Benidorm or Marbella?

Benidorm has the edge for a pure beach trip. Levante and Poniente are two broad bays of groomed sand right in front of the hotels, with shallow, clear water that is several degrees warmer in high summer, so swimming lasts well into autumn. The trade-off is crowding, with the sand packed through July and August.

Marbella spreads its beaches along a far longer shore, from La Venus and El Fuerte in town to the dunes at Cabopino, with greyish sand, beach clubs and sardines grilled at the chiringuitos. Its sea is cooler, being close to the Strait, and a westerly wind can chill it suddenly, but there is more room to find a quieter stretch.

In Benidorm the seafront and the Rincón de Loix cook for package visitors, with fry-ups, roasts and pizza. The better meals take some looking for: the tapas lane in the old town, and the rice restaurants serving arroz a banda and arroz negro the Alicante way.

Marbella has more depth at both ends. Sardines grilled over driftwood and old-town tapas cover the Andalusian side. Several acclaimed tasting-menu kitchens around the Golden Mile and Puerto Banús give it a serious top tier that Benidorm lacks. Its weak spot is the overpriced, forgettable middle ground by the port.

Neither is a heritage destination, but Marbella has more to fill an afternoon. Benidorm's past comes down to the whitewashed headland of the old village, its blue-domed church and the view from the Balcón del Mediterráneo, and the tower skyline is the town's real spectacle.

Marbella's Casco Antiguo around the Plaza de los Naranjos is larger and older, with a 16th-century town hall, fragments of the Moorish walls and a museum of Spanish prints. Beyond it are the Dalí bronzes on the Avenida del Mar and a Roman villa with mosaics at Río Verde.

Benidorm offers the bigger, cheaper and more relentless night out. Around the Rincón de Loix there are themed pubs, karaoke and drag cabaret, with stag and hen groups in fancy dress, and clubs on the edge of town run until dawn. The old town offers a calmer Spanish evening of tapas and terraces.

Marbella goes for glamour rather than volume. Puerto Banús has champagne bars beside the yachts and clubs full of a moneyed international crowd, and daytime beach clubs along the Golden Mile drift into evening parties. In both towns the scene shrinks sharply in winter.

Both have mountains rising straight behind the coast, so the difference is in character. Benidorm's best walk is the Serra Gelada cliff path above the sea. Inland are Puig Campana, the Bernia ridge and the Algar waterfalls, and you can snorkel or dive around the island off the beach.

Marbella's walking is wilder and higher. The climb to La Concha in the Sierra Blanca looks across to Morocco on clear days, and the Sierra de las Nieves has fir forests, gorges and ibex. El Torcal and the Caminito del Rey are within reach for longer outings.

From Benidorm the outings are easy but smaller in scale. Altea and Villajoyosa are minutes away, Guadalest's castle sits on its rock inland, and the coastal tram reaches Alicante without driving. Elche's palm grove and Valencia make the bigger days out.

Marbella has the richer list. Ronda's gorge, Málaga's Alcazaba and Picasso Museum, Gibraltar and white villages such as Casares and Mijas are all within about an hour, and the Alhambra in Granada makes a long but possible day. Almost all of it is far easier with a car.

Benidorm is the easier choice with children. Its calm, gently shelving beaches and flat promenades come with a cluster of parks on the edge of town: a theme park, a long-running water park, a marine park and a zoo, all reachable by local bus. The one caveat is the adult nightlife behind Levante, which is easy to avoid by staying near Poniente.

Marbella's sheltered, lifeguarded beaches and resorts built around pools work well for a beach vacation. Its animal park, zoo, water parks and aquarium are spread along the coast in Estepona, Fuengirola and Benalmádena, though, which in practice means driving.

Benidorm is far simpler to get around. Almost everything lies along the two promenades and the old town between them, local buses run out to the theme parks, and the tram links the coast from Alicante to Altea. Only the inland hills call for a car, and parking in town is scarce.

Marbella runs for kilometres along the motorway from San Pedro to Cabopino, with no train and slow buses. The old town and central seafront are pleasant on foot, but most visitors end up hiring a car or using taxis between the port, the town and their accommodation.

Benidorm sells what a beach vacation needs: beachwear, sunglasses, souvenirs and turrón, plus weekly markets of clothes and fakes. Anyone wanting more takes the tram to Alicante.

Marbella is the place for big-name fashion. Puerto Banús has a dense strip of international boutiques and jewellers, with a department store and malls nearby, and the old town lanes add linen, leather and ceramics.

Benidorm is much the cheaper of the two. A vast supply of rooms, all-inclusive packages and inexpensive drinks and set menus keep daily costs low, and long winter stays are especially good value. Peak summer weeks and days at the theme parks are the main extra costs.

Marbella is expensive by Spanish standards, and beach clubs, prime sunbeds and dinners around Puerto Banús cost well above the norm for the coast. Old-town tapas bars and apartments out of season soften the bill, and many visitors save by staying in a neighbouring town.

Neither town is a serious place for the stage, and both send lovers of opera and classical music elsewhere: from Benidorm to Alicante or Valencia, from Marbella to Málaga. The flavour differs. Benidorm's entertainment is nightly and informal, with drag acts, comedians, tribute singers and a large dinner-show venue. Marbella's peaks in summer, when big pop and rock acts play an amphitheatre in an old quarry, and flamenco shows are staged for visitors.

Wellness in Benidorm means hotel spas with indoor pools, saunas and massage. The town is restful only out of season, when winter brings promenade walks and long lunches, and Poniente is always the quieter side.

Marbella takes rest far more seriously. It has a long tradition of wealthy visitors coming to recuperate, with spa resorts, yoga retreats and detox clinics across the Golden Mile and the hills, and a few Arab-style bathhouses. From October to May it is calm and mild, with golf and unhurried lunches.