Bath or Manchester?

Neither city has a beach. In both, the seaside is about an hour away and better for a walk than a swim. Bath's nearest shore, Weston-super-Mare, is shallow, brown and tidal, but in hot weather locals swim in the Avon at the weir east of town, and the clear water of Dorset and Devon is a long day out.

Manchester has no river swimming to offer, and its coast is about scenery: the dunes and pinewoods at Formby and Blackpool's promenade on the Irish Sea, with fish and chips rather than a dip.

Manchester has the wider table. Chinatown, the curry houses of Rusholme and the food halls in converted Ancoats mills give you plenty of range, and the Victorian pubs and craft-beer scene make drinking a highlight in its own right.

Bath's food is narrower but more tied to its region: West Country cheese, Somerset cider, the Sally Lunn and Bath buns, a farmers' market in the old Green Park station and afternoon tea in Georgian rooms. You'll find little foreign cooking and almost no street food, and the town empties early in the evening.

Bath is the stronger city for sightseeing. Its whole centre is a World Heritage Site, and the Royal Crescent, the Circus, Pulteney Bridge, the Abbey and the steaming great bath of the Roman Baths are known far beyond Britain, all within a short walk of each other.

Manchester's appeal is more specialised. It tells the story of the first industrial city through the neo-Gothic Town Hall, the John Rylands Library, the Ancoats mills and the Science and Industry Museum, backed by free galleries such as the Whitworth. It rewards an interest in cotton, railways and politics, but it has no landmark with Bath's fame.

After dark the two cities are far apart. Manchester's nights grow out of its dance-music past: warehouse bars and basement DJ rooms in the Northern Quarter, the long-established Gay Village on Canal Street, dressed-up Spinningfields, and big warehouse raves in autumn and winter. Weekends run late.

A night out in Bath means a pint in a coaching inn or a real-ale house on Walcot Street, a few student clubs in term time and an early night. Visitors who want more usually take the short train ride to Bristol.

Manchester has the wilder outdoors. Trains reach Edale in under an hour for the climb onto Kinder Scout and the ridge walk from Mam Tor. The West Pennine Moors lie to the north and the Lake District is within reach, though the moors often come with low cloud and mud.

Bath's countryside is gentler and starts at the edge of town: the Skyline loop over the ridges, the Kennet and Avon towpath, and the Two Tunnels Greenway for cyclists, with the Cotswolds and Cheddar Gorge close by. It suits an easy country walk better than a hard day on the hills.

Both make excellent bases, but the outings are of different kinds. From Bath the highlights are ancient sites and old villages: Stonehenge and Avebury, Wells and Glastonbury, Lacock and Castle Combe. Many of these are far easier by car or on a tour, and Bristol and Cardiff are the simple rail trips.

Manchester's strength is the train. Liverpool, Chester and York are each about an hour or a little more away, and Buxton, Saltaire and Windermere are in reach too, so a visitor without a car can see more.

Manchester gives children more to do, and much of it is indoors and free. There are working engines at the Science and Industry Museum and dinosaurs at the Manchester Museum, an aquarium and a real-snow slope at the Trafford Centre, and football stadium tours, with Chester Zoo about an hour away.

Bath is safe and small, and most children love the Roman Baths and the playground in Royal Victoria Park. Beyond those it is a city for adults, its steep streets are hard work with a pushchair, and families often head out to Bristol or Longleat.

Both centres are easy on foot, in different ways. Bath is smaller, about twenty minutes from end to end and largely pedestrianised, though its streets climb steeply out of the centre and buses handle the hills.

Manchester's centre is flat, and the Metrolink trams run out to Salford Quays, Old Trafford and the airport, so the wider city is simpler to cover. Rain is the main nuisance there. In Bath the weak point is getting to the villages beyond the city without a car.

Manchester is the bigger shopping destination. It has the high-street names and department stores around Exchange Square, designer labels on King Street and in Spinningfields, vintage clothes and records in the Northern Quarter with Afflecks at its heart, and the vast Trafford Centre on the city's edge.

Bath has no luxury tier and no big department stores, but its browsing is quieter and more personal: antiques on Bartlett Street, galleries and salvage dealers on Walcot Street, the centuries-old Guildhall Market and the little shops built into Pulteney Bridge.

Manchester is easier on the wallet. Rooms are fair on ordinary weeknights, though they jump when there is a home match or a big arena show, and the free museums and cheap curry houses keep daily spending down.

Bath is a small city with many visitors and prices to match, especially on summer weekends and at Christmas, and both the Roman Baths and the spa are expensive. Staying midweek helps, and some visitors sleep in Bristol and come in by train.

Manchester has far more on stage. The Hallé and the BBC Philharmonic both play at the Bridgewater Hall, and the gig circuit runs from tiny back rooms to a huge arena. The Royal Exchange stages theatre-in-the-round inside the old cotton hall, and the Palace and Opera House bring touring musicals.

Bath's stage life centres on the gilded Georgian Theatre Royal, with concerts in the Abbey and the Assembly Rooms and long-running festivals of literature, music and Mozart. It makes a lovely evening out, but on most nights the choice is small.

Here Bath is in a different league. It is the one place in Britain where you can bathe in natural thermal water, either in the rooftop pool at Thermae Bath Spa above the Abbey or in the small Georgian Cross Bath. The whole town suits tea in the Pump Room and unhurried walks.

Manchester has hotel spas and Victoria Baths, an Edwardian pool you tour rather than swim in, and a loud pace. For real rest, the advice there is to leave for Buxton or the Peak District.