Cardiff or Oxford?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Cardiff at least has the sea close by. Barry Island's sandy bay and funfair are half an hour away by train, and Penarth's pebble shore and pier are next door. The Gower and the Porthcawl surf beaches are worth a longer drive, though the cool water means more paddling than swimming.

Oxford is far inland, with the coast more than an hour and a half away. Swimming there means the river at Port Meadow, the Cherwell or the open-air pool at Hinksey: fresh water and grassy banks for a hot afternoon, not a day at the seaside.

Food is a side matter in both cities, and it will not decide between them. Cardiff has more of a regional larder: Welsh cakes off the griddle in the market, cawl, and laverbread with cockles. Its best eating is in the bistros of Pontcanna and Canton and along the long run of cooking on City Road.

Oxford's strength is the pub. Its low-beamed taverns and towpath pubs make a Sunday roast by the Thames the meal to remember. Cowley Road and Jericho play the same part there that City Road and Pontcanna play in Cardiff, and both cities have an old covered market that is good for lunch.

Oxford has much the richer sightseeing. Its centre is a tight cluster of medieval college quadrangles, chapels and libraries, from the Radcliffe Camera and the Bodleian to Christ Church. The Ashmolean, the Pitt Rivers and the Natural History Museum add collections of real depth.

Cardiff's sights are fewer, and most are Victorian. The castle has Gothic rooms set inside Roman and Norman walls, the National Museum has its Impressionists, and St Fagans shows how people lived across Wales. It is a rewarding few days, but Cardiff has nothing like Oxford's centuries of old stone still in daily use.

Cardiff is the place for a proper night out. The Saturday crowds on St Mary Street, rugby days that fill the whole centre and the late alternative bars of Womanby Street give it an energy Oxford lacks, though midweek is quiet.

Oxford's evenings revolve around historic pubs and summer drinks by the river, and Cowley Road is the only corner that stays open late. Outside university term the city grows quieter still, and on most nights the centre has settled by midnight.

Cardiff has the wilder landscape on its doorstep. Bute Park leads straight onto the Taff Trail, and the Wales Coast Path runs along the cliffs at Penarth. About an hour away by car, Pen y Fan in the Brecon Beacons is a real half-day climb across open moorland.

Oxford's outdoors is softer. In town there are Port Meadow, Christ Church Meadow and the river towpaths, and further out the Cotswolds, the Chilterns and the Ridgeway offer long, gentle walks. Punting is its signature pastime, but nothing nearby has the height of the Beacons. The price of Cardiff's hills is rain and wind.

Both cities make good bases, but Oxford has the wider choice. Blenheim Palace is twenty minutes away and the Cotswold villages are within an hour. London is an easy train ride, and Stratford, Warwick, Windsor and Bath each fit into a day.

Cardiff's outings centre on castles and industrial heritage. Caerphilly and Castell Coch are close by, Chepstow and Tintern Abbey share the Wye Valley, and Big Pit is at Blaenavon. Bath and Bristol are within reach of either city.

Both cities are small, walkable and easy with children, and Cardiff has a little more made for them. Techniquest's hands-on science, boat trips on the Bay, rowing boats on Roath Park lake, the farm animals at St Fagans and the sands at Barry Island fill several days.

Oxford wins children over with the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum, the masks and boats of the Pitt Rivers, punting and the Harry Potter links at Christ Church. Beyond those, much of the city is for grown-ups, and the wildlife park and Blenheim's maze both need a trip out.

Oxford is the easier city to cover on foot. You can cross its centre in twenty minutes on streets closed to through traffic, and the station is a short walk away. Bikes and frequent buses do the rest, and a car is mostly a nuisance.

Cardiff's core is just as flat and compact, but Cardiff Bay is about half an hour's walk away, so you will use the shuttle train, the bus or the water taxi more. Local trains to Penarth, Barry Island and Caerphilly are handy, but the Beacons need a car.

The shopping is similar in scale: both have a central mall and the usual chains, and both show their character in the details. In Cardiff that means the glass-roofed Victorian arcades, full of record, vintage and book shops, with Welsh lovespoons and woollen blankets to take home.

Oxford answers with the Covered Market's traders, sellers of antique maps and prints, and the huge Blackwell's bookshop on Broad Street. The Bicester outlet village, twenty minutes away, gives designer hunters something Cardiff cannot match.

Cardiff is the cheaper stay. Hotels are moderate except on big stadium weekends, and free national museums and short train trips keep daily costs down.

In Oxford, central rooms are scarce and university events keep demand high, so a bed costs more and many visitors sleep out by the ring road or come for the day from London. Its museums are free as well, but college entry and library tours add up over a few days.

The two cities are evenly matched on stage, but they offer very different evenings. Cardiff's arts life centres on the bronze-domed Wales Millennium Centre, home of Welsh National Opera, which also hosts touring musicals, dance and comedy. The BBC National Orchestra of Wales is based in the city, the Sherman and the New Theatre cover drama, and new bands play the small rooms around Womanby Street most nights. At the other end of the scale, the national stadium hosts the big touring concerts.

Oxford's great performance is older and quieter. On most evenings in term, the choirs of Christ Church, Magdalen and New College sing choral Evensong, and visitors can sit in. The Sheldonian and the Holywell Music Room, one of Europe's oldest concert halls, add orchestral, chamber and jazz concerts. Its theatre is smaller than Cardiff's: touring shows at the Playhouse and the New Theatre, and student plays in the college gardens in summer.

Neither city is a place for treatments or thermal water, and both offer only hotel and day spas. The difference is in the quiet. Oxford has the Botanic Garden, its walled college gardens and Addison's Walk, which are peaceful early in the morning. Cardiff's calm comes from slow mornings in Pontcanna's cafés and a stroll along the Taff through Bute Park.