Bilbao or Granada?

Neither city has a beach of its own, but Bilbao's coast is easier to reach. The metro runs out to Ereaga, Arrigunaga and Sopelana and on to the bay at Plentzia, so an afternoon on the sand fits easily around a city stay. The Bay of Biscay is cool outside late summer, though, and Sopelana's swell suits surfers more than small children.

From Granada, the Costa Tropical is about an hour away over the mountains, which makes the coves of pebble and dark sand at Salobreña, Almuñécar and La Herradura a full day out. The Mediterranean there is warmer and calmer, and good for snorkelling, but on most days the only swim in the city is in a pool.

In both cities you eat by moving from bar to bar, but Bilbao does it at a higher level. Its pintxo counters in the Casco Viejo and around Ledesma and Diputación are reliably good, and the Ribera market shows off the fish and produce the cooking depends on. Above the bars are the asadores for txuleta and several Michelin-starred kitchens.

Granada's tapas round is generous rather than refined: a free plate with each drink, Alpujarras ham, fried aubergine with cane honey and remojón salad, plus Moroccan teterías on Calderería Nueva. It is good fun and cheap, but has little to match Bilbao's top end.

Bilbao's sights are modern and built around museums: Gehry's Guggenheim with Puppy outside, a strong Museo de Bellas Artes and the Basque Museum, set around a compact old town, with the Vizcaya Bridge a metro ride down the estuary. They make a very good two or three days.

Granada has far more to see. The Alhambra's Nasrid palaces, Alcazaba and Generalife are among the great monuments of Europe. Below them are the whitewashed lanes of the Albaicín, the cathedral and Royal Chapel, the Carthusian monastery and the cave houses of Sacromonte. In Granada the whole city is the sight, not just a few buildings in it.

The two are about even for nights out, but they feel different. In Bilbao the evening grows out of the pintxo crawl in the Casco Viejo and Plaza Nueva, with a younger crowd on Licenciado Poza and little club life outside the Great Week in August.

Granada's large student population supports more clubs running towards dawn around Pedro Antonio de Alarcón and Calle Elvira, though the city goes quiet in summer once the students leave.

Both cities have serious outdoors within an hour, but of very different kinds. Bilbao's is green and coastal: Artxanda and the Pagasarri on the doorstep, beech forest on Gorbea, cliff paths, the Urdaibai reserve, Gaztelugatxe and the surf at Mundaka, all at the cost of frequent rain.

Granada's is higher and drier. The Sierra Nevada offers skiing above Pradollano in winter and walks towards Mulhacén in summer, and the Alpujarras add terraced valleys and old mule paths, though the valley floor is too hot for much in midsummer.

Both cities make excellent bases; the difference is in where the trips lead. From Bilbao they are Basque and Cantabrian: San Sebastián's pintxo bars, Gernika, fishing ports such as Lekeitio, Vitoria-Gasteiz, and Rioja wine villages like Laguardia.

From Granada they cross Andalucía, to the Mezquita in Córdoba, Málaga by train, Antequera's dolmens and the Renaissance towns of Úbeda and Baeza, with the Alpujarras villages and Guadix closer in. Bilbao's outings lean towards food and wine, Granada's towards monuments.

Neither city is built around children, but each works in its own way. Bilbao is flat along the river, which suits pushchairs and scooters. The Artxanda funicular, Doña Casilda Park and metro rides to the beaches at Getxo fill the days, though rainy days need a plan.

Granada has the better single attraction for children in the Parque de las Ciencias, but its steep, cobbled hills are hard work with small children, and summer afternoons are very hot.

Bilbao is the easier city to get around. Its sights lie along a flat few kilometres of river, and a tram and Norman Foster's metro cover the length of the estuary out to the beaches and the Vizcaya Bridge, with regional trains and buses on to the coast and Gernika.

Granada's centre can be walked too, but the Alhambra and the Albaicín sit on steep cobbled hills, so the small red minibuses do much of the work. The light rail serves the suburbs rather than the sights.

Neither city is a shopping destination, but Bilbao has a little more choice. The Gran Vía has the chains and a department store, the Casco Viejo keeps old family shops for berets, linen and espadrilles, and the best buys are txakoli, Idiazabal cheese and tinned anchovies.

Granada's interest lies in crafts: taracea inlay, Fajalauza ceramics, leather and guitars. The Alcaicería sells mostly souvenirs, and beyond it there is little apart from the chains on Calle Recogidas.

Bilbao is on the expensive side for Spain. Central hotels cost more than in most Spanish cities and the asadores and starred restaurants charge accordingly, though a pintxo crawl and the metro are good value.

Granada is clearly cheaper. The free tapa with each drink turns an evening out into a cheap meal, and rooms in the lower town and the Realejo cost less. Only the terraces with Alhambra views, boutique stays in the Albaicín and flamenco shows aimed at visitors push the bill up.

Bilbao's stage life is opera and orchestral music, while Granada's is flamenco. In Bilbao the ABAO opera season and the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra play the Euskalduna, a ship-shaped hall on the old shipyards. The Arriaga stages theatre and dance, mostly in Spanish, and BBK Live brings international bands to the slopes of Mount Cobetas each July.

In Granada an evening might be zambra danced at close quarters in the cave houses of Sacromonte, or a rougher night in a small peña in the Albaicín or the Realejo. Each summer the International Festival of Music and Dance puts concerts and ballet in the Alhambra's palaces and the Generalife's open-air theatre, a setting few cities can match. The legacy of Lorca and Falla runs through the rest of the year.

Bilbao has no bathing tradition, so relaxing there means a hotel spa or simply the slow rhythm of long lunches and riverside walks.

Granada offers much more. Its hammams in the lower Albaicín revive the Moorish baths, with warm and cold pools and massage, and the spa towns of Lanjarón and Alhama de Granada are within an hour. The shaded gardens of the carmenes and the tea houses keep the pace gentle.