Coimbra or Cordoba?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Coimbra makes swimming much easier. Figueira da Foz, with its very wide sandy beach and the old fishing quarter of Buarcos, is about an hour away by train. In summer the grassy praias fluviais on the Mondego offer calmer, warmer water for an afternoon.

From Cordoba, the sea means a long day on the Costa del Sol around Malaga, roughly 160km away. Otherwise there are pools and Sierra Morena reservoirs, and if swimming matters you will want a few nights on the coast.

Cordoba is the stronger food city. Its patio tabernas, tapas rounds through Santa Marina and San Agustin, and local dishes such as salmorejo, flamenquin and aubergine with cane honey give an evening plenty of variety. The chilled Montilla-Moriles wines add a regional signature.

Coimbra's eating is honest and hearty but narrower. Students keep it to set lunches in Baixa tascas, convent pastries and the Mercado D. Pedro V. Its showpiece, leitão, really means a drive north to the roadside restaurants of Mealhada, with Bairrada sparkling wine to go with it.

Coimbra's heritage is all on one hill: the UNESCO-listed old university with the gilded Biblioteca Joanina, the Romanesque Sé Velha, the Roman cryptoportico under the Machado de Castro museum and Santa Cruz, where Portugal's first kings lie. It is a satisfying day or two.

Cordoba plays in a higher league. The Mezquita-Cathedral, with its forest of striped arches and a Renaissance cathedral inside, is one of Europe's great buildings. Around it are the Juderia, the Alcazar gardens, the patio houses of Viana and San Basilio and the caliphal ruins of Medina Azahara, enough to fill an extra day.

Neither city has a real club scene, and both get much of their life from students, but the rhythm differs. Coimbra's nights centre on the bars around Praça da República and the upper town during term, then go quiet in July and August. Cordoba is busiest in summer, with late terraces around the Corredera and Las Tendillas filling after ten.

Each city has one week when it erupts, both in May: the Queima das Fitas student parades in Coimbra and the casetas of the Cordoba fair, which dance until dawn.

Coimbra is the greener base by some distance. The Choupal woods and the botanical garden are in the city, and the walled Buçaco forest is half an hour north. The Lousã slate villages are a short drive east, and the Serra da Estrela offers real mountain hiking about two hours away.

Cordoba has the cork and holm-oak hills of the Sierra Morena, the birds of prey of Hornachuelos and good karst walking in the Subbeticas. But you need a car, and from June to September the heat confines activity to dawn.

Both are superb bases on a fast rail line, and Cordoba edges ahead because its neighbours are bigger names. Seville, Granada with the Alhambra, and Malaga are all within easy reach by high-speed train, and a car opens up Ubeda, Baeza and the dolmens of Antequera.

From Coimbra, Porto is about an hour by train and Aveiro's canals are closer still. The Conímbriga mosaics are just south, and by road you can reach the great monasteries of Batalha, Alcobaça and Tomar.

Coimbra gives children more to do. Portugal dos Pequenitos, with its miniature houses and monuments, and the Exploratório science centre are aimed squarely at them, though the cobbled climb to the university is hard work with a pushchair.

In Cordoba the treats are the Alcazar fountains, the horse show at the royal stables and the castle at Almodovar del Rio. The traffic-free lanes are easy to wander, but summer heat makes spring or autumn the only comfortable season with young children.

Both centres are walkable, but Cordoba is the easier one. Its Mezquita, Juderia, Alcazar and Roman bridge lie close together on flat lanes, and the station is within walking distance. You only need transport for Medina Azahara and the countryside.

Coimbra's sights are just as close together, but the walk from the Baixa up to the university means steep stairways such as the Quebra-Costas. The public lift and funicular help. Trains arrive at Coimbra-B, so getting into the centre takes a short connection.

Neither city is worth a shopping trip, and both are best for a few local things to take home. In Coimbra that means hand-painted faience, convent sweets and Bairrada wine from the Baixa's pedestrian streets. Cordoba's crafts have more pedigree: silver filigree, embossed cordobán leather and workshop guitars, with high-street chains around Cruz Conde.

Both are cheap by Western European standards, so cost should not decide between them. Coimbra's prices are set by students, which makes set lunches and drinks especially cheap, and the university ticket is the main expense. Cordoba's tapas and Montilla cost little too, but rooms near the Mezquita cost more, and both cities get pricier in May, when their festivals fall.

Each city has one live art of its own, and both are well worth an evening. Coimbra's fado is sung by men in academic capes with the Coimbra guitar, and it is more lyrical than Lisbon's. You can hear it in small old-town houses and at serenades on the Sé Velha steps.

Cordoba offers flamenco, from polished tablaos to the peñas where aficionados gather, along with a respected guitar festival. It also has the Gran Teatro with a city orchestra, which gives it a little more beyond its signature art.

Relaxing works differently in the two cities. From Coimbra, the real thing is a short drive away in the old spa towns of Luso and Curia, with thermal waters, Belle Époque hotels and the Buçaco woods. Cordoba keeps the caliphal tradition alive in Arab-style bath houses in the old town, and its courtyards with fountains and orange trees make a slow afternoon easy.