Casablanca or Tangier?

Neither city is a beach destination, and the beaches are about equally good. What differs is the setting. Casablanca's sand lies along the Corniche at Ain Diab, below beach clubs whose pools are where many people actually swim. For a proper beach day you drive to Dar Bouazza, Bouznika or Mohammedia.

Tangier's city beach curves round the bay, and the view is better than the water. The swimming worth having is on the open Atlantic sands at Achakar and Cap Spartel, or down the coast at Asilah.

Both cities eat much the same Moroccan home cooking, with seafood at its best, so the gap is in range. Casablanca has more variety: fish picked at the Marché Central and grilled next door, French-style brasseries and pâtisseries in Maarif and Gauthier, and wine that is easier to order.

Tangier is simpler and lives in its cafés. Breakfast is a bowl of bissara, lunch comes from the grill counters near the Grand Socco, and afternoons go on mint tea on terraces above the Strait. There is little fine dining.

There is about two or three days of sightseeing in each city, but the sights are very different. Casablanca is a twentieth-century city. One monumental building, the Hassan II Mosque, which non-Muslims can enter on a guided tour, stands alongside protectorate Art Deco downtown and the planned 1930s Habous quarter.

Tangier's history goes further back and has more layers. The kasbah palace museum sits above a whitewashed medina, the American Legation tells the story of the international era, and the city keeps its ties to Paul Bowles and the Beat writers. It has the stronger sense of place.

Casablanca offers much more after dark. At weekends the Corniche at Ain Diab fills with lounges, beach clubs and clubs playing house and Arabic pop until late, and Maarif and Gauthier have cocktail lounges and a few protectorate-era bars.

In Tangier the evening means a walk along the seafront and mint tea on a terrace. Drinking is limited to a few old bars and hotel lounges, plus beach clubs that open in summer, and the medina goes quiet early.

Tangier has far better landscape on its doorstep. The headland at Cap Spartel, where the two seas meet, has cliffs, a lighthouse and paths through pine and eucalyptus, and the Caves of Hercules are close by. In spring and autumn the Strait carries one of the region's great bird migrations.

Casablanca's flat coastal plain offers less. You can run along the Corniche to El Hank lighthouse, surf at Ain Diab, or walk in the eucalyptus of the Bouskoura forest.

Tangier is the better base. Asilah and Tetouan's UNESCO-listed medina are each about an hour away, Chefchaouen makes a long day out, and a ferry takes you to Tarifa in Spain in about an hour. A day across the water is something Casablanca simply cannot offer.

From Casablanca the strongest outing is Rabat by train. El Jadida's Portuguese cistern, the riverside medina of Azemmour and the oyster lagoon at Oualidia complete a list that is good but shorter.

Neither city is easy with children, and they fall short for different reasons. Casablanca at least has things built for children: the aquarium and indoor rides in the Corniche mall, the amusement park and zoo at Ain Diab, and beach club pools. Its traffic and broken pavements wear families down, though.

Tangier is calmer and cooler in summer and has gentle outings to the Perdicaris park, the caves and across to Spain by ferry. It has nothing made for children, and the medina's stairways are hard going with a pushchair.

Getting around is about as easy in both, but in different ways. Casablanca is spread out, and its tram and busway lines, backed by red petits taxis, carry you from downtown to the Corniche. The long distances and wide roundabouts make walking between areas tiring.

Tangier has no tram, but its medina, kasbah and Ville Nouvelle sit close enough together to cover on foot, as long as you can manage the slopes. You need a blue taxi for Cap Spartel, and the ferry port is right in the centre.

Casablanca is the better place to shop, mainly for modern retail. The Corniche mall and the fashion streets of Maarif have no match elsewhere in Morocco. The Habous quarter sells leather, brass lamps and spices with little pressure, and Derb Ghallef is a good place to browse for oddities.

Tangier's shopping is in the medina. You find slippers, lanterns and the red-and-white striped cloth of the Rif, along with persistent sellers, and on Saturdays country women bring produce and woven hats to the Grand Socco.

Tangier is the cheaper stay, and almost all of the difference lies in where you sleep. Medina riads and guesthouses there are good value, especially outside summer. Casablanca has fewer guesthouses, and most of its hotels are priced for business travellers.

Day to day the two cost about the same. Fish, tagines, café terraces and taxis are cheap in both, and alcohol is expensive in both.

Casablanca has more going on. The large theatre on Place Mohammed V stages concerts, dance and touring shows, the cultural institutes run film and theatre seasons, and the city's own chaabi and rap scenes feed an annual urban music festival.

Tangier has the richer musical legend, from the Jajouka players to Andalusian classical music, and a long-running jazz festival of its own. On an ordinary night, though, the best you are likely to find is music in a hotel or the art-house cinema on the Grand Socco.

Both cities have neighbourhood hammams with black soap and the kessa glove, so the difference is in the setting. Casablanca has the more polished options: upscale spas in Maarif and thalassotherapy centres along the Corniche that use Atlantic seawater.

Tangier's bathhouses are simpler local places, but the city itself is easier to slow down in. You can spend long afternoons on terraces above the Strait or on quiet riad rooftops over the medina.