Bristol or Liverpool?

Neither city is for swimming, but Liverpool's coast is the more rewarding one to visit. Merseyrail runs straight to Crosby, where Gormley's iron figures stand on the sands, and on to the pine-backed dunes at Formby. New Brighton and West Kirby's marine lake are just across the river.

Bristol looks out on the silty brown Severn estuary, which turns to mud at low tide. Weston-super-Mare has sand, but you have to time a swim around a very distant tide. The cold-water pool at Clevedon is the best local dip, and proper beaches mean a long drive into Devon or Wales.

Bristol eats better, mostly thanks to its independents. St Nicholas Market's covered stalls, the bakeries and roasters along Gloucester Road and North Street, and a few kitchens cooking with West Country produce give plenty of choice. Farmhouse cider and warehouse taprooms make drinking a real part of a visit.

Liverpool has the thing Bristol lacks, a dish of its own, and a bowl of scouse with pickled red cabbage is worth trying once. Beyond that, eating centres on Bold Street, the Baltic Triangle food halls and an old Chinatown. Its ornate Victorian gin-palace pubs are as much of a draw as any restaurant.

Both cities grew rich as ports and both face up to their part in the slave trade, but Liverpool has more to see. The Three Graces and the listed warehouses of the Royal Albert Dock make a grand waterfront, holding the Maritime and International Slavery museums. William Brown Street adds the Walker's Pre-Raphaelites, and Hope Street joins two very different 20th-century cathedrals.

Bristol's highlights are fewer but distinctive. Brunel's SS Great Britain in its dry dock and his bridge over the Avon Gorge are the high points, Clifton's Georgian crescents and St Mary Redcliffe are the finest buildings, and Banksy's early street art gives it a modern side that Liverpool cannot match.

You will find a good night out in either city, but the two feel different. Bristol's comes from its sound-system history, the music behind trip hop and drum and bass. Its clubs are in railway arches near Temple Meads and on a moored boat, and Stokes Croft has scruffy, creative bars for the hours before.

Liverpool is more of a full-on party town. Concert Square and Seel Street fill with bar-hoppers and stag and hen groups at weekends. The Baltic Triangle offers a more electronic, underground alternative, and Lark Lane is the easygoing local option.

Bristol has much more countryside close to the city. The limestone cliffs of the Avon Gorge attract climbers, Leigh Woods and the Ashton Court deer park are just across the river, and the railway path runs traffic-free towards Bath. Cheddar Gorge and the Mendips are under an hour away.

Liverpool is flat. Its outdoor pleasures are Sefton Park's palm house and lake, a breezy walk along the Mersey and the Formby dunes, where red squirrels survive in the pinewoods. The Wirral Way and the Dee estuary's wading birds suit gentle cycling, but real hills are a two-hour trip away.

Bristol is the better base for day trips by some way. Bath is a quarter of an hour by train, Wells and Glastonbury are about an hour off, and Cardiff is just across the Severn. Stonehenge, Avebury, Salisbury and the southern Cotswolds give you a week of easy outings if you want them.

Liverpool's best trip is Chester, with its Roman walls and timbered Rows. Manchester, the model village at Port Sunlight and Southport's pier are also close. Conwy and Llandudno make a longer day, but after that the choice runs out much sooner than it does around Bristol.

Children will be happy in either city. In Bristol the attractions are close together on the harbourside: the SS Great Britain, the hands-on We The Curious with its planetarium, and the aquarium, all linked by little ferries. The steep hills are hard work with a pushchair, though.

Liverpool's waterfront is flat and easy, and its free museums save money, with the World Museum's dinosaurs a sure hit. Its biggest family days are just outside town, at Chester Zoo and Knowsley Safari Park. The rowdy weekend nights in the centre are something to plan around.

Liverpool is easier to get around. The docks, the Pier Head, the Ropewalks and both cathedrals are within about 2km of one another on mostly level ground. Merseyrail's underground loop carries you out to Crosby, Formby and the Wirral without any fuss.

Bristol's old city and harbourside are walkable too, and the yellow ferries are a pleasant way to cross the water. The climb to Clifton is steep, though, and beyond the centre you depend on buses that get stuck in traffic. Temple Meads, rather than any city network, is what makes trips out easy.

The two are much alike: big chain stores in the centre and the more interesting shops on one long street. Bristol's Cabot Circus is indoors, and its character lies along Gloucester Road and in Clifton Village's Georgian arcades, with St Nicholas Market adding crafts and curios.

Liverpool ONE is an open-air district that runs down towards the docks. Bold Street does the vintage and records, and Beatles memorabilia or a football shirt is the obvious thing to take home.

Liverpool is the cheaper of the two. Hotels cost noticeably less for most of the year, though they climb sharply on big match weekends and during the Grand National. The free museums cover most of what a visitor wants to see, and pub meals are good value.

Bristol is one of the more expensive British cities outside London, and weekend hotel rates rise steeply. Free museums and churches and a walkable centre help, but a budget stay is manageable there rather than cheap.

Liverpool has more on stage, and music is part of its identity. Bands play most nights around Mathew Street and Seel Street, with the Cavern as the place of pilgrimage. The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic plays a full season in its art deco hall, and the Everyman and the Playhouse produce their own theatre.

Bristol's great asset is the Old Vic, the oldest continuously working theatre in the English-speaking world, still staging its own shows in its Georgian auditorium. The Tobacco Factory's Shakespeare, chamber concerts at St George's and gigs in small Stokes Croft venues round it out, but it has no orchestra to compare with the Phil.

Bristol is the better choice for a restful break, mainly because of Bath. Its rooftop thermal pool, fed by Britain's only natural hot springs, is a quarter of an hour away by train. In the city itself, the heated lido behind Clifton's terraces and the quiet of the Downs offer real calm.

Liverpool has no bathing culture and little beyond hotel and day spas. Its quiet moments come from a walk in Sefton Park or an unhurried ferry crossing, and the loud weekend centre works against rest.