Coimbra or Lagos, Portugal?

Coimbra is an inland city, so swimming means a day out. You can take the train for about an hour to the wide, windy sands of Figueira da Foz, or spend an afternoon at a grassy river beach on the Mondego's tributaries in the hills.

Lagos is built around its beaches. The cliff-backed coves of Camilo, Dona Ana and Pinhão are a short walk from the old town, and Meia Praia adds about 4km of open sand. The water in the sheltered coves is clear and a degree or two warmer than the open Atlantic at Figueira, and far gentler than the surf there.

Coimbra has the slight edge, thanks to the country around it: leitão roasted in the Bairrada towns, goat chanfana from the hills, convent pastries and cheap tasca lunches near the university. The range in town is narrow, though, with little beyond Portuguese cooking.

Lagos is about the sea, with grilled sardines, octopus and cataplana, and the better meals are by the harbour or a street back from the tourist lanes, where menus are written for visitors.

Coimbra offers a far richer day of sightseeing. The hilltop university with its gilded baroque library, the fortress-like Sé Velha, the museum over a Roman cryptoportico, the royal tombs at Santa Cruz and the half-buried Santa Clara-a-Velha fill one or two full days.

Lagos has a seafaring past worth knowing, told through its old walls, the harbour fort, the gilded interior of Santo António and the slave market museum, but it fits into a single morning.

Coimbra's nightlife is smaller and tied to the university. In term time the bars around Praça da República and in the upper town fill late, a few small clubs keep going, and the Queima das Fitas in May takes over the city. In July and August it goes quiet.

Lagos has the bigger and later night out. It has more bars and cocktail places, organised pub crawls and a few clubs open until near dawn. Its seasons are the reverse of Coimbra's: it peaks in summer just as the student city empties, then quietens from November to March. Neither has real club culture.

Lagos has the more dramatic outdoors, with sea arches and grottoes at Ponta da Piedade to explore by kayak, clifftop paths towards Luz and Burgau, dolphin trips and the wild Costa Vicentina with its Fishermen's Trail.

Coimbra's landscape is greener and more wooded than coastal. The Buçaco forest, the slate villages of the Serra da Lousã and a kayak run down the Mondego are fine days out, and the Serra da Estrela gives it real mountains that the Algarve lacks.

Coimbra is much the better base for exploring. Sitting on the main line between Lisbon and Porto, it puts Porto and the canals of Aveiro within an easy train ride, the mosaics of Conímbriga just south, and Batalha, Alcobaça and Tomar's Convent of Christ within reach by car or coach.

From Lagos the obvious outing is Sagres and Cape St Vincent, with Silves's Moorish castle and Tavira further off. It is a pleasant list, but thinner, and most of it needs a car.

Lagos suits young families better because the beach does most of the work: Meia Praia's gentle slope, boat trips to the grottoes and relaxed evenings at the marina, with water parks and a marine park within a drive.

Coimbra has two genuine children's attractions in Portugal dos Pequenitos and the Exploratório science centre, plus riverside parks, but its steep cobbled centre and university sights suit older children better. Both old towns are hard going with a pushchair.

Inside each town you walk, and in both the cobbles and slopes are the catch. Coimbra's hill is steeper, though a lift and funicular ease the climb, while Lagos is flatter between the old town, the marina and the coves.

The real difference is leaving town. Coimbra sits on Portugal's main rail line with fast trains in both directions, whereas Lagos is the slow western end of the Algarve line and most visitors hire a car.

Neither is a shopping destination. Coimbra has a little more, with the pedestrian streets of the Baixa, a proper produce market, hand-painted faience and Bairrada wine to take home. Lagos is browsing on the way to dinner: Algarve ceramics, cork, sardine tins, surf shops and medronho from the market.

Coimbra is the cheaper of the two for most of the year. Its prices are set for students, rooms near the old town are fairly priced outside the May festival and graduation weeks, and the university ticket is the only sizeable outlay.

Lagos only closes part of the gap when the summer crowds leave. Even then, a fish lunch a street or two back from the main lanes is reasonable rather than cheap, so everyday spending stays above Coimbra's tasca level. In one respect Lagos costs less: its beaches and most sights are free, while Coimbra's main sight comes with a ticket.

Coimbra has a clear reason to go to a performance: its own lyrical fado, sung by caped students with the Coimbra guitar in small old-town houses, alongside theatre and touring concerts at the Gil Vicente theatre and the São Francisco arts centre. Lagos offers little beyond a modest cultural centre and fado evenings laid on for visitors in summer.

The two are close, and both rely on slowing down rather than spa culture. Coimbra has the old spa country on its doorstep, with thermal water at Luso and the Belle Époque park at Curia about half an hour north.

Lagos relaxes in a different way: sunset cliff walks, yoga and surf retreats towards Luz and the west coast, and the Roman-era springs of Caldas de Monchique an hour inland.