Cascais or Toledo?

Cascais has the sea on its doorstep. Small sandy coves such as Conceição and Rainha lie below the old centre, a promenade leads to Estoril, and the surf beach at Carcavelos is a few stops up the line. The water stays cool and Guincho is better for watching than for swimming, but a swim fits easily into any day.

Toledo sits on the La Mancha plateau, hours from any coast, and nobody swims in the Tagus in its gorge. In the summer heat, a hotel pool or a municipal pool is the only way to cool off.

Cascais eats from the sea. There are grilled sardines and bass, clams and seafood platters from the harbour's catch, the Mercado da Vila for a morning browse, and long lunches looking over the waves towards Guincho. Toledo's cooking is the inland opposite: partridge, venison and wild boar, carcamusas, Manchego and convent marzipan.

Both towns have plenty of tourist menus near the main sights, but the coast gives a little more choice, and Lisbon's restaurants are a train ride away. In Toledo the best meals are in the taverns a few streets from the cathedral and the tapa bars around Zocodover.

On culture, Toledo is far ahead. The whole old town is a layered monument of Roman, Islamic, Jewish and Christian Spain. It has one of the great cathedrals of Spain, the synagogues of Santa María la Blanca and El Tránsito, the mosque of Cristo de la Luz and El Greco's work in Santo Tomé, which is enough for two full days.

Cascais fills a pleasant afternoon instead, with its royal-era villas on the seafront, the Citadel and Paula Rego's paintings in the Casa das Histórias. For major sights, its visitors go to Lisbon or Sintra.

Neither town is made for late nights, but Cascais has a little more going on. Its wine bars and cocktail terraces in the narrow old streets fill on summer evenings, and the Estoril casino offers a dressier night. In Toledo, evenings mean a late dinner and a round of tapas near Zocodover, after which the old town goes quiet. From either town, a proper night out means the train to Lisbon or Madrid.

Cascais has much the wilder setting. West of town the coast runs past Boca do Inferno and the dunes to Guincho, a beach for kitesurfing and surfing, and on to the cliffs of Cabo da Roca. Behind it rise the misty forests of the Serra de Sintra.

Toledo's best walk is the footpath around the Tagus gorge below its walls, with views back from the cigarrales on the far bank. Beyond lies the open plain of La Mancha. The Montes de Toledo and the Cabañeros national park reward walkers and birdwatchers who are willing to drive.

Both make excellent bases, each with a capital a short train ride away. Cascais has the slight edge, because both Lisbon and Sintra's palaces are easy to reach without a car. Mafra, Ericeira, Óbidos and the Setúbal wine country fill further days.

From Toledo, the fast train runs to Madrid's Prado and royal palace, and Aranjuez, El Escorial and the windmills of Consuegra are within reach by road. Segovia, Ávila and Cuenca are possible but make long days, and you need a car for most of these trips.

Cascais is the easier town with children. Its sheltered coves are shallow, the flat seafront promenade suits pushchairs and scooters, and Marechal Carmona park has peacocks and a playground. For an aquarium or a zoo, though, you have to go into Lisbon.

Toledo has the swords, armour and castle-like Alcázar that catch young imaginations, and a large theme park of history shows on its outskirts. Steep cobbled lanes, hot summer afternoons and a long list of churches and paintings make it better for a short stay.

Both centres are easy on foot, but the walking is very different. Cascais is flat along the shore, with the promenade to Estoril and a coastal train straight into Lisbon. Toledo is a steep hill of twisting cobbled lanes, though public escalators climb from the car parks below the walls.

Further out, a car helps in both. From Cascais it saves you the slow buses to the wild coast and the Sintra hills. From Toledo it opens up the La Mancha countryside, and the railway station sits across the river at the foot of the hill.

Neither is a place to go shopping, and both send anyone after fashion to the capital. The difference is in what they sell. Cascais leans to beachwear, surf brands, tiles, cork and decorative tinned fish. Toledo sells its own old crafts, such as gold-inlaid damascene, blades and convent marzipan, among a lot of souvenir stock where it pays to find a real workshop.

Toledo is the cheaper stay. A drink in many bars comes with a small tapa, the set lunches in the taverns are good value, and rooms just outside the walls are moderately priced. Paying separate entry at each monument does add up over a day of sightseeing.

Cascais is an upmarket resort and one of the dearer places to stay in Portugal. Its seafront hotels and harbour restaurants charge high prices, especially in July and August. Back-street cafés and a visit outside high summer bring the cost down.

Neither town has much of a stage life, but Cascais gives you a few more evenings to fill, and most of them come in summer. Outdoor concerts and festivals run along the coast, with jazz a long-standing part of them, and the Estoril casino puts on shows and cabaret. Its veteran theatre company performs in Portuguese, so it suits locals better than visitors. Fado still means an evening in Lisbon.

Toledo's live arts centre on one big occasion rather than a season. At Corpus Christi the procession, the music and the decorated lanes turn the whole old town into the stage. For the rest of the year there is an occasional organ or choir concert in a church and a modest regional programme at the Teatro de Rojas. On most nights there is little to book, and opera or a full orchestra means the train to Madrid.

Cascais is the better place to unwind. Estoril grew up as a spa resort around its thermal springs, large hotels have good spas, and slow seafront walks and yoga by the sea set the pace, though crowds come out from Lisbon on summer weekends.

Toledo's calm comes in the early mornings and evenings, once the tour groups have gone. Apart from a few Arab-style bath houses and hotel spas, it has little for a restorative stay.