music and Mozart.

Killarney's strength is traditional music: fiddle and bodhrán sessions in the pubs most nights in season, plus dinner shows with set dancing. There is no theatre scene in town, but the National Folk Theatre, Siamsa Tíre, is in Tralee nearby.

Bath is in a class of its own here, because it sits on Britain's only natural hot springs. You can soak in the rooftop pool at Thermae Bath Spa with the Abbey lit up after dark, or in the small Georgian Cross Bath, then take tea in the Pump Room.

Killarney has no bathing tradition, but it does have plenty of country and lakeside hotels with full spas and mountain views. A slow stay of long walks and spa afternoons works well, best away from the busy summer centre.