Cordoba or Lagos, Portugal?

This is where Lagos wins outright. Coves such as Camilo and Dona Ana sit beneath sculpted cliffs within walking distance of the old town, Meia Praia gives you kilometres of open sand, and the sheltered water is clear and usually calm in summer.

Cordoba has no beach life at all. Swimming means a hotel or municipal pool, or a reservoir in the Sierra Morena, and the Costa del Sol is a long return trip by train and bus. Anyone who wants sea and sand should not choose Cordoba.

Cordoba eats better and more distinctively. Its tabernas, many in old tiled-patio houses, serve dishes that belong to the city, salmorejo, flamenquin, rabo de toro and fried aubergine with cane honey, with chilled Montilla-Moriles wine, and a tapas round in Santa Marina or San Agustin is a good evening in itself.

Lagos is simpler and built around the grill: sardines, octopus and cataplana, with fish fresh from the riverside market. The catch is that the old town's lanes are full of tourist menus, so the good meals take a little seeking out by the harbour or in family places a street back.

Cordoba is in a different league. The Mezquita-Cathedral, with its forest of striped arches and a cathedral set inside it, is one of the great buildings of Europe, and the Juderia, the Roman bridge, the Alcazar gardens, the Viana patios and Medina Azahara fill two or three days.

Lagos has a worthwhile morning's walk: the old walls, the harbour fort, the gilded interior of Santo António and the slave market museum, which tells an important story of the early Atlantic slave trade. Beyond that, its heritage lies in the towns around it.

Lagos is the livelier place to go out, at least in summer. Its old town fills with backpackers, surfers and young travellers moving between bars and pubs until well past midnight, with a few small clubs going until near dawn, though it falls quiet from November to March.

Cordoba's nights are slower and more local: late tapas and drinks on terraces around the Corredera and Las Tendillas, with summer terrace bars and the May fair the times it really stays up. It suits a long evening at the table more than a night of drinking.

Lagos has the far stronger outdoors. The arches and grottoes of Ponta da Piedade are a short walk away and best seen by kayak, clifftop paths run towards Luz, boats go out to find dolphins, and the wild Costa Vicentina offers the Fishermen's Trail and surf. The Serra de Monchique adds hill walking inland.

Cordoba's countryside is quieter: the cork and holm-oak hills of the Sierra Morena, birds of prey at Hornachuelos and the limestone Subbeticas an hour south. Most of it needs a car, and summer heat restricts walking to dawn.

Cordoba is one of the best bases in southern Spain. Seville, Granada with the Alhambra and Malaga are all an easy return by high-speed train, and with a car you add Ubeda and Baeza, the dolmens of Antequera, Carmona and the Montilla bodegas.

From Lagos the outings are pleasant rather than remarkable: Sagres and Cape St Vincent at Europe's south-western tip, Silves and its red castle, and Tavira on a longer day. Transport is the other difference, since Lagos needs a car where Cordoba relies on the train.

Lagos is easier with children. Meia Praia's gently shelving shore, boat trips into the grottoes and relaxed evenings at the marina give a beach-based family vacation its rhythm, with water parks and a marine park within a drive. Steep stairs down to the coves are the main drawback.

Cordoba is safe and largely traffic-free, and children enjoy the Alcazar fountains, the horse show at the royal stables and the castle at Almodovar del Rio. Still, most sights are made for adults, and summer heat is hard on small children.

Both centres are best on foot, but Cordoba is the more convenient base overall. Its monuments sit close together, and the station, a short walk or taxi from the old town, links it directly to Seville, Madrid and Malaga by fast train.

In Lagos the town, marina and coves are a walk apart, with a footbridge to Meia Praia, but the slow railway line and infrequent regional buses mean most visitors hire a car for the west coast and the hills.

Neither is a shopping destination, but Cordoba has more worth bringing home. Silver filigree, embossed cordobán leather, ceramics and handmade guitars come from long-established workshops, and Cruz Conde has Spanish chains and a department store.

Lagos keeps to Algarve ceramics, cork goods, sardine tins, surf gear and market produce such as honey and medronho brandy, the kind of browsing you do on the way to dinner.

Cordoba is the cheaper stay. Tapas and Montilla cost little, rooms are good value for most of the year, and the compact centre saves on transport, with May festivals the main time prices jump.

Lagos is about average for Western Europe and swings with the season: beachside rooms and main-street restaurants are expensive in July and August, but rooms become much cheaper from October to May, and the beaches cost nothing.

Cordoba has a real live-music culture, centred on flamenco. Small tablaos and the aficionados' peñas, a respected guitar festival and the all-night Noche Blanca del Flamenco sit alongside the city orchestra and touring shows at the Gran Teatro.

Lagos offers a modest programme at its cultural centre, fado and guitar evenings for visitors and cover bands in the bars. Serious concerts mean a trip to Faro or Lisbon.

Neither is a spa destination, and both relax you through pace more than treatments. Cordoba's version is the Arab-style bath house under horseshoe arches, a quiet courtyard with a fountain and the enforced summer siesta.

Lagos offers sea air instead: sunset walks on the cliffs, yoga and surf retreats towards Luz and the west coast, and the old thermal springs of Caldas de Monchique an hour inland.