Cascais or Jerez de la Frontera?

The two come out about even, but the beaches work very differently. In Cascais the sand is part of the town: small sheltered coves below the old centre, a promenade to Estoril, and Carcavelos for surf a few stops up the line. The catch is cold water and a short swimming season, and wild Guincho is better for watching than for swimming.

Jerez has no beach of its own. The Costa de la Luz, from El Puerto to Cádiz and La Barrosa, has long, open stretches of golden sand, and the sea is several degrees warmer in summer. In return you take a train or a drive instead of strolling down, and the Levante wind makes some days rough.

Jerez is the better place to eat and drink, because sherry runs through everything. Fino is poured from the barrel in the tabancos, the bodegas offer tastings, kidneys and oxtail are cooked in sherry, and late tapas rounds go on around Plaza del Arenal and San Miguel.

Cascais does one thing well: grilled fish and shellfish from its own harbour, with long lunches along the Guincho road. Beyond that the old centre relies on tourist menus, and keen eaters head into Lisbon.

Jerez has the deeper heritage. The Almohad Alcázar, the Baroque cathedral, the Gothic-Mudéjar parish churches and the flamenco quarters of Santiago and San Miguel fill two or three days, and the sherry bodegas and the dancing horses are found only here.

Cascais is charming rather than weighty. The royal-era villas on the seafront, the Citadel and the Paula Rego museum in its red towers make a pleasant day on foot, but for major monuments it relies on Lisbon and Sintra next door.

Neither is a party town, but Jerez stays up later. Its nights follow the Andalusian clock, with tabancos and copa bars busy past midnight at weekends, a few clubs, and the Feria del Caballo in May, which goes on until dawn for a week.

Cascais keeps to pubs, wine bars and terraces in a few old-centre streets, and it is quiet by midnight outside high summer. The Estoril casino offers a dressier evening, and Lisbon is the place for anything more.

Cascais has the more dramatic outdoors, and it starts at the edge of town. A cycle path runs past Boca do Inferno and the dunes to Guincho, which draws kitesurfers and surfers, and Cabo da Roca and the misty trails of the Serra de Sintra are close by.

Around Jerez the vineyard country is gentle. The bigger landscapes, the gorges of Grazalema, the cork forests of Los Alcornocales and the Doñana wetlands, take an hour or more to reach. Birdwatching and horse riding are real draws, but a car is part of the deal.

From Cascais the days out lead to Lisbon and its hills, and from Jerez to the cities and white towns of Andalusia. The coastal train reaches the capital in about 40 minutes, passing the monuments of Belém, and the palaces and romantic gardens of Sintra are half an hour over the ridge. Mafra, Ericeira and walled Óbidos make longer outings.

Jerez has Seville about an hour away by train, ancient Cádiz half an hour, and Sanlúcar and El Puerto, the other sherry towns, close by. The white towns, from Arcos on its cliff to Ronda in the hills, need a car, so Cascais is the easier base if you won't be driving.

Cascais is the easier choice with small children. It is compact and calm, the coves in the bay are shallow and sheltered, and the flat promenade to Estoril suits pushchairs and scooters. The sea is cold, though, and the zoo and aquarium mean a trip to Lisbon.

Jerez has a good zoo and the dancing-horse show, and children fit naturally into late Andalusian evenings. But the town is very hot in July and August, and its gentle sandy beaches are a journey rather than a short walk.

Both are easy on foot, with Cascais slightly ahead. Its coves, harbour and promenade are a short walk apart, and the coastal train to Cais do Sodré makes reaching Lisbon easy without a car.

Jerez's flat centre keeps the Alcázar, the bodegas and the tapas streets close together, and the station has direct trains to Seville and Cádiz. The white towns, Grazalema and many of the beaches, though, are hard to reach without a hired car.

Shopping is a sideline in both, and the difference is in what you take home. Cascais has beachwear, surf brands, azulejo tiles, cork goods and decoratively packed tinned fish, and Lisbon is the place for serious fashion. Jerez sells its own traditions: sherry and brandy from the bodegas, handmade saddlery and riding boots, and flamenco dresses and guitars near the old quarters.

Jerez is much the cheaper stay. Tapas and sherry cost little, central hotels are moderately priced, bodega tours are inexpensive and you can walk almost everywhere. Only the Feria, the flamenco festival and the motorcycle race weekends push room prices up.

Cascais is among the pricier places to stay in Portugal, with seafront hotels and promenade fish restaurants charging resort rates, most of all in July and August. Back-street cafés, set lunches and the cheap train to Lisbon help, and so does coming outside high summer.

Cascais has little to build an evening around. Its plays, staged by one of Portugal's oldest theatre companies, are in Portuguese, the Estoril casino leans towards cabaret, and the jazz and open-air concerts mostly happen in summer. If you want fado or a symphony concert, you will be taking the train to Lisbon.

Jerez is another matter, because flamenco grew up in its streets and the bulería is its own rhythm. Locals still gather for it all year in the members' clubs of Santiago and San Miguel, which welcome visitors on their regular nights, and in tabancos where the singers are an arm's length away, rough edges and all. The late-winter festival brings leading dancers to the Teatro Villamarta stage. Unlike a play in Portuguese, flamenco needs no translation.

Cascais is the better place for a restful stay. Estoril's spa tradition carries on in thalassotherapy and good hotel spas, yoga by the sea is easy to find in summer, and quiet mornings on the seafront set the pace, though crowds from Lisbon fill summer weekends.

Jerez has an Arab-style bathhouse and a few hotel spas, and little more. What relaxes you there is the pace of the day: long lunches, shaded patios and evening strolls, best in spring and autumn before the heat.