Cardiff or York?

Neither city has a beach of its own, but Cardiff is closer to the sea. Barry Island's sandy bay and funfair promenade are about half an hour away by train, and Penarth's pebble shore and Victorian pier are just along the coast. The Gower's wide sands and Porthcawl's surf are a longer drive.

From York the nearest sand is at Scarborough, about an hour away by train, with Filey and Whitby further on. The North Sea there is colder still, so that trip is a seaside day out rather than a swim.

Neither city is a destination for food, but they eat in different ways. Cardiff has more variety. There are Welsh cakes off the griddle and laverbread with cockles in the Victorian market, neighbourhood bistros in Pontcanna and Canton, and a long run of Middle Eastern and South Asian kitchens along City Road.

York sticks to tradition. You will find tearooms serving afternoon tea and fat rascals, Sunday roasts with Yorkshire pudding, and pies and cheese at the Shambles Market. There is little international cooking, and much of the food around the Minster is aimed at tourists.

York has the deeper heritage. Two thousand years of history are packed inside its walls: the medieval stained glass of the Minster, a Viking street excavated beneath Jorvik, the ruins of St Mary's Abbey and the timber-framed lanes of Stonegate. The National Railway Museum adds a collection that is among the largest of its kind.

Cardiff's highlights are fine but younger. Cardiff Castle's lavish Victorian Gothic rooms, the strong Impressionist paintings in the National Museum and the rebuilt Welsh buildings at St Fagans fill a couple of days. Away from the castle walls, though, very little of the city is older than the Victorian era.

Cardiff is the bigger night out. St Mary Street packs with groups at weekends, Womanby Street opposite the castle has alternative bars and late venues, and on rugby international days the whole centre fills with fans in red. Pontcanna's wine bars are there if you want something gentler.

York's evenings revolve around its centuries-old inns on Stonegate, Micklegate and the riverside, and a slow pub crawl is the highlight. Weeknights go quiet early, and anyone after real clubbing takes the train to Leeds.

Cardiff puts the outdoors closer to hand. You can walk or cycle straight out of the centre through Bute Park and onto the Taff Trail up the valley. The Wales Coast Path passes the Penarth cliffs, and Pen y Fan's moorland ridges in the Bannau Brycheiniog are about an hour's drive away.

York stands on flat farmland, so near the city you get riverside paths along the Ouse and the open Strays. The heather of the North York Moors, the sea cliffs at Robin Hood's Bay and the limestone scars of the Dales are all fine walking country, but they lie further out and are much easier with a car.

Both cities are good bases, and York's range is wider. Harrogate and Leeds are half an hour away by train, and Durham's cathedral and castle on their river bend take under an hour. By road you can reach Castle Howard, Fountains Abbey, Rievaulx and the steam railway out of Pickering.

Cardiff's day trips centre on castles. Caerphilly is twenty minutes away by train, Castell Coch is just north of the city, and Chepstow pairs well with Tintern Abbey. Bath and Bristol across the Severn, and Blaenavon's mining heritage, add variety.

The two are about equally good with children, but the attractions differ. Cardiff has Techniquest's hands-on science, the farm animals and craft demonstrations at St Fagans, rowing boats on Roath Park lake, and Barry Island's sands and funfair in summer.

York's draws are about history: walking among real locomotives at the National Railway Museum, Jorvik, the Victorian street in the Castle Museum, and ghost walks for older children. Its zoo, theme park and seaside are about an hour away.

York is slightly easier on foot. Almost everything worth seeing lies inside or just outside the walls, it is about fifteen minutes from the station to the Minster, and cycling is common. The catch comes beyond the city, where sparse rural buses send many visitors to a hire car or a tour.

Cardiff's centre is just as flat and compact, but Cardiff Bay is a half-hour walk away, so you will often use the shuttle train, a bus or the water taxi on the Taff. Local trains reach the valleys and the coast well.

Both cities offer chains plus independents, without luxury, but the settings differ. In Cardiff the independents sit in glass-roofed Victorian and Edwardian arcades selling records, vintage clothes and books, alongside a large central mall, with lovespoons and slate as the Welsh souvenirs.

York's boutiques, jewellers and antiques dealers fill the medieval streets of Stonegate and Petergate. Its Christmas markets are a reason to visit in themselves, though the Shambles leans towards souvenirs.

Cardiff is the cheaper stay. Its national museums, including St Fagans, are free, and the train trips to the coast and the castles are short and inexpensive. Hotels are moderate unless a rugby international or a stadium concert is on.

York costs more, mainly because rooms inside the walls are in heavy demand and rates climb at weekends, on race days and at Christmas. The Minster, Jorvik and the castle museums all charge admission, though the Railway Museum and the walls are free.

Cardiff is a real arts capital. The Wales Millennium Centre is home to Welsh National Opera, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales is based in the city, and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama keeps student performances coming. Small venues around Womanby Street book bands most nights, and the stadium takes the big tours.

York's programme is smaller but distinctive. There is drama and pantomime at the historic Theatre Royal, early music in a medieval church, free choral evensong at the Minster, and the Mystery Plays when they are revived on wagons in the streets.

In Cardiff, relaxing means a hotel spa, a leisure pool at the Bay, or slow coffee in Pontcanna followed by a walk along the Taff.

York has the edge, mostly thanks to a neighbour. Harrogate is half an hour away by train, and its Royal Baths have a Victorian Turkish bath with Moorish tiled hot rooms, steam rooms and plunge pools. Back in the city, early mornings on the walls and long afternoon teas set a gentle pace.