Cardiff or Manchester?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Cardiff at least has the sea on its doorstep. Barry Island's sandy bay and funfair are a short train ride away, and Penarth's pebble shore and pier are closer. Porthcawl's surf beaches and the Gower sands take about an hour by car.

Manchester is inland. Its nearest coast, the dunes at Formby or the promenade at Blackpool, is an hour or more away and makes a day out rather than a beach afternoon. In both places the water is cool enough that most people paddle and few swim.

Manchester has more range. Its large Chinatown, the cheap South Asian kitchens of Rusholme and the food halls in the old mills of Ancoats give you more choice over a few days. Its craft-beer scene and Northern Quarter coffee are a real strength.

Cardiff has more of a regional flavour. Welsh cakes from the griddle in the Victorian market, cawl, laverbread and Welsh lamb are worth seeking out, and Pontcanna and Canton have good neighbourhood bistros. Overall, though, the city offers fewer good places to eat.

Cardiff has the stronger set of headline sights. The castle mixes Roman and Norman walls with extravagant Victorian Gothic interiors, the National Museum holds an unexpectedly fine collection of Impressionists, and St Fagans gathers buildings from all over Wales into one open-air museum.

Manchester tells one story very well, the rise of the first industrial city. You see it at the Science and Industry Museum, in the mills of Ancoats and in the neo-Gothic Town Hall, with the John Rylands Library and the Pre-Raphaelites at the art gallery as highlights. It is rewarding if industry and politics interest you, but no single sight matches Cardiff Castle.

Manchester is the clear choice for going out. Its dance-music history still shapes the Northern Quarter's basement bars and DJ rooms. Canal Street's Gay Village is one of Europe's oldest, and autumn warehouse raves bring in big-name DJs. There is also more going on midweek.

Cardiff goes out loudly on Saturdays along St Mary Street, and Womanby Street has a good alternative corner opposite the castle. Otherwise the clubbing is mainstream, and a couple of nights covers it.

Both cities sit close to upland national parks, but Cardiff has more variety within reach. Bute Park runs straight from the castle into the Taff Trail. Pen y Fan in the Brecon Beacons is about an hour's drive, and the Wales Coast Path follows the cliffs at Penarth, so you get both coast and hills.

Manchester's strength is the Peak District by train. Edale is under an hour away for Kinder Scout and the Mam Tor ridge, with no car needed. Its city parks, especially Heaton Park, are large, but it has nothing like Cardiff's coastline. In both places, expect mud and low cloud on the tops.

Both are excellent bases, and the difference lies in the type of outing. From Cardiff the theme is castles and Welsh history: Caerphilly, Castell Coch, Chepstow with Tintern Abbey, and the Big Pit mine at Blaenavon. Bath and Bristol are about an hour across the Severn.

From Manchester the attraction is England's northern cities and countryside, all by rail: Liverpool, Chester and York, plus Chatsworth and Buxton in the Peak District. The Lake District is also within reach. Manchester has the slightly longer list, while Cardiff's outings have a stronger single theme.

Children are equally well served, in different ways. Cardiff is outdoors and small-scale: Techniquest and boat trips at the Bay, farm animals at St Fagans, rowing boats on Roath Park lake, and Barry Island's funfair in summer.

Manchester is better for rainy days, with indoor and bigger attractions. It has the Science and Industry Museum, dinosaurs at the Manchester Museum, and an aquarium, Lego attraction and indoor snow slope at the Trafford Centre. Chester Zoo and Alton Towers are within a day trip, where Cardiff has no zoo or theme park.

Both have small, flat centres you can cover on foot, so getting about is easy in either. Manchester's Metrolink trams make Salford Quays, Old Trafford and the airport simple to reach.

Cardiff has no tram. The walk to the Bay takes about half an hour, or you can take a shuttle train, a bus or a water taxi along the Taff, and local trains reach Penarth and Caerphilly. You won't need a car in either city, only for the remoter hills.

Manchester has much more to offer shoppers. Upmarket department stores and designer labels on King Street sit alongside the record and vintage shops of the Northern Quarter and the many stalls of Afflecks. The Trafford Centre adds a vast mall.

Cardiff's highlight is its glass-roofed Victorian and Edwardian arcades, full of independent bookshops, record shops and vintage stores. For Welsh lovespoons, blankets and slate, Cardiff has the better crafts. Beyond that it is high-street chains, and an afternoon is enough.

Costs are similar, both typical of mid-priced Britain, and Cardiff works out slightly cheaper. In both, free national museums are the big saving, and hotel prices jump on big event days: rugby internationals in Cardiff, football matches and arena concerts in Manchester.

Cardiff also helps with its short, inexpensive train rides to castles and the coast. In Manchester, the curry houses, Chinatown and food halls make a cheap meal easy to find.

Manchester has the deeper arts life. Its gig circuit runs from Northern Quarter back rooms to a huge arena. The Hallé and the BBC Philharmonic both play at the Bridgewater Hall, and the Royal Exchange stages theatre in the round inside the old cotton trading hall.

Cardiff's advantage is opera: the Wales Millennium Centre is home to Welsh National Opera, while Manchester has no resident company. Add the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the grassroots bands on Womanby Street and the Welsh choral tradition, and there is plenty to see, just less of it.

Neither city has a bathing tradition, but Cardiff is easier to relax in. The pace is gentle for a capital, Bute Park follows the river from the castle, and the cafés of Pontcanna suit a slow morning. Hotel spas and the leisure pools at the Bay cover the rest.

Manchester is louder and busier. Victoria Baths is a heritage visit, not somewhere to swim. The best way to unwind there is to take the train to Buxton or the Peak District.