Cordoba or Salamanca?

Neither city is a place for the sea, but Cordoba at least makes a swim possible. The fast train reaches Malaga in about an hour, so a long beach day on the Costa del Sol can be done. Salamanca is a long drive from any coast. Its river beaches on the Tormes and the reservoirs of the province are the only open water nearby, pleasant for a summer afternoon and nothing more.

Both cities eat well and cheaply, but the cooking is different. Cordoba is southern and lighter: cold salmorejo, fried aubergine with cane honey and chilled Montilla-Moriles wine, eaten in old tabernas around Santa Marina and San Agustin.

Salamanca is Castilian and meaty: Guijuelo ibérico ham, hornazo, roast suckling pig and red wines from Toro and Ribera del Duero. Food here is eaten standing at the counter, and the student crowd keeps the portions large. Neither city is strong on fine dining or international food.

Cordoba has the greater single monument. The Mezquita's forest of striped arches, with a cathedral built into its middle, is unlike anything else in Europe, and the Alcazar, the Juderia synagogue and the caliphal ruins of Medina Azahara add depth to it.

Salamanca's appeal lies more in the whole ensemble. A golden sandstone old town gathers around the baroque Plaza Mayor, the University façade and the twin cathedrals, and it glows when floodlit after dark. Its museums are modest beyond the Casa Lis. Both centres take two or three days to cover properly.

Salamanca is the clear choice for a night out. Students and language learners fill its bars and dance clubs from Thursday to Saturday, and nights there run past 3am in most of the year apart from high summer.

Cordoba's evenings are mostly late tapas on the terraces of the Corredera and Las Tendillas. It only really stays up all night in summer and during the May fair, and the club scene is small. Choose it if you prefer a long evening at the table to dancing.

Salamanca has the better landscapes within reach. The chestnut forests of the Sierra de Francia, mountains above 2,000m and the granite canyon of the Arribes del Duero, with its boat trips, are all about an hour away.

Cordoba's countryside is gentler: the wooded hills of the Sierra Morena, Hornachuelos with its birds of prey, and the limestone gorges of the Subbeticas. Summer heat over 40°C rules out much of it for months at a time. You need a car to explore the countryside around either city.

Cordoba is the stronger base by some distance. High-speed trains put Seville, Granada and the Alhambra, and Malaga within easy reach, so three of Spain's great cities become day trips. With a car you can add Ubeda and Baeza, Antequera's dolmens and the Montilla bodegas.

Salamanca has a good set of smaller places: walled Ávila, the Romanesque churches of Zamora, Ciudad Rodrigo and the half-timbered villages of La Alberca and Mogarraz. Many of them take a car, and nothing nearby compares with the Alhambra.

For children, what sets the two apart is mainly the weather and the kind of distraction on offer. Cordoba has the fountains of the Alcazar gardens, the horse show at the royal stables, the castle at Almodovar del Rio and a small zoo. Its summer heat is hard on small children, though, so a family visit works far better in spring or autumn.

Salamanca turns its sights into a game: children hunt for the carved frog on the University façade and the astronaut on the New Cathedral, and they can climb the cathedral towers. It has no zoo, and its winters are bitterly cold. In either city, the safe, traffic-free centre and late evenings in the squares make a day or two easy, rather than a whole family vacation.

Salamanca is slightly easier. Its pedestrian old town takes about 20 minutes to cross from the Plaza Mayor to the Roman bridge, the streets are wider and gently sloping, and there is little reason to use a bus.

Cordoba is compact too, but its lanes are narrower and more twisting, which makes them harder going with luggage. Medina Azahara needs a tourist bus or taxi. In return, its fast rail links across Andalusia are far better than Salamanca's trains to Madrid and Valladolid.

Cordoba has the wider choice of workshop crafts. Alongside the silver filigree it is known for, there is embossed guadameci leather, ceramics and handmade guitars, and the best pieces come from specialist workshops rather than the souvenir stalls in the Juderia.

Salamanca shares the filigree tradition in its charro buttons and pendants, but its most worthwhile buys are edible: ibérico ham, sausages and cheese from the Mercado Central. For everyday shopping, Cruz Conde in Cordoba and Calle Toro and Calle Zamora in Salamanca have Spanish chains and a department store. Luxury boutiques are scarce in both.

Both are cheap by Western European standards, and walkable centres keep transport costs low in each. The savings come in different ways. Salamanca's student economy keeps bar prices down, and a drink often comes with a free tapa, though the admission charges for cathedrals and towers add up. Cordoba is good value for most of the year, but May festivals push room prices up sharply. Rooms near the Mezquita also cost more.

Cordoba gives you more to plan an evening around, and nearly all of it is flamenco. There are tablaos and peñas run by aficionados, a guitar festival, and the free all-night performances of the Noche Blanca. The Gran Teatro adds the city orchestra.

Salamanca's live music is more casual. Caped student tunas play under the Plaza Mayor arcades, university choirs sing in historic halls, and the Teatro Liceo hosts touring shows. There is no resident orchestra, so serious concertgoers will find little.

Rest in Cordoba means a shaded courtyard with fountains and orange trees, and in summer the midday shutdown makes everyone stop. If you want more than that, there are a few Arab-style bath houses under horseshoe arches and the spas of the better hotels, while the ruined Caliphal Baths recall a bathing culture that has long gone.

Salamanca has the same kind of bath houses and hotel spas, plus quiet cloisters to sit in at San Esteban and Las Dueñas. It can also offer real mineral springs. The old balneario at Ledesma is about half an hour away, and the Roman-era spa town of Baños de Montemayor is about an hour south. Even so, if spas are the main point of your trip, neither city will satisfy you.