Cadiz or Lisbon?

Cadiz is a real beach city. La Caleta, a sheltered cove between two castles, sits in the old town, and Playa Victoria's long golden sand is a short walk or bus ride away. The Atlantic here is warm enough for easy swimming in late summer. Beyond the city lie the empty strands of El Palmar, Conil and Bolonia, though the levante wind can spoil several days in a row.

Lisbon has no beach of its own. Its sand starts at the end of a train ride along the river: Carcavelos for surf, the calmer bays of Estoril and Cascais, and Costa da Caparica across the Tagus. The water is several degrees cooler, so a beach day is a break from sightseeing rather than the reason to come.

Both cities eat from the sea, but Lisbon has the broader table. Its tascas, seafood beer halls, warm custard tarts and cheap glasses of Alentejo, Douro and vinho verde give you more variety over a week, and the Ribeira and Campo de Ourique markets add more places to eat.

Cadiz is narrower but very good at what it does. It has cones of fried fish from the freidurías, almadraba bluefin tuna in the La Viña tapas bars, and cold manzanilla from Sanlúcar. Visitors who want seafood and sherry and little else will be happy there. Anyone after range or ambitious restaurants will be happier in Lisbon.

Lisbon has much more to see. The Jerónimos Monastery and Belém Tower, the rebuilt Baixa grid, the medieval lanes of Alfama below the castle, and museums such as the Gulbenkian and the National Tile Museum easily fill three or four days.

Cadiz has the longer story, going back to the Phoenicians, but fewer sights. The gold-domed cathedral, the camera obscura in the Torre Tavira, the Roman theatre in the Barrio del Pópulo and the Oratorio where the 1812 constitution was signed make a satisfying two or three days. You will not find a major museum circuit.

Lisbon is the place for a late night. Bairro Alto's lanes fill with crowds drinking outside on weekends, Cais do Sodré keeps going later, and the warehouse clubs along the river run until morning. It is relaxed and affordable rather than glamorous.

Cadiz evenings are more about late tapas and full squares in La Viña, with bars along the Playa Victoria promenade in summer. For ten days in February, Carnival turns the whole city into an all-night street party. The rest of the year the club scene is small.

Lisbon has more variety close by. The Sintra hills, the cliffs at Cabo da Roca, Guincho's kitesurfing, Ericeira's surf reserve and the Arrábida ridges dropping into a green sea are all within easy reach, and Monsanto gives you forest inside the city.

Cadiz's landscape is flatter and wilder in a different way. The salt pans and marshes of the Bahía de Cádiz are full of flamingos and spoonbills, and Tarifa has kitesurfing and whale-watching. It also has something Lisbon lacks: real mountain walking in the Sierra de Grazalema, about two hours inland.

Both are excellent bases, and the difference is the kind of outing. From Cadiz the trips are mostly about sherry and white villages: Jerez by train, a ferry to El Puerto, Sanlúcar, Vejer and Arcos. Seville is under two hours away, though the villages and Bolonia's Roman ruins really need a car.

Lisbon's outings are more about palaces and monasteries. Sintra's Pena Palace and Quinta da Regaleira are forty minutes away by train, Mafra and Cascais are nearby, and Évora, Alcobaça, Batalha and Tomar are within longer reach.

Neither city is built around children, and both welcome them at dinner late into the evening. In Cadiz the appeal is the beach: wide, lifeguarded Playa Victoria and a flat, car-light old town that is easy with a pushchair. There is no aquarium or zoo.

Lisbon has the attractions Cadiz lacks, including the large Oceanário, a science centre, a zoo and trams children love. Its steep hills, stairways and slippery pavements make every outing harder work with small children.

Both are easy enough to get around, in different ways. Cadiz's old town is flat and small enough to cross on foot, with buses down the isthmus and trains to Jerez and Seville. You will need a car for the coast and the white villages.

Lisbon is compact but hilly, so walking means climbs and stairways. A metro, trams, funiculars, suburban trains and river ferries cover the gaps on one card, and Sintra and Cascais are easy to reach without driving.

Lisbon is far better for shopping. It has a luxury boulevard on Avenida da Liberdade, old shops and glove makers in Chiado, designers and antiques in Príncipe Real, and distinctive things to take home, from azulejo tiles and cork to Burel wool and tinned sardines. The Feira da Ladra and LX Factory add browsing of their own.

Cadiz is modest: high-street chains and family shops around Calle Ancha, plus fans, ceramics and sherry. For serious shopping, people there go to Seville.

Costs are much the same in both cities. Eating and drinking are cheap and rooms are the main expense. In Cadiz the savings come from freidurías, market counters and sherry by the glass, but the old town has few hotels and they fill up in summer and at Carnival.

In Lisbon the cheap meals are in neighbourhood tascas away from Baixa and Chiado. Hotel prices are what you would expect in a capital, so staying a little outside the centre is how to keep costs down.

Each city has its own song form. Lisbon has more of a formal stage around it. Fado plays every night in the small rooms and restaurants of Alfama, Mouraria and Bairro Alto, and the Gulbenkian orchestra, the São Carlos opera house and the Centro Cultural de Belém add concerts, opera and dance.

Cadiz is a cradle of flamenco, best heard in the Santa María peñas among audiences who know the forms well. The Gran Teatro Falla hosts the satirical Carnival choirs and a year-round programme of plays and concerts, but there is little opera or orchestral music.

Neither city has a bathing tradition, and spa treatments mostly mean hotel spas. Cadiz is a little more restful. Its flat streets, sea walls and siesta pace make slowing down easy, and Arab-style baths in Jerez and resort spas near Chiclana are a short drive away.

Lisbon's old quarters are noisy and steep. Its quiet comes from gardens such as the Gulbenkian and Estrela and from afternoons at a viewpoint, and a truly restful stay usually means sleeping out on the Cascais coast or in Sintra.