Chefchaouen or Essaouira?

Neither is a beach resort, but Essaouira at least has sand on its doorstep. A wide, pale crescent starts at the medina walls and is good for walks, riding and watching kites, with swims on calm mornings in water that stays cool. The wind is the catch for anyone who wants to lie in the sun.

Chefchaouen has no beach at all. The nearest is the grey sand at Oued Laou on the Mediterranean, more than an hour away down a winding gorge road, where the water is warmer in late summer. Closer to town, the cold river pools at Akchour are only good for a dip.

Essaouira eats better, thanks to its port. Picking fish and crab from the day's catch and having them grilled at the harbour stalls is a meal Chefchaouen cannot match, and argan oil, amlou and a few riad dining rooms add a little more range.

In Chefchaouen the menus repeat themselves around Outa el-Hammam, and the best things are simple: Rif goat cheese wrapped in palm leaf, bissara for breakfast and bread from the communal ovens. Alcohol is even scarcer than in Essaouira, where it is limited but can be found.

In both towns the town itself is the main sight, and both can be seen in a day or two, but Essaouira has a little more depth. Its UNESCO-listed medina, laid out on a grid, the Skala ramparts lined with cannons and the old mellah tell the story of an 18th-century Atlantic trading port.

Chefchaouen's appeal is more visual: steep blue lanes laid out after 1471 and settled by refugees from Andalusia, the red-walled kasbah on Outa el-Hammam and the sunset view from the Spanish Mosque. It is the more photogenic of the two, with fewer formal sights to visit.

Neither town is for a night out, though Essaouira at least has somewhere to go: rooftop terraces for a sunset drink, a few licensed bars along the beachfront road and the beach bars where surfers gather. Chefchaouen has a couple of hotel bars, and otherwise the day ends with tea in the square before the medina falls silent.

Chefchaouen has the wilder landscape. The Rif rises right above the medina, and Talassemtane National Park offers the gorge walk to God's Bridge, cedar and fir forests with Barbary macaques, and treks of several days between villages, though the trails are poorly marked.

Essaouira's outdoors is about wind and coast: kitesurfing and windsurfing on the bay and at Sidi Kaouki, horse rides to the dunes at Diabat, argan forest with goats in the trees, and Eleonora's falcons on the islands. It suits active days by the sea rather than mountain walking.

Chefchaouen has the one outing that really justifies a full day: the large UNESCO-listed medina of Tetouan, with Martil on the coast beyond it and Ouezzane as a quieter option.

Essaouira is more cut off, and its outings are small: argan cooperatives, the thuya workshops at Ghazoua, Sidi Kaouki and the ruins near Diabat, with Safi two hours up the coast. From either town, the big cities are better as the next stop than as a return trip.

Essaouira is the easier choice with children. The flat, compact medina leads straight to the beach, and the camels, horses, fishing boats and gulls keep younger children busy, although the cool sea and summer wind limit beach days.

Chefchaouen is calm and welcoming but hard work. The stepped lanes rule out pushchairs, the sights are aimed at adults, and offers of hashish in the lanes are awkward. It suits a short stop with older children who would enjoy the walk to the Akchour pools.

Both are walking towns with no real public transport, but the ground is very different. Essaouira's medina is flat, porters wheel luggage in from the gates, and the beach promenade runs straight on from the walls.

Chefchaouen is just as small but built on a slope, so nearly every walk means stairs and polished steps. Neither town has a railway. Both rely on buses and grand taxis, and you need a driver for places such as Akchour or Sidi Kaouki.

Essaouira has more to browse. There are thuya-wood boxes and inlay carved in workshops under the ramparts, argan cosmetics, silver jewellery, and small galleries of naive and gnawa-inspired painting.

Chefchaouen's lanes offer less variety but are strongly regional, with heavy Rif blankets, striped weavings, djellabas and bottles of blue pigment, some of it woven on looms in the shopfronts. Both are low-pressure souks with no boutiques or department stores.

Both are cheap by European standards, but Chefchaouen goes further. Simple guesthouses cost very little, the medina is free to wander, and a tagine on the square and shared taxis to the valleys are both inexpensive.

Essaouira's popularity with foreign visitors shows in the prices at the smarter riads, the rooftop restaurants and anywhere serving alcohol. Grilled fish at the port and the free ramparts still keep a careful budget within reach.

Essaouira has a musical identity that Chefchaouen lacks. As the home of gnawa, it hosts the yearly Gnaoua World Music Festival in its squares and on its ramparts, and for the rest of the year the music turns up informally in restaurants and squares.

Chefchaouen offers occasional Andalusian music around festivals and little else. Neither town has a theatre or a regular concert programme.

Essaouira is the better place for a deliberate rest. As well as neighbourhood hammams, it has riad and hotel spas offering argan oil massages and black soap scrubs, and yoga and surf-and-yoga retreats along the coast, though the wind can spoil time on a sun lounger.

Chefchaouen's calm comes from cool mountain air and slow days on the roof terrace. Its hammams are cheap and authentic, but only a handful of riads offer massages.