Cordoba or Rabat?

Cordoba has no beach life at all. The nearest sea is the Costa del Sol, about 160km away, and in summer locals swim in pools and Sierra Morena reservoirs instead.

Rabat sits on the Atlantic, with a local beach right below the Kasbah of the Udayas and quieter sand a short taxi ride south at Harhoura and Skhirat. The swell and cool water make it better for surfing and an afternoon by the sea than for lazy swimming, but it is still the sea on your doorstep, which Cordoba cannot offer.

Cordoba has the edge for eating. It has a clear local repertoire of salmorejo, flamenquin, rabo de toro and fried aubergine with cane honey, eaten in patio tabernas around Santa Marina and San Agustin with chilled Montilla-Moriles wine.

Rabat offers honest Moroccan home cooking, such as tagines, Friday couscous, harira and grilled Atlantic sardines, plus evening snail broth from street stalls and a strong mint-tea café culture. Its embassy districts add Lebanese and French cooking, but alcohol is discreet and the range is narrower, so wine with dinner comes far more naturally in Cordoba.

Both cities have compact, historic centres that can be seen in two or three days, but Cordoba's are on a grander scale. The Mezquita-Cathedral, with its striped arches and a cathedral built into the middle of it, is a world-class monument, and the Juderia, the Alcazar, the Roman bridge and Medina Azahara add depth around it.

Rabat's sights span Roman Sala at the Chellah, the Almohad gate of the Kasbah of the Udayas, the unfinished Hassan Tower and an art deco Ville Nouvelle. It is calm, varied and well kept, but no single sight carries the weight of the Mezquita.

Cordoba gives you more to do after dark, though it is a city of late tapas rather than clubs. In the warm months the terraces around the Corredera and Las Tendillas fill after ten, students keep bars busy at weekends, and the May fair runs until dawn.

Rabat is quieter still. Evenings mean cafés, family walks along the Bou Regreg and a few hotel bars and lounges in Agdal, and anyone wanting a big night out is pointed towards Casablanca.

The two are broadly level, but the outdoors differs in kind. Cordoba has the wooded Sierra Morena just north, birds of prey in Hornachuelos and limestone gorges in the Sierras Subbeticas, though summer heat confines walking to the early morning and a car is needed.

Rabat's setting is coastal: the Bou Regreg estuary for paddling, surf schools at the river mouth and the Maamora cork oak forest for easy cycling. It is mild enough to be outdoors all year, but real mountains are hours away, as they are from Cordoba.

Cordoba is the stronger base by some distance. High-speed trains reach Seville in under an hour and Granada and Malaga soon after, so Andalusia's great cities become easy day trips. With a car, Ubeda, Baeza, the Antequera dolmens and the Montilla bodegas are all within reach.

Rabat's rail line is good too, with Casablanca an hour away and Tangier, Asilah and Meknes within comfortable reach, and Salé is just across the river by tram. Fez and Volubilis, though, really need an overnight stay.

Rabat is slightly the easier of the two with children. Hassle in the medina is rare, the tram keeps distances short, the national zoo has open enclosures, and the Jardin d'Essais and Bouknadel gardens give space to run. The beach waves call for close watching, however.

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

Cordoba is easier on foot. The Mezquita, Juderia, Alcazar, Roman bridge and patio quarters lie within a short walk of each other, and the station is close to the old town. Narrow cobbled lanes make wheeling luggage awkward, though, and Medina Azahara and the countryside need a tourist bus, a taxi or a car.

Rabat spreads further, but the main sights sit on broad, flat streets by the river, and the tram and cheap petit taxis cover the Chellah, Agdal and Salé. Because the rail network handles the main day trips, a car is never really needed there.

Neither city is made for a shopping trip, though Rabat has a little more to browse. Rue des Consuls in the medina is a long covered street of carpets, brass, leather and embroidery, the haggling is gentle, and Salé's potteries are across the river.

Cordoba's strength is a few fine crafts from specialist workshops: silver filigree, embossed cordobán leather and locally made guitars. For everyday shopping it offers Spanish chains around Cruz Conde.

Rabat is the cheaper of the two day to day. Medina meals, café terraces, the tram and taxis cost little, and many sights are free or nearly so. Rooms and the Agdal restaurants are the costly part, and so is alcohol.

Cordoba is good value for Western Europe, with tapas and Montilla wine in the tabernas costing little and a centre you can walk. The May festivals push room rates up sharply, and the main monuments charge admission.

Cordoba offers more for an evening of live performance, thanks to flamenco. You can hear it in tablaos and in the peñas where aficionados gather, and also at the guitar festival and the Noche Blanca del Flamenco. The Gran Teatro adds orchestra and theatre.

Rabat holds the national theatres and the large Mawazine festival, but programmes run irregularly and are mostly in Arabic and French. Outside the festival, Andalusian and chaabi music has to be sought out.

Rabat has a living bathing culture that Cordoba lost centuries ago. Neighbourhood hammams in the medina and Salé offer steam and a black-soap scrub, hotel spas add argan oil massages, and the city's unhurried pace and riverside walks do the rest.

Cordoba's version is the Arab-style bath houses in the old town and its hotel spas. Its real calm comes from fountain courtyards with orange trees and the enforced midday rest in summer.