Cappadocia or Istanbul?

Cappadocia offers no swimming beyond hotel pools, and many cave hotels do not have one, so anyone who wants sea time needs a separate stop on the coast.

Istanbul is not a beach city either, but it does give you options. There are sandy Black Sea beaches at Kilyos and Sile about an hour north, though strong currents mean you should swim only where lifeguards are on duty. The Princes' Islands have pebbly coves for a half day out by ferry.

Cappadocia's cooking is rustic and regional: testi kebab broken open at the table, gözleme from roadside stalls and whites from the local emir grape at the wineries near Ürgüp. Kayseri's pastırma and mantı are an hour away. Göreme's choice is thin, so anyone who cares about food does better basing themselves in Ürgüp.

Istanbul is in another league because it draws on the cooking of the whole country. In a single day you can have lunch at a lokanta, graze through Kadikoy's market streets and spend a long meyhane evening over meze and rakı, a range no village in Cappadocia can match.

Both reward serious sightseeing, but in different ways. Cappadocia's heritage is spread across the landscape: frescoed rock churches at the Göreme Open Air Museum, painted chapels along the Ihlara gorge, the Selime monastery and the eight-level underground cities of Derinkuyu and Kaymaklı, mostly reached by car or tour.

Istanbul has more to see, and it has the great institutions that Cappadocia lacks. Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace, the Basilica Cistern and the Archaeology Museums are all within walking distance of each other on the historic peninsula. Beyond them are the Süleymaniye, the Chora mosaics and the Bosphorus palaces, enough for a week of steady sightseeing.

Nights in Cappadocia end early because the balloons go up before dawn: dinner, a terrace above the darkening valleys, perhaps a glass in one of Ürgüp's few wine bars, then bed.

Istanbul is the opposite. There are late meyhanes and rooftop bars in Beyoglu, cocktail bars in Karakoy, cheaper bar streets in Kadikoy, and in summer, clubs on the Bosphorus shore at Ortakoy that run until dawn. Alcohol is heavily taxed, though, so a big night out costs more than the rest of the day.

Cappadocia is far ahead here, because its scenery starts where the village ends. From Göreme or Uçhisar you can set off on foot into the Rose, Red, Pigeon or Zemi valleys without a bus or a guide, and pick your own way along unmarked paths through eroded rock and hidden orchards. The Ihlara gorge is the alternative: a longer, greener walk beside a river at the bottom of a canyon.

Istanbul has nothing like this open, rock-carved country. Its green side is the wooded Bosphorus seen from a ferry or the shore path at Bebek, tulips in Emirgan Park in April, forest trails in Belgrad Forest and cycling among the pines on the Princes' Islands. It is pleasant parkland and waterfront, but there are no mountains nearby, and getting to anything wilder takes a long time.

The two are fairly evenly matched here, and in both the outings are mostly to towns rather than scenery. From Cappadocia you drive: to Kayseri's Seljuk core and bazaar, to the caravanserai at Sultanhanı with the white salt crust of Tuz Gölü on the same road, or to Hacıbektaş. You will usually need a tour or a hire car.

From Istanbul the best escapes are by water: the Princes' Islands, an upper-Bosphorus cruise to Anadolu Kavagi, and Bursa by fast ferry and bus. Edirne and Iznik make long days, and Gallipoli and Troy need a night away.

Older children can have a memorable time in Cappadocia, crawling through underground tunnels, sleeping in a cave room and trying the pottery wheel in Avanos. But little is laid on for them, the valley paths have unguarded drops and balloon operators set minimum ages.

Istanbul does more for families, with ferry rides, the ships and submarine of the Rahmi M. Koç Museum, Miniaturk, aquariums and seaside parks on the Asian shore. Both are hard going with a pushchair, Cappadocia because of its rough ground and Istanbul because of its hills, crowds and stairs.

Cappadocia's villages are easy on foot and linked by valley paths, but Ihlara, Soğanlı and the underground cities lie beyond the minibus routes. Most visitors take tours or hire a car, and the roads are quiet.

Istanbul needs no car at all. One card covers the metro, the T1 tram, Marmaray, the funiculars and the ferries, and the ferries double as sightseeing. The weak points are packed trams at rush hour and slow taxis stuck in traffic.

Cappadocia's shopping is a short list of crafts: red-clay pottery from the Avanos workshops, kilims and carpets in the villages, onyx carvings and dried fruit.

Istanbul has crafts too and a great deal more. There are the covered lanes of the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Bazaar, streets where trades are still grouped by craft, designer labels in Nisantasi, antiques in Cukurcuma and flea markets in Kadikoy. Anyone hoping to bring home a carpet, ceramics or textiles will find a far wider choice in Istanbul.

Neither is a bargain once you do the things most visitors come for. In Cappadocia, simple pensions and village meals are reasonable, but the boutique cave hotels and especially a balloon flight push a budget up fast, and tours or a hire car add more. Winter is the cheapest time for rooms.

Istanbul works out somewhat cheaper if you live like a local. Ferries and public transport cost little, street food and lokanta lunches are cheap, and areas such as Kadikoy keep costs down. Monument entry fees and heavily taxed alcohol are what push the bill up.

Both have whirling dervish Sema ceremonies, held in a Seljuk caravanserai near Avanos and in Istanbul's old dervish lodges. Beyond that, Cappadocia offers only folk-dance dinner evenings.

Istanbul adds opera and ballet at the Ataturk Cultural Centre, summer music and jazz festivals in historic courtyards, fasil musicians in the meyhanes, and small rock, folk and jazz venues in Beyoglu and Kadikoy.

Cappadocia relaxes you through quiet: silent villages at night, cool cave rooms and long hours on a terrace, with small rock-cut hammams in the better hotels. Balloon mornings do mean early alarms.

Istanbul has the real bathing tradition, in working sixteenth-century hammams by Sinan such as Cemberlitas and Haseki Hürrem, with marble domes and a heated stone to lie on. The city around them is noisy, so in Istanbul you have to seek out calm, while in Cappadocia it is all around you.