Benidorm or Zaragoza?

Here the gap is as wide as it gets. Benidorm is built around Levante and Poniente, kilometres of groomed sand with shallow, clear water. For somewhere quieter there are the Mal Pas cove and the rocky coves under the Serra Gelada cliffs.

Zaragoza sits on the Ebro plain more than 200km from the sea, and nobody swims in the river, so in summer people cool off in municipal open-air pools. If you want both, spend a few days in Zaragoza and then a stretch on the coast.

Zaragoza is the better place to eat. In El Tubo you go from bar to bar, and each counter is known for one dish. The Aragonese cooking is hearty, with ternasco lamb and migas, and the Cariñena and Somontano reds are cheap. Eating out has real local character across the centre.

Benidorm can feed you well too, but you have to look. Past the full breakfasts and roasts of the Rincón de Loix, the tapas lane in the old town and the restaurants serving arroz a banda and arroz negro show what the Alicante coast does best.

For sightseeing there is no contest. Zaragoza has layer upon layer of history: Roman Caesaraugusta, the Islamic Aljafería palace, the Mudéjar wall of La Seo and the great Baroque Pilar with its Goya ceilings. The underground Roman forum and the open-air theatre add more, enough for two or three full days.

Benidorm's heritage takes about an hour on the headland: the whitewashed lanes of the old village, the blue-domed church and the Balcón del Mediterráneo over both bays. The real sight is the wall of towers, best seen at sunset.

Benidorm is the bigger night out, and the more single-minded one. The streets behind Levante and the Rincón de Loix are full of themed pubs, karaoke, drag cabaret and stag parties until long after midnight, and in summer the clubs on the edge of town go on until dawn. Out of season it goes quiet.

Zaragoza's evenings are more Spanish and more varied. They start with tapas in El Tubo and move on to cocktail and music bars around Plaza San Felipe and the Casco, which are busiest with students at weekends. Weeknights are calm, except during the Fiestas del Pilar in October, when the whole city stays out until dawn.

Benidorm has the better outdoors close by. The Serra Gelada cliff path starts at the end of Levante beach, and Puig Campana and the Bernia ridge are within half an hour by car. The sea adds snorkelling, diving and kayaking under the cliffs.

Zaragoza's plain is dry and swept by the cierzo wind. In town there are the Ebro path and the Parque del Agua, but beyond them you need a car. Moncayo's beech forests, the Mallos de Riglos for climbers and the Bardenas Reales badlands are striking but further away.

Zaragoza wins on reach. The high-speed train puts Madrid and Barcelona about an hour and a half away. Around the city, Aragon offers Loarre castle, the ruined old town of Belchite and Tarazona's cathedral, and with an early start you can reach Albarracín.

Benidorm's outings are shorter and gentler. White Altea and painted Villajoyosa are minutes away, Guadalest sits on its rock inland, and Alicante is an hour by tram. Valencia works as a long day out.

Benidorm is the easier choice with children. The beaches shelve gently into calm water and the promenades are flat. The theme park, water park, marine park and zoo on the edge of town can fill a week. Staying near Poniente keeps you away from the adult nightlife streets behind Levante.

Zaragoza is calm and manageable. It has the river aquarium at the Expo site, the playgrounds of the Parque del Agua and, during the fiestas, parades of giants and big-heads. But there is no beach, and its great monuments mean more to parents than to children.

Both are easy to get around, but in different ways. Benidorm is a long strip along the sea. You walk the flat promenades, take buses out to the parks and use the coastal tram to go up and down the coast. Hotels high on the hill behind Levante mean steep climbs, and parking is scarce.

Zaragoza is a compact, flat centre between the Pilar, the Casco and the Aljafería. One tram line crosses the city, and buses and bike-share cover the rest. Delicias station, for trains across Spain, is a short ride out.

Benidorm's shops are stocked for the beach and Zaragoza's for everyday city life, which makes Zaragoza the more rewarding place to browse. Behind Levante and Poniente you find swimwear, sunglasses, cheap electronics and souvenirs. The weekly open-air markets on the edge of town are piled with leather goods and fakes, and for anything more, people take the tram to Alicante.

Zaragoza has the fashion chains and a classic department store along Paseo de la Independencia, and older shops and pastry makers on Calle Alfonso I. Candied fruit from the Mercado Central and ceramics from Muel make better souvenirs than anything on the Benidorm seafront. You won't find much luxury or independent design in either city.

Benidorm is cheap because it is built for package visitors. Zaragoza is cheap because it is a provincial city that few of them reach. In Benidorm the sheer number of hotel rooms and apartments keeps rates down, all-inclusive deals are the norm, and breakfasts and drinks cost less than in most Spanish resorts. Winter is the cheapest season, while July, August and a family day at the parks push the bill up.

Zaragoza's savings come from ordinary city life. Central hotels are well priced, tapas and set lunches are generous, the local wine costs little and the Pilar basilica is free to enter. Only the October fiestas break the pattern, when rooms fill and prices jump.

Zaragoza has the more serious programme. The Auditorio hosts touring orchestras, chamber music and jazz, and the nineteenth-century Teatro Principal stages plays and dance. The jota, Aragon's leaping folk song and dance, is still alive and easiest to see at the Pilar fiestas.

Benidorm's stage is pure entertainment: a large dinner-show venue and bars with drag acts, comedians and tribute singers every night. For classical music or drama, you go to Alicante or Valencia.

Neither city has a bathing tradition, so in both, wellness mostly means hotel spas. Zaragoza has the edge for a restful stay. It also has an Arab-style bathhouse or two, the historic spa town of Alhama de Aragón a little over an hour away, and a slow rhythm of long lunches and evening walks by the Ebro.

In Benidorm, calm depends on the season. Summer is loud, but from November to March the town slows into mild, sunny days of walks along the promenade, and Poniente is the quieter side all year.