Bath or Oxford?

Neither city is a beach destination, and both are a long way from good sand. Bath's nearest coast is the muddy, tidal Bristol Channel at Weston-super-Mare, about an hour away, while Oxford is even further from the sea.

For a summer dip, the two offer different kinds of fresh water. In Bath it means the Avon at a weir east of town. In Oxford it means the Thames at Port Meadow, the Cherwell, or the large open-air pool at Hinksey, which is the easier option if you just want to swim.

The two eat about equally well but in different ways. Bath has more local identity: West Country cheese and cider, its own buns and biscuits, afternoon tea in Georgian tearooms and a farmers' market in the old Green Park station. It has very little food from other cuisines.

Oxford is less distinctive but offers more range. Low-beamed pubs and a Sunday roast by the Thames are the classic meal, the historic Covered Market is good for lunch, and Cowley Road brings cheap Middle Eastern, South Asian and Caribbean cooking that Bath lacks.

These are two honey-stone cities with two different pasts. Bath is an eighteenth-century stage set laid over a Roman one: the Royal Crescent, the Circus and Pulteney Bridge above, and the steaming Roman Baths and the Abbey below. It is a city you take in as a whole townscape.

Oxford's appeal is medieval and still at work: college quads, chapels and libraries such as the Bodleian and Radcliffe Camera, all in daily use. Its museums give it a slight edge, as the Ashmolean, the Pitt Rivers and the Gothic Natural History Museum are broader than anything Bath has.

Both cities go out to the pub and are quiet by midnight. Bath's evenings are coaching inns and real-ale houses on Walcot Street, busier on weekends with groups from nearby towns, and Bristol is fifteen minutes away for a proper night out.

Oxford has a little more of its own. Summer evenings at riverside pubs, late bars on Cowley Road and relaxed cocktail bars in Jericho give it some choice, though the whole scene dips once students leave for the summer.

Bath has the better outdoors on its doorstep. It sits in a bowl of steep hills, so the Bath Skyline ridge walk, the Kennet and Avon towpath through the Limpley Stoke valley and the Two Tunnels cycle route all start from town, with the Mendips, Cheddar Gorge and its caves within an hour.

Oxford's countryside is flatter and tamer: grazed Port Meadow, Christ Church Meadow and level paths along the Thames and Cherwell, with punting as the signature pastime. The Chilterns and the Ridgeway are further out for longer walks.

Both make excellent bases. What differs is the country around them. Bath opens onto the ancient and churchly West Country: the stone circles of Stonehenge and Avebury, the cathedral and moated palace at Wells, Glastonbury Tor, and the wool towns of Lacock and Bradford-on-Avon. Bristol is fifteen minutes away by train, and Cardiff a little over an hour.

Oxford's outings run more to a palace, castles and the capital. Blenheim is about twenty minutes away, Cotswold villages such as Burford and Chipping Campden are within an hour, and Stratford, Warwick and Windsor are all in reach, as is Bath itself. London is an hour away by train, so a whole extra city is on the list. From either base, the villages are far easier with a car or on a tour.

Neither is built around children, and both send families out of town for their biggest days. In Bath, the steaming Roman Baths and the playground in Royal Victoria Park are the highlights, but the steep streets make pushchairs hard work, and Bristol's science centre and Longleat's safari park need a trip.

Oxford is flatter and a little easier going. Its dinosaur skeletons and the Pitt Rivers' masks and curiosities are free, punting makes a good afternoon, and young Harry Potter fans will spot Christ Church's hall and staircase.

Both centres take about twenty minutes to cross on foot, have a station close by and are best reached by car only as far as the park-and-ride. The difference is the ground. Bath's streets climb steeply towards the Crescent and outer viewpoints, and its country villages are poorly served by public transport. Oxford is mostly flat, buses run out to the suburbs often and bicycles are everywhere.

This is a close match with a different feel in each city. Bath is the better place for a day of browsing: Milsom Street in Georgian buildings, independent lanes around the Abbey, antiques on Bartlett Street, the artisan workshops of Walcot Street and little shops on Pulteney Bridge.

Oxford's centre is more chain-heavy. Its strengths are particular ones, though: Blackwell's vast bookshop, antique maps and prints, the traders of the Covered Market, and the designer outlet village near Bicester for luxury labels at a discount.

Both are costly places to sleep, with scarce central rooms. Bath is dearest on summer weekends and at Christmas, and its spa and the Roman Baths add to the bill. Staying midweek or in Bristol helps most.

Oxford is a touch easier once you arrive, because its major museums are free and Cowley Road cafés keep meals cheap. College entry and library tours still add up, and graduation weeks push hotel prices up.

Oxford has the richer live culture, and it is built on music. Evensong by the Christ Church, Magdalen and New College choirs is a world-class experience open to visitors on most term evenings, and the Sheldonian and the historic Holywell Music Room add concerts and chamber music.

Bath is more of a theatre town. The gilded Georgian Theatre Royal runs drama, opera, dance and pantomime all year, and its festivals of literature and Mozart give the calendar some highlights, but on an ordinary night there is less to hear.

This is where the two differ most. Bath is built on hot springs, and soaking in naturally warm water in the rooftop pool at Thermae Bath Spa, with the Abbey lit up below, or in the small Georgian Cross Bath, is something no other British city offers. Tea in the Pump Room completes a slow day.

Oxford has no bathing tradition and few spas. Its calm comes from walking in the Botanic Garden, along Addison's Walk or by Magdalen's deer park early in the morning, or from an idle afternoon on a punt.