Cadiz or Coimbra?

This is where the two differ most. In Cadiz the sea is part of daily life: the sheltered cove of La Caleta lies inside the old town, Playa Victoria offers kilometres of fine sand a bus ride away, and the long strands at El Palmar, Conil and Bolonia are within an hour.

Coimbra is a river city, and a beach means a day out to Figueira da Foz, about an hour away, where the surf is strong and the water much colder. The river beaches in the hills to the east are pleasant for an afternoon, but they are no substitute for a coast.

Cadiz eats better, as long as you want fish. Its freidurías, tortillitas de camarones and almadraba bluefin tuna, washed down with fino from the sherry towns nearby, make every evening a seafood meal.

Coimbra's cooking comes from the farms around it. Its signature dishes are leitão, the roast suckling pig of Mealhada with Bairrada sparkling wine, and chanfana, goat braised in clay pots. In town, though, eating out mostly means simple tascas and convent pastries, and it rarely matches the pleasure of a tapas crawl through La Viña.

The two are about level, but their heritage takes different forms. In Cadiz the attraction is the whole townscape: a pale peninsula of merchant houses with watchtowers from the Americas trade, the gold-domed cathedral facing the sea, a Roman theatre and the oratory where the 1812 constitution was signed.

Coimbra gathers its history on a single hill, topped by the old university and the gilded Biblioteca Joanina, a sight of real international standing. Below it stand the Romanesque Sé Velha and the royal tombs of Santa Cruz. Cadiz suits a walker who likes to wander, while Coimbra suits a visitor who comes to see particular monuments.

Neither city is a clubbing destination, and their busy seasons fall at opposite times of year. In Cadiz the liveliest nights are in summer, when the bars and terraces along Playa Victoria stay open late, and at Carnival in February, which takes over the whole city.

Coimbra's nights follow the university calendar. Bars around Praça da República are full during term and peak in May with the Queima das Fitas, but they go quiet in July and August, just when Cadiz is at its most sociable.

Both have plenty to offer outdoors, but the scenery could hardly be more different. The country around Cadiz is shaped by water and wind: salt-pan marshes full of flamingos and spoonbills, cliff-top pines at La Breña, kitesurfing and whale watching from Tarifa, with the limestone Sierra de Grazalema further inland.

Coimbra's surroundings are greener and hillier. There is the ancient walled forest of Buçaco, trails between the slate villages of the Serra da Lousã, kayaking down the Mondego valley and real mountain hiking in the Serra da Estrela.

Both make excellent bases. From Cadiz, the trains to Jerez and Seville and the ferry to El Puerto de Santa María are easy, but the white hill towns such as Vejer and Arcos, and the Roman site at Baelo Claudia, really need a car.

Coimbra's position on the main railway gives it the edge for travel without a car, with Porto and the canal town of Aveiro each about an hour away. Its other highlights are the mosaics of Conímbriga and the great monasteries at Batalha, Alcobaça and Tomar, which are reached by road.

Cadiz is the easier place with children, mainly because of the beach. Playa Victoria is wide and has lifeguards, La Caleta is calm, and the flat old town and shady parks make getting around simple, even though there is no zoo or theme park.

Coimbra has more that is built for children, including the miniature houses of Portugal dos Pequenitos and the hands-on Exploratório. Against that, its historic centre is a steep climb on cobbles and stairways, and the university sights tend to hold older children better than toddlers.

Cadiz is easier on the legs. Its old town is flat, mostly closed to traffic and can be crossed on foot from one shore to the other, buses run out to the beach, and trains to Jerez and Seville leave from the old town itself.

Coimbra is just as compact, but the climb from the Baixa up to the university is steep, and the public lift and funicular only partly help. Its strong point is rail, as Coimbra-B is on the main Lisbon to Porto line. In both cities you need a car for the countryside.

Neither city is somewhere to shop seriously, so the difference is in what you bring home. In Cadiz, Calle Ancha, Columela and the lanes around Plaza de las Flores mix Spanish chains with older family shops. The best finds are Andalusian: hand-painted fans, ceramics, flamenco fashion and a bottle of sherry. The flower stalls by the Mercado Central are the nicest place to browse, and anything grander means a train to Seville.

Coimbra's Baixa has pedestrian streets such as Rua Ferreira Borges, with shoe shops and old-fashioned specialist stores. The souvenirs are Portuguese: Coimbra faience, convent sweets and Bairrada wine, plus cheese and cured meats from the Mercado D. Pedro V. The student-themed goods sold near the university are the one thing Cadiz has no answer to.

Coimbra is the cheaper stay overall, and the gap is mainly in accommodation. Student-level prices keep meals and drinks cheap, and rooms near the old town stay reasonable for most of the year. The ticket for the university and its library is the one notable cost.

In Cadiz you can eat and drink just as cheaply at freidurías and market counters, but rooms in the small old town are scarce and expensive in high summer and at Carnival. Staying near Playa Victoria or visiting outside summer brings the cost down.

Cadiz has slightly more to offer. Its draw is flamenco at its source, in the peñas of the Santa María quarter, where audiences who know the forms well come to hear alegrías. The Gran Teatro Falla adds the satirical Carnival choirs and plays and concerts all year. Opera and orchestral music are thin, though, and for those you go to Seville.

Coimbra's speciality is its own fado, sung by men in academic capes to the Coimbra guitar, in small fado houses and on the steps of the Sé Velha. Beyond that, the Teatro Académico de Gil Vicente and the former Convent of São Francisco offer the theatre, touring music and dance you would expect of a university city, but there is no opera house and no major orchestra.

Neither city has a spa culture of its own, but each has one nearby. From Cadiz, the options are resort spas with sea-water treatments at Novo Sancti Petri and Arab-style baths in Jerez. The city's real way to relax is a siesta and a sunset walk by La Caleta.

From Coimbra, the old thermal towns of Luso and Curia, with mineral springs, a thermal park and Belle Époque hotels, are a proper spa outing about half an hour away. In the city itself, unwinding means the botanical garden and evening walks along the Mondego.