Cardiff or Kilkenny?

Neither is a beach destination, but Cardiff at least has the seaside within easy reach. Barry Island's sandy bay and promenade are about half an hour by train, Penarth's pebbles and pier are just along the coast, and the Gower's wide sands can be reached by car.

Kilkenny is inland among farmland, so the sand at Tramore or along the Copper Coast means an hour's drive. That makes it a scenic outing rather than an easy afternoon by the sea.

Cardiff has more variety. Welsh cakes come straight off the griddle in the Victorian market, Pontcanna and Canton have neighbourhood bistros and brunch spots, and City Road has a long run of Middle Eastern and South Asian cooking, which a small town cannot match.

Kilkenny eats well for its size, with dairy, lamb and cheese from the county and some ambitious country-house kitchens just outside town. In the centre, though, it is mostly gastropubs and bistros, with little from abroad. Its real strength is the pub, where stout and red ale are poured by the fire in a town with three centuries of brewing behind it.

Cardiff offers more to see. The castle mixes Roman walls with extravagant Victorian Gothic interiors, the National Museum has a surprisingly strong set of French Impressionists, and St Fagans brings rebuilt farmhouses and a miners' institute from across Wales. Most of the city is Victorian, though.

Kilkenny is older and more of a piece. The Medieval Mile links the castle on the Nore to St Canice's Cathedral, whose round tower you can climb, with Rothe House, the Black Abbey and narrow slips in between. It is a lovely walk through the Middle Ages, but it fills a day or two where Cardiff fills several.

Cardiff goes out on a far bigger scale. St Mary Street is packed with crowds on Saturday nights, Womanby Street has small alternative bars and late venues, and two universities keep term time busy. On rugby international days the whole centre turns red.

A night out in Kilkenny is a pub night, with low ceilings, snugs and open fires along High Street and Parliament Street. Weekends are lively with wedding and birthday groups, but there is one small nightclub, and the town goes quiet early midweek.

Cardiff has far more dramatic country close by. Bute Park leads straight onto the Taff Trail, and in about an hour you can be on the moorland ridges of the Brecon Beacons climbing Pen y Fan, the highest peak in southern Britain. The Wales Coast Path and the limestone headlands of the Gower add sea cliffs as well.

Kilkenny's surroundings are softer: the wooded Nore Valley Way through Thomastown and Inistioge, modest climbs on Brandon Hill, and forest trails near Castlecomer. For real mountain scenery you have to drive an hour to the Comeraghs.

Both make good bases, but Cardiff's outings are easier to reach and more varied. Caerphilly's huge fortress is twenty minutes by train, Castell Coch sits in the woods just north of the city, and Bath's Roman Baths and Bristol are both around an hour away by rail. Tintern Abbey and the Big Pit mine add history beyond the castles.

Kilkenny's region is rich in monastic and Norman sites, including the Rock of Cashel, the Jerpoint cloister and Kells Priory standing in open fields. Apart from Waterford and Dublin, though, almost all of them need a car.

Cardiff is the better bet with children. Techniquest's hands-on science sits on a waterfront with boat trips, St Fagans has animals and craft demonstrations, Roath Park has rowing boats on its lake, and in summer Barry Island's sands and funfair are a short train ride away.

Kilkenny is small, safe and easy to walk with children, and the castle lawns and playground are right in town. The treetop courses near Castlecomer and the depths of Dunmore Cave need a drive, though, and the centre on weekend nights is no place for young children.

Both centres are best on foot. Cardiff's castle, market, arcades and station are minutes apart, much as Kilkenny's sights lie along a 1km street.

The difference is beyond the centre. Cardiff's local trains reach Penarth, Barry Island, Caerphilly and the valleys, with a water taxi to the Bay. Around Kilkenny the buses are sparse, so the abbeys and villages mean a hire car, a taxi or a tour.

Cardiff offers more range. Queen Street and the central mall cover the chains, and the glass-roofed Royal, Morgan and Castle arcades hide record shops, bookshops and vintage clothing, an afternoon you would not get in a small town.

Kilkenny's draw is craft. The old castle stables, birthplace of a national design movement, sell regional pottery, glass, jewellery and woollens, and the boutiques and delis on High Street make for easy browsing. Anything more means going to Dublin.

Cardiff is the cheaper stay. Its prices are ordinary for Britain, the national museums including St Fagans are free, and short train rides cover the castles and the coast. Just avoid big match and concert dates, when rooms get expensive.

Kilkenny is cheaper than Dublin but still charges Irish prices for pints, pub meals and dinners, and rooms in the centre cost a lot more at weekends and during festivals. The biggest extra is the hire car you need to see the county.

Cardiff has a full year-round arts scene. The Wales Millennium Centre is home to Welsh National Opera and hosts dance and musicals, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales is based in the city, and the small venues around Womanby Street book bands most nights.

Kilkenny's everyday offer is traditional music, with fiddles and bodhráns in pub corners most nights. Its high point is the calendar. In August the Arts Festival brings classical concerts to St Canice's Cathedral, and there are comedy and roots festivals earlier in the year, but outside those weeks there is little formal performance.

Neither is a place people pick to unwind, and neither has a bathing tradition. They differ in setting. In Cardiff, relaxing means a hotel spa or a leisure pool at the Bay, slow mornings in Pontcanna's cafés and walks along the Taff.

Kilkenny's spas are in country-house estates set in parkland just outside town, and the villages along the Nore are very quiet. Because the centre gets noisy on weekend nights, it pays to stay out in the countryside if rest is the aim.