Chefchaouen or Tangier?

Neither is a beach destination, but only Tangier puts the sea within easy reach. From mountainous Chefchaouen, a swim means a long, winding drive down the gorge to the grey sand at Oued Laou, or a cold, shallow dip in the river pools at Akchour.

Tangier has its own beach curving around the bay, though the better swimming is a short taxi ride west on the wide Atlantic sands around Achakar, which have surf and cooler water. Asilah's beaches are also close. In high summer the beaches fill with Moroccan families, and beachwear is more modest than in Europe.

Chefchaouen's restaurants repeat the same tagines and kefta from lane to lane, so the rewards are the local specialities: Rif goat cheese wrapped in palm leaf, bissara for breakfast and bread from the communal ovens. A few days exhausts the choice.

Tangier eats noticeably better. Its cooking leans on fish from two seas, grilled at the port, along with msemen from street stalls and the produce markets around the Grand Socco, and the café terraces facing the Strait are a pleasure in themselves. Alcohol is limited in both towns and even scarcer in the mountains.

Both towns are more about atmosphere than monuments, but Tangier has more to see. In Chefchaouen the blue medina itself is the attraction. The kasbah's small ethnographic museum is the only formal visit and the sunset walk to the Spanish Mosque gives the classic view, so a day or two covers it.

Tangier has more layers. There is the palace museum of Moroccan art in the kasbah, looking across to Spain, and the American Legation, which tells the story of the city's international era. Add St Andrew's church, the Art Deco Ville Nouvelle and the city's links with Paul Bowles and the Beat writers, and it is worth two or three days.

Chefchaouen has no nightlife beyond dinner, tea in Outa el-Hammam square and a stroll before the lanes go quiet, and drink is found only in a couple of hotel bars. Tangier is hardly a party city either, but it has a discreet circle of old international-era bars, hotel lounges in the Ville Nouvelle and beach clubs that come alive in summer, plus a seafront busy with families on warm evenings.

This is where Chefchaouen pulls ahead. The trails begin at the edge of the medina and climb into the Rif. Talassemtane National Park, with its cedar forests, Barbary macaques, waterfalls and God's Bridge, is about forty minutes away. A local guide helps, as marked routes are few.

Tangier's outdoors are gentler and coastal. There are cliff paths and pine woods at Cap Spartel, where two seas meet, the wooded Perdicaris park and the Caves of Hercules. In spring and autumn, storks and raptors cross the Strait, and boats go out to watch dolphins.

From Chefchaouen there is really one strong outing: Tetouan's larger and quieter medina, with the coast at Martil just beyond. Tangier and Fes are better treated as the next stop than as a return trip in a day.

Tangier is by far the better base. Asilah and Tetouan are each about an hour away, the high-speed train reaches Rabat in well under two hours, and the Roman ruins of Lixus lie down the coast. A ferry takes you to Tarifa in Spain in about an hour, which adds a second continent to the list.

Neither town is built for children, so families will find them much alike. Chefchaouen is calm, with little traffic inside the walls, but its stepped lanes defeat pushchairs, and older children may like the river pools at Akchour best.

Tangier has a few more easy outings, such as the seafront promenade, the Perdicaris park and a day trip by ferry to Spain. Touts can wear parents down, though, and a hotel pool often does much of the work.

Chefchaouen is simpler to manage. You can cross the medina on foot in about fifteen minutes, though the stairs and polished steps are tiring with bags, and grand taxis cover Akchour. There is no railway, so arrival is by bus or road.

Tangier covers more ground. Beyond the medina, the kasbah and Boulevard Pasteur you rely on petit taxis, as there is no metro or tram and the buses are of little use. Coming and going is easier, though, thanks to its train station and the ferry port in the centre.

Chefchaouen's shops are more local, but the choice is small. Its lanes sell Rif blankets and weavings, djellabas, baskets and blue pigment, often made in the region, with weavers at their looms and gentle bargaining. The range repeats itself after a few streets.

Tangier offers a little more variety. The lanes around the Petit Socco sell rugs, lanterns, ceramics and striped Rif cloth, with a harder sell. The Ville Nouvelle and the malls on the bay add antique shops, chain stores and everyday buys.

Both are cheap by European standards, and Chefchaouen is the lighter on the wallet. Its guesthouses and riads cost little, the town itself is the main sight and free to wander, and shared taxis to the valleys are inexpensive.

Tangier is still good value for grilled fish, tea and taxis. Hotels with sea views, seafront places in summer and anywhere that serves alcohol push costs up.

Chefchaouen has nothing to book. There is no theatre or concert venue, so the town's music comes in snatches: the call to prayer and the odd sufi chant over the rooftops, and the Andalusian repertoire of its founders, which is heard mostly when a festival brings it out.

Tangier is no performance city either, but a music lover can plan a trip around it. Its annual jazz festival and its festival concerts of gnawa, Jilala and Andalusian music offer the kind of listening the mountain town cannot. The Jajouka players from the nearby hills, once famous abroad, give its music a history. Between festivals, the best you can hope for is a band in a hotel lounge or a film at the old cinema on the Grand Socco, not a night at the theatre.

The two are close for rest, and both have simple neighbourhood hammams with separate hours for men and women. Chefchaouen's calm is the bigger draw, with mountain air, roof terraces and the sound of the Ras el-Maa spring, though spa treatments are limited to a few riads.

Tangier has more comfortable hammam and massage spas in riads and larger hotels, and long afternoons on terraces over the Strait. The port and traffic below are never quiet, though.