Bilbao or Ronda?

Neither is a beach destination, but Bilbao makes the sea far easier to reach. The metro runs out to Ereaga and Arrigunaga in Getxo, the open sands of Sopelana and the sheltered bay at Plentzia in well under an hour, so a swim fits into a city afternoon. The water is the cooler Bay of Biscay, though, and summer days can still be grey.

Ronda's coast is around 50km away down a road full of hairpin bends, which in practice means a whole day and a car. The Mediterranean at Estepona is warmer and the sands are long but built up. Most visitors here cool off in a pool instead.

Food is where Bilbao pulls furthest ahead. Moving from counter to counter for pintxos and txakoli is a ritual in its own right. The Ribera market shows off the fish, peppers and cheeses the cooking is built on, and asadores grilling txuleta and several Michelin-starred kitchens give it real depth at the top end.

Ronda eats well but simply. Its menu is the cooking of the Serranía: oxtail stew, lamb, game, mountain hams, and chestnuts and mushrooms in autumn, with local Sierras de Málaga wines alongside. Eat in the Mercadillo's tapas bars rather than on the terraces overlooking the gorge, and expect a few days to cover it. Both towns have little food from other cuisines.

The two are fairly evenly matched for sightseeing, but in very different ways. Bilbao's draw is its museums: Gehry's Guggenheim with Puppy outside, the old masters at the Bellas Artes and the Basque Museum, plus the UNESCO-listed Vizcaya Bridge a metro ride away.

Ronda's main sight is its setting. The Puente Nuevo spans a gorge more than 100m deep, and around it are the Real Maestranza bullring, Arab baths among the best preserved in Spain and the rock-cut stairway at the Casa del Rey Moro. Both reward two or so unhurried days, Bilbao more for art and Ronda more for views and history.

Bilbao has a real night out. The pintxo bars of the Casco Viejo and Plaza Nueva stay busy late, a younger crowd fills Licenciado Poza, and weekends run past 3am, although clubs are few. In August, Aste Nagusia takes over the riverbanks for nine days.

In Ronda the evening is a late dinner and a drink around the Plaza del Socorro. The town is asleep by the early hours, except during the September fair.

Bilbao gives you green mountains and the Atlantic coast together, while Ronda is all inland limestone sierra. From Bilbao the Pagasarri and Artxanda begin at the edge of town, and Urkiola and Gorbea are within the hour. On the coast there are cliff paths to Sopelana, the Urdaibai reserve, San Juan de Gaztelugatxe and serious surf at Mundaka. It is all green, and you should expect rain in any season.

Ronda has no sea, but its mountains are wilder. Grazalema has crags, vultures and slopes kept unusually green by heavy rain, and the Sierra de las Nieves has its Spanish fir forests. Climbers use the walls of the Tajo, and the Caminito del Rey is an hour's drive away. Here the summer heat, not the rain, sets the walking season, so go in spring or autumn.

Both have plenty within reach, and the main difference is how easy it is without a car. From Bilbao, buses take you to San Sebastián in a little over an hour, to Vitoria-Gasteiz, and to Gernika and the fishing ports of Bermeo and Lekeitio. The Rioja Alavesa and Cantabria's Santillana del Mar are a longer day out.

From Ronda the classic outing is the white villages: Setenil de las Bodegas twenty minutes away, then Zahara and Grazalema, along with the Roman ruins at Acinipo and the cave paintings of the Cueva de la Pileta. Seville and Málaga are a long but manageable day, and for the villages a hire car is close to essential.

Bilbao is the easier place with children. The centre is flat and compact, the riverside promenade suits scooters and pushchairs, and Doña Casilda Park, the Artxanda funicular and the Guggenheim's family activities fill the days. In summer the metro beaches make up for the lack of a zoo or aquarium.

Ronda has none of those either, and its steep cobbled lanes and high, exposed viewpoints make life hard with small children. Older children enjoy the gorge walk and the caves, and families usually do best in a country house with a pool.

Bilbao is far simpler to get around. The main sights line a flat stretch of river you can walk, with a tram alongside, and Foster's metro runs down both banks to the beaches and the Vizcaya Bridge. Regional trains and buses cover the coast, Gernika and the neighbouring cities, so you can leave the car at home.

Ronda is also a walking town, but some of its lanes into La Ciudad are steep. The trains and buses are fine for arriving but slow and infrequent for exploring, so the villages and natural parks really need a car, and parking in the old town is tight.

Bilbao offers more, though it is no fashion capital. The Gran Vía has the chains, a department store and a few upmarket boutiques, and the Casco Viejo's family shops sell berets, espadrilles and cookware next to independent designers.

Ronda's shopping is Carrera Espinel and souvenir stalls near the bridge selling ceramics and leather. In both, the best buys are things to eat and drink: txakoli and tinned anchovies in Bilbao, local wine, cured meats and convent sweets in Ronda.

Ronda is the cheaper stay. Tapas and set lunches in the Mercadillo are good value, entry fees are modest and rural houses are fairly priced, although a hire car adds to the cost and rooms overlooking the gorge are expensive.

Bilbao is on the expensive side for Spain, especially for central hotels near the Guggenheim and during the Great Week. You can still keep costs down with a pintxo crawl, and with cheap metro fares or walking.

Bilbao has a genuine cultural calendar. The ABAO opera season and the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra play at the Euskalduna, the Teatro Arriaga and Campos Elíseos put on theatre and dance, and each July BBK Live brings international bands to Mount Cobetas.

Ronda's evenings offer little beyond small flamenco shows for visitors and an occasional programme at the municipal theatre. Its one great event is the Corrida Goyesca, held in eighteenth-century costume during the September fair.

Neither town has a spa tradition, so in both cases wellness means a hotel spa. Ronda's Arab baths are a monument to visit, not somewhere to bathe.

What differs is the kind of rest each offers. Bilbao's is urban: long lunches, riverside walks and slow evenings between bars, with historic balnearios inland if you want a proper spa. Ronda's is rural: once the day-trippers leave the town goes quiet, and a country hotel with a pool and views over olive groves suits a few days of doing nothing.