Brighton or Edinburgh?

Neither is a swimming destination, but Brighton's beach is part of daily life in a way Edinburgh's is not. The shingle runs the whole seafront from the Marina to Hove, the Channel is noticeably milder in late summer, and lifeguards cover the central stretch in season.

Edinburgh actually has the softer sand, at Portobello a bus ride from the centre and on the wide East Lothian beaches at Gullane and North Berwick. The colder water means most people walk the sand rather than swim, so it makes a pleasant outing rather than a reason to go.

The two eat about equally well, in different ways. Brighton's strength is the number of small independent places packed into the North Laine, the Lanes and Kemptown, with a long vegetarian and vegan tradition, serious coffee and Sussex sparkling wine.

Edinburgh's lies in Scottish produce: scallops, langoustines, game and Highland beef, cooked best in a few ambitious dining rooms in Leith and Stockbridge, plus whisky bars with hundreds of malts. Brighton is easier for casual grazing, while Edinburgh rewards a booked dinner.

Here Edinburgh is far ahead. Its whole centre is a World Heritage Site: the castle, the closes of the Royal Mile and the Georgian New Town. The National Museum of Scotland and the national galleries add several days of substance, and most of them are free.

Brighton has one great sight in the Royal Pavilion, with the museum beside it, plus the piers and the Regency terraces of Kemptown and Hove. That fills a day or two of pleasant wandering rather than a full itinerary.

Brighton is the bigger night out. Students, a young population and weekend visitors from London keep its bars busy all week. Kemptown has one of Britain's oldest LGBTQ+ scenes, and the clubs on West Street and in the seafront arches go on into the small hours.

Edinburgh is a pub city first, with Victorian bars on Rose Street, old pubs in the Grassmarket and harbour pubs in Leith, cocktail basements around George Street and a small late-night strip in the Cowgate. Outside August it winds down earlier.

Both have open country close by, but Edinburgh's is wilder and nearer. Arthur's Seat rises out of Holyrood Park a short walk from the Royal Mile, the Pentland Hills offer real ridge walking, and the edge of the Highlands is within about two hours.

Brighton's landscape is gentler: the chalk grassland of the South Downs at Devil's Dyke, the Seven Sisters cliffs further east and the Undercliff Walk. It makes up some ground on the water, with windsurfing, kitesurfing and paddleboarding off the seafront.

Both make excellent bases, and the difference is in what lies around them. From Brighton, London is about an hour away by fast train, and Lewes, Arundel, Chichester, Rye and the battlefield at Battle are close, with vineyards and Weald country houses for anyone with a car.

Edinburgh opens up Scotland instead. Glasgow and Stirling are each under an hour away, St Andrews and the Borders abbeys make full days, and the Forth Bridges suit an easy half-day.

Families do equally well in both, with different kinds of fun. Brighton is the traditional seaside outing, with pier rides and arcades, the Victorian aquarium, Volk's Electric Railway and paddling at Hove Lagoon, though the shingle is no good for sandcastles.

Edinburgh has the castle, the hands-on National Museum, Dynamic Earth and the zoo, with Portobello's sand for digging. Its Old Town steps and cobbles are harder going with a buggy, and the August crowds make everything more work.

Both centres are walkable and have dense bus networks that take contactless payment, and in both a car is more nuisance than help. The difference is the terrain. Brighton is one long slope from the station down to a flat seafront promenade that is good for cycling, and the climb back up is the main effort.

Edinburgh is all ridges, bridges and stairways, and the cobbled closes off the Royal Mile are tiring. On the other hand, it has a tram line from the airport to Leith, and Waverley station sits right in the middle of town.

Neither is a shopping city, and each rewards a different kind of shopper. Brighton is for browsing: the North Laine's vintage clothes, record shops, comics and retro furniture, and the jewellers and antique dealers of the Lanes.

Edinburgh is more polished on George Street and around St Andrew Square, and its real speciality is Scottish goods: cashmere, tweed, kilts from specialist kiltmakers and single malts. Neither offers much at the luxury end.

Both are expensive, mainly because of rooms, and both are much cheaper outside their peak times. In Brighton the pressure comes on summer weekends, so midweek and winter stays save the most, and the beach, the piers and the Downs cost nothing.

Edinburgh's peaks are the August festivals and Hogmanay, when central rooms sell out far ahead. The free national museums and galleries help on a sightseeing trip, while ticketed sights such as the castle and Holyroodhouse add up.

Edinburgh comes out ahead, above all in August. The Fringe fills hundreds of venues, the International Festival brings major orchestras, opera and dance, and the Tattoo is staged on the castle esplanade. All year it has two resident orchestras, Scottish Opera and Scottish Ballet, and strong drama at the Lyceum and the Traverse.

Brighton is lively for its size, with its own festival and fringe each May, a deep circuit of small music rooms and good comedy. Glyndebourne's summer opera is close by.

Neither suits a spa vacation, and both find their calm in cold water and long walks. Brighton's ritual is a dawn sea swim followed by a seafront sauna, and its restful side is a quiet midweek stroll past Hove's beach huts.

Edinburgh has a few unusual extras: the Victorian Turkish baths at Portobello and the modernist Royal Commonwealth Pool. Add a morning in the Botanic Garden or a walk along the Water of Leith.