Cadiz or Toledo?

This is the starkest gap between the two. Cadiz is almost surrounded by the Atlantic. You can swim at the sheltered cove of La Caleta in the old town or on the wide golden sand of Playa Victoria, and the empty Costa de la Luz beaches lie within an hour. The levante wind is the one thing that can spoil a beach day.

Toledo sits far inland on the plateau, hours from any coast, and the Tagus below its walls is not for swimming. On a hot day here, cooling off means a hotel or municipal pool.

Cadiz eats better, as long as you like fish. Paper cones of fried fish, cazón en adobo, shrimp tortillitas and trap-caught bluefin tuna fill the bars of La Viña and the Mercado Central, with fino and manzanilla from the sherry towns next door.

Toledo's cooking is inland and heavier: partridge, game from the Montes de Toledo, carcamusas, Manchego and convent marzipan. The lanes by the cathedral are full of set menus for tourists, so the good meals take some seeking out a few streets away.

Toledo is the richer city to explore. Its whole old town is a monument, with Roman, Visigothic, Islamic, Jewish and Christian Spain stacked on one hill. There is the cathedral with its El Greco and Goya sacristy, the synagogues of Santa María la Blanca and El Tránsito, San Juan de los Reyes, and El Greco's paintings in Santo Tomé.

Cadiz has a deep history of its own, from Phoenician sarcophagi in the Museo de Cádiz to the Roman theatre in El Pópulo and the Oratorio where the 1812 constitution was signed. It is more a city of watchtowers, sea walls and atmosphere than of major collections.

Neither is a clubbing city, but Cadiz has noticeably more going on. Tapas rounds in La Viña and around Plaza de San Francisco go on late, and in summer the bars along the Playa Victoria promenade stay open into the early hours. In February, Carnival turns the whole city into a street party for ten days.

Toledo winds down once the Madrid day-trippers have left. A late dinner and a few bars near Zocodover are the usual evening, and that quiet is part of its appeal.

Cadiz has more of the outdoors within reach. There are flamingos and spoonbills in the salt marshes of the Bahía de Cádiz, pine-topped cliffs at La Breña, and kitesurfing and whale-watching out of Tarifa. The limestone gorges of Grazalema and the wetlands of Doñana are further afield.

Toledo's best walk is the path around the Tagus gorge beneath its walls, with views back from the cigarrales. Beyond that are the open plains of La Mancha, the low Montes de Toledo and Cabañeros a couple of hours off, and no real mountains.

Both make excellent bases, and the difference is the kind of outing. From Cadiz the trips are Andalusian: sherry bodegas in Jerez and Sanlúcar, the ferry to El Puerto, white hill towns such as Vejer and Arcos, and Seville by train.

Toledo's trump card is Madrid, half an hour away by high-speed train. Beyond it are the royal sites of Aranjuez and El Escorial, the windmills of Consuegra and longer days out to Segovia, Ávila and Cuenca.

Cadiz is the easier choice with children. It has lifeguarded sand at Playa Victoria, a calm cove at La Caleta, and a flat, car-light old town with shady parks such as the Genovés. There is little built just for children, though.

Toledo has the castle-like Alcázar and a history-show theme park on the outskirts. Its steep cobbles defeat pushchairs, though, and a day of churches and paintings soon wears thin for younger children.

Both centres are best on foot, but Cadiz is a little kinder to the legs. Its old town is flat and mostly free of traffic, buses run out to the beach, and trains leave straight from the old town for Jerez and Seville.

Toledo's centre is just as compact, but it climbs a steep hill of twisting lanes. Public escalators help with the arrival, and the station sits across the river below. In both cities, a hire car is needed for the countryside.

Neither city is a shopping destination, and for serious shopping you would go to Seville from one and Madrid from the other. What differs is what you bring home.

Cadiz offers fans, flamenco fashion, ceramics and sherry from a modest high street around Calle Ancha. Toledo's crafts are its own: gold-inlaid damascene work, steel blades and convent marzipan. Look for the workshops rather than the souvenir stock by the cathedral.

Overall costs are much the same, but the pressure points differ. In Cadiz, cheap tapas, sherry and transport are offset by scarce old-town rooms in summer and at Carnival, so staying near Playa Victoria or coming outside high season helps.

In Toledo, the tapa that comes with each drink and the set lunches keep meals cheap. Hotels with Tagus views cost more, and separate entry fees at each monument add up over a day of sightseeing.

Cadiz has far more to offer on a night out. It is one of the cradles of flamenco, with members' peñas in the Santa María quarter, and the Gran Teatro Falla puts on a year-round programme, the Carnival choir contest and an autumn Ibero-American theatre festival.

Toledo's Teatro de Rojas runs a regional programme, and church organ music and the Corpus Christi processions are its high points. For serious performances most evenings, you take the train to Madrid.

Neither has a real spa culture, but Cadiz is the better place to unwind. Resort spas with sea-water treatments are a short drive away at Novo Sancti Petri, and the city's pace, with long lunches, siestas and sunset at La Caleta, is restful in itself.

Toledo offers a few Arab-style baths in vaulted rooms and quiet early mornings over the Tagus. It is pleasant for a calm night or two, not a stay built around rest.