Bristol or Kilkenny?

Neither place is a beach destination, and that is not a reason to choose one over the other. They differ only in what the nearby coast offers. Bristol's is a silty estuary with a huge tide: you go for a cold dip in the Victorian marine lake at Clevedon or a stroll on the long sands at Weston-super-Mare.

From Kilkenny, the Waterford and Wexford coast is about an hour's drive. Tramore and the Copper Coast coves are better for a clifftop walk than a swim, and some locals take a summer dip in the River Nore.

Bristol gives you much more choice. St Nicholas Market sells pies and Caribbean and Middle Eastern dishes, there are kitchens in shipping containers along the harbour, and Gloucester Road and North Street are full of bakeries and neighbourhood restaurants. To drink, there is West Country cider and a large craft brewing scene in old warehouses.

Kilkenny's strength is narrower. Its gastropubs and bistros cook well with county lamb, dairy and cheese, and its most ambitious cooking happens in country-house kitchens outside town. There is little food from abroad and almost no street food, so you eat steak and chowder followed by a pint of red ale, and not much else.

Bristol has more to see, and more variety. There is Brunel's iron steamship in its dry dock and his bridge over the Avon Gorge, St Mary Redcliffe's Gothic interior, M Shed's frank story of the port and the slave trade, and Banksy's early street art.

Kilkenny's appeal is that it all hangs together. The Medieval Mile links the castle, Rothe House, the Black Abbey and St Canice's Cathedral, where you can climb the round tower. It is one well-preserved town that you can cover on foot in a day or two. Bristol's sights are spread across several districts and eras.

This is where the two differ most. Bristol is a proper night-out city. Its long sound-system culture lies behind trip hop, drum and bass and dubstep, and it shapes a club scene in railway arches near Temple Meads and on a boat moored in the harbour. A large student population keeps weekends busy all year.

Kilkenny's nights happen in low-ceilinged pubs with snugs and open fires on High Street and Parliament Street. At weekends they fill with wedding and birthday groups. There is just a small nightclub and a few late bars, and midweek the town goes to bed early.

Bristol has more right on its doorstep. You can climb the limestone cliffs of the Avon Gorge, walk in Leigh Woods, ride the trails at Ashton Court or cycle the 25km railway path towards Bath. The Mendips and Cheddar Gorge are under an hour away, and the Brecon Beacons and Exmoor are close enough for a day of real upland walking.

Around Kilkenny the countryside is quieter farmland. The best of it is the wooded Nore Valley Way through Inistioge, along with modest climbs on Brandon Hill and the Blackstairs. For wilder ground, the Comeraghs are about an hour's drive away.

Bristol is the better base for day trips, mainly because so much is reachable by train. Bath is a quarter of an hour away and Cardiff under an hour. Add Wells, Glastonbury, the Cotswold villages and Stonehenge with Avebury, and you could fill a week.

Kilkenny's outings centre on monastic and Norman ruins: the Rock of Cashel, Jerpoint's carved cloister, Kells Priory, and Waterford's Viking quarter. They are rewarding, but apart from Waterford and Dublin you will need a car to reach most of them.

Bristol makes days with children much easier to fill. The SS Great Britain, the We The Curious science centre with its planetarium and the aquarium sit close together on the harbour, the yellow ferries between them are part of the fun, and the wildlife park on the northern edge makes another full day. The steep hills are hard work with a pushchair, though.

Kilkenny is small and relaxed, and the castle lawns and playground are good for running around. Beyond that, you drive out to the tree-top courses at Castlecomer or down into Dunmore Cave. It has no zoo or aquarium.

In both places you walk, and the difference is in scale. Bristol's old city, harbourside and Queen Square are close together, with harbour ferries along the water. But the climb to Clifton is steep, and beyond the centre the only option is buses that get stuck in traffic.

Kilkenny is flat and tiny. The whole Medieval Mile is about 1km, and the station is a short walk away. The catch is the countryside: rural buses are so sparse that a hire car or a tour is close to essential.

Bristol has the wider range. Chain and department stores fill Cabot Circus and Broadmead, Gloucester Road has a long run of record shops, delis and vintage clothes, and Park Street and Clifton Village have boutiques and galleries.

Kilkenny has less variety but one thing Bristol lacks: a real craft tradition. The castle's old stables, where a national design movement began in the 1960s, sell regional pottery, glass and woollens, and makers work in studios around the county. For fashion, you would go to Dublin.

Neither is cheap, but Bristol is slightly easier on the budget. Most of its big museums and churches are free, and market stalls make for low-cost meals. Both get pricier at weekends, when central rooms fill up.

Kilkenny's pubs and restaurants charge Irish prices, its heritage sites have entry fees, and the hire car you need to explore the county is a real extra cost.

Bristol has a year-round programme. The Georgian Bristol Old Vic produces its own work, the Hippodrome takes touring musicals and ballet, the Bristol Beacon and St George's put on concerts, and small venues in Stokes Croft and Old Market have bands and electronic acts most nights.

Kilkenny's everyday offer is fiddles and bodhráns in the corner of a pub. Its big moments come at festival time, above all the August Arts Festival, which brings classical music to St Canice's Cathedral. Outside those weeks there is far less on.

Bristol has the better options, largely because Bath is so close. The rooftop thermal pool fed by Britain's only natural hot springs is a quarter of an hour away by train, and in the city itself the heated Victorian lido in Clifton makes a restful half day.

In Kilkenny, pampering means the spas at country-house hotels on the edge of town. The town centre is noisy on weekend nights, so if rest is the point of your trip, stay out by the Nore or in the countryside.