Cordoba or Malaga?

The two could hardly differ more here. Cordoba is about 160km from the sea, so in summer swimming means a hotel or municipal pool, or a drive to a Sierra Morena reservoir. The sea is a long day trip by fast train.

In Malaga you can walk from the old town onto La Malagueta in minutes. The shore runs on to Pedregalejo and El Palo, and the suburban train reaches the Costa del Sol resort beaches. The sand is grey-brown and ordinary rather than pretty. For clearer water and coves you go east to Nerja and Maro.

Both are tapas cities, but the land shapes one menu and the sea shapes the other. Cordoba's tabernas serve salmorejo, flamenquin, rabo de toro and fried aubergine with cane honey, with chilled dry Montilla-Moriles wine.

Malaga has a little more to offer, mostly because of the waterfront. There are espetos of sardines grilled on the beach, plates of pescaito frito in El Palo, the Atarazanas market and sweet moscatel poured from the barrel. Neither city is a fine-dining destination, so both reward casual grazing.

Cordoba holds the greater heritage. The Mezquita-Cathedral, with its forest of striped arches and a cathedral built into its centre, is reason enough to come. The Juderia with its synagogue, the Roman bridge, the Alcazar gardens, the patios of Palacio de Viana and the caliphal city of Medina Azahara make it a two- or three-day study of Moorish and Christian Spain.

Malaga's strength is museums rather than one great monument. It has the Picasso Museum and his birthplace, the Carmen Thyssen and the Museo de Malaga. Its Alcazaba and Roman theatre are fine, but they sit in the shadow of what Cordoba offers.

Malaga has more nights out. After a late dinner, people fill the bars around Plaza de la Merced and Plaza Uncibay until well past two on summer weekends. Beach bars along Pedregalejo stay open late, and Torremolinos, a short train ride away, adds clubs and a gay scene.

Cordoba's nights centre on long tapas evenings in the squares around the Corredera and Las Tendillas. They are good in summer and during the May fair, but quiet for much of the rest of the year.

Malaga has the stronger outdoors. The pine forest of the Montes de Malaga starts at the city's edge. The Caminito del Rey gorge walk and the limestone stacks of El Torcal are about an hour away, and there is snorkelling under the Maro cliffs. The Sierra Nevada adds skiing in winter.

Cordoba's countryside is gentler: the holm-oak hills of the Sierra Morena, the birds of prey of Hornachuelos and the karst of the Subbeticas. Most of it needs a car, and the summer heat confines it to dawn.

Both are first-rate bases, and each is a day trip from the other at about an hour by fast train. Cordoba is better placed for Seville, which is under an hour away, and for the Renaissance towns of Ubeda and Baeza and the Montilla bodegas.

Malaga makes Seville a stretch, but it adds the coast. Ronda's gorge, Nerja with Frigiliana, Mijas, Marbella's old quarter and even Gibraltar are all within reach. Granada and the Alhambra are an equally easy trip from either city.

Malaga suits children much better. It has gently shelving city beaches, the palm-lined Paseo del Parque, the ramparts of the Alcazaba to climb, and a coast lined with a zoo, an aquarium, a dolphin park and a safari park.

Cordoba's car-free lanes are safe to roam, and the Alcazar fountains and the royal stables horse show go down well. Beyond those, its sights are made for adults, and the summer heat is hard on small children.

Both centres are compact enough to see on foot. Cordoba's lanes are narrow and cobbled, which is lovely for walking but awkward with wheeled cases. Its station is close to the old town, though Medina Azahara and the countryside need a bus, taxi or car.

Malaga's centre is flat and smooth underfoot. Its suburban train links the airport, about ten minutes away, and the coastal resorts, which gives it the edge for trips beyond the city without a car.

Malaga is the better place to shop. Calle Larios has the Spanish chains on polished marble, Muelle Uno lines the port, and there are a few independent shops in Soho. Puerto Banus is an hour away for luxury.

Cordoba is for crafts rather than shopping as a pastime. Its silver filigree, embossed cordobán leather, ceramics and workshop-made guitars are worth seeking out, as long as you skip the souvenir stalls in the Juderia.

Cordoba is the cheaper stay, mainly because its rooms are good value for most of the year and the compact centre saves on transport. The exception is May, when the patio festival and the fair push prices up sharply.

In Malaga, food, drink and local trains are similarly fair. Rooms in the old town and near the beach are in heavy demand from spring to autumn, though, so staying a little outside the centre or coming in winter helps.

The two are broadly level, and in both flamenco is the reason to go out, in tablaos and in the more genuine peñas. Cordoba's flamenco roots run deeper, with a guitar festival and the Noche Blanca del Flamenco, a summer night of free shows in the squares.

Malaga has the Teatro Cervantes and its Philharmonic, small jazz and rock stages in bars, and the brass bands of Semana Santa.

Neither is a spa destination, and both have Arab-style bath houses under brick arches in the old town. In Cordoba, rest comes from quiet patios with fountains and orange trees, and from the summer midday shutdown.

Malaga offers seafront evening walks along the Paseo Maritimo, larger resort spas along the coast towards Marbella, and a sunny, mild winter well suited to doing very little.