Chefchaouen or Rabat?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Rabat at least has the sea on its doorstep. The city beach sits below the kasbah walls, and calmer sand stretches south towards Temara, Harhoura and Skhirat, though Atlantic swell keeps most swimmers near the shore.

From Chefchaouen the sea means a winding drive of over an hour to the grey sand at Oued Laou, a full day out by grand taxi. The cold river pools at Akchour are the nearest place to cool off.

Rabat eats better, mainly because a capital brings range. Alongside medina tagines and Friday couscous there are grilled sardines and plain Atlantic fish near the port, snail broth and msemen at night stalls, and French and Lebanese cooking in Agdal and Hassan.

Chefchaouen's restaurants largely share one menu, and the rewards are rustic: Rif goat cheese in palm leaf, bissara for breakfast and bread from the communal ovens. Wine is scarce in both, though Rabat's hotels make it easier to find.

In Chefchaouen the town itself is the sight. The whole medina is washed in blue, with stairways, tiled doorways and wooden balconies best enjoyed slowly with a camera. Add the small kasbah museum on Outa el-Hammam and the sunset view from the Spanish Mosque, and a day or two covers it.

Rabat has far more to see, across nearly two thousand years: the Almohad gate and Andalusian garden of the Kasbah of the Udayas, the Hassan Tower beside the Mohammed V Mausoleum, the stork-topped ruins of the Chellah, and museums of modern art and archaeology. The kasbah's blue-and-white lanes give a small taste of Chefchaouen's look. They are a few streets inside one citadel, though, not a whole town painted blue.

Both are quiet after dark, but Chefchaouen is quieter still: dinner, tea in the square and a walk through the lit lanes, with only a couple of hotel bars. Rabat adds riverside promenades, busy café terraces, and hotel bars and lounges in Agdal frequented by diplomats. Neither suits clubbing, and Casablanca is the usual escape.

Chefchaouen is the place for the outdoors. Paths lead straight from the Ras el-Maa spring onto terraced slopes and Jebel el-Kelaa. Forty minutes away, Talassemtane National Park offers the Akchour gorge, God's Bridge, cedar forests and Barbary macaques. Trails are poorly marked, so a guide helps.

Rabat's nature is flat and coastal: surf at the river mouth, paddling on the Bou Regreg, easy rides in the Maamora cork forest and birdwatching at Sidi Boughaba. Pleasant, but serious hiking is hours away.

Rabat is by far the better base for excursions, thanks to the rail line. Casablanca's Hassan II Mosque, Tangier and Asilah on the high-speed route, and imperial Meknes are all simple return trips, and Salé's medina and madrasa are a tram ride across the river.

Chefchaouen really has one strong outing, the quiet UNESCO medina of Tetouan, with Martil beyond it. Tangier and Fes are better treated as the next stop than as a day trip.

Rabat is easier with children. It has flat streets, a tram, a large modern zoo with open enclosures, and green space at the Jardin d'Essais and Bouknadel, though the waves at the city beach need close watching.

Chefchaouen is calm and welcoming, but its stepped lanes defeat pushchairs and the town offers children little beyond the river pools at Akchour. Offers of hashish to adults in the lanes are another drawback, so it suits a short stop with older children who can walk.

Both centres are walkable, but in different ways. Chefchaouen's medina is small enough to cross in fifteen minutes, yet almost every route involves polished, slippery steps, and beyond the petit taxis to the gates, trips out depend on grand taxis or a driver, with no railway at all.

Rabat's main sights sit along the river on broad, level streets, the tram and plentiful petit taxis reach the Chellah and Salé, and the central station links to the national network, so a car is never needed.

Rabat has the broader choice. Rue des Consuls is a long covered street of deep-coloured Rabat carpets, brass, leather and embroidery, Salé adds pottery, and Agdal and the riverside mall cover everyday needs. Chefchaouen is smaller and more local: Rif blankets woven on looms in shopfronts, djellabas, baskets and bottles of blue pigment. Haggling is gentle in both, but Chefchaouen's range runs out after a few lanes.

Chefchaouen is the cheaper stay. Simple guesthouses and riads are plentiful, the town itself is free to explore, and shared taxis to the valleys cost little. Rabat is inexpensive day to day, with cheap medina meals, trams and taxis. Its accommodation leans towards business hotels, however, and Agdal's restaurants cost more, so the bill climbs mainly at night.

Here the gap is wide. Chefchaouen has no stage at all; an occasional Andalusian music performance at festival time and the call to prayer over the rooftops are about all a visitor will hear.

Rabat holds the Mohammed V National Theatre and the Grand Theatre on the Bou Regreg, with Arab music, theatre and touring productions, mostly in Arabic and French. The Mawazine festival fills open-air stages with Gnawa, African and international acts.

Both are restful in a slow, unpolished way, and both have simple neighbourhood hammams for a black-soap scrub. Rabat edges ahead on comfort, with hotel spas and argan oil massages for first-timers. Chefchaouen offers mountain air, roof terraces and the sound of the spring, but only a handful of riads offer treatments.