Cordoba or San Sebastian?

Here the two could hardly be further apart. Cordoba lies deep in the Guadalquivir valley, about 160km from the Costa del Sol. In summer, locals cool off in pools or at Sierra Morena reservoirs, and a sea swim means a full day out via Malaga.

San Sebastian has La Concha, a sheltered bay of pale sand right in town. Ondarreta is the quieter family end, and Zurriola is where the surfers go. The water is the Bay of Biscay, though, so the swimming season is really July and August.

Both cities eat well, but San Sebastian is the one people plan a trip around. Its pintxo counters in the Parte Vieja and Gros, the fine-dining restaurants in the surrounding hills and the cider houses of Astigarraga in season add up to a depth that Cordoba cannot match.

Cordoba's strength is honest local cooking in patio tabernas: salmorejo, flamenquin and fried aubergine with cane honey, with chilled Montilla-Moriles to drink. The best tapas rounds are in Santa Marina and San Agustin, not by the Mezquita. Both kitchens are firmly regional, and high-end dining in Cordoba is thin.

Cordoba has the stronger set of sights by a wide margin. The forest of striped arches inside the Mezquita-Cathedral is one of the great buildings of Europe. Around it lie the Juderia lanes, the Roman bridge, the Alcazar and the patios of the Palacio de Viana, and the caliphal palace city of Medina Azahara is just outside town.

San Sebastian's appeal is the look of the whole city: the late 19th-century streets, the rebuilt Parte Vieja, the castle on Monte Urgull, the San Telmo Museum and Chillida's Peine del Viento on the rocks. It is a pleasure to wander, but it has no single monument to match the Mezquita.

Neither city is a clubbing destination, and evenings in both revolve around food and drink. The rhythm differs. In Cordoba people head out late, after ten in summer, to terraces around the Corredera and the riverside, and the May fair keeps the casetas dancing until dawn. In San Sebastian the night starts early with the pintxo crawl through the old town, and August's Semana Grande brings fireworks over the bay and later nights.

San Sebastian has much more to offer outdoors, and most of it starts on foot from town. The coastal path from Monte Ulia runs to Pasaia, and the Jaizkibel walk continues on to Hondarribia. Surfing, kayaking and paddleboarding are all easy, and the Basque hills are within an hour. The price of all that green is frequent rain.

Cordoba's countryside is gentler and drier: the cork and holm oak of the Sierra Morena, the birds of prey of Hornachuelos and the karst of the Subbeticas. You will need a car for most of it, and summer heat limits walks to the early morning.

Both make excellent bases, with Cordoba slightly ahead because of what its fast trains reach. Seville, Granada with the Alhambra and Malaga are each about an hour or so away, so three major cities are within reach without changing hotel.

San Sebastian's outings are smaller in scale but more varied. Bilbao and the Guggenheim are a short bus ride away, Biarritz and Saint-Jean-de-Luz are across the French border, and the fishing towns of Getaria and Hondarribia and the Rioja Alavesa vineyards are also within reach.

San Sebastian is clearly the easier choice with children. It has calm town beaches, a flat car-free promenade, the aquarium tunnel, the hands-on Eureka museum and the old funfair at the top of the Igueldo funicular. Rainy spells are the main drawback.

Cordoba is safe and welcoming, and children enjoy the Alcazar fountains, the horse show at the royal stables and Almodovar castle. Most of its sights are aimed at adults, though, and the summer heat is hard on young children.

Both are cities you explore on foot, but San Sebastian is the easier one. It is flat, the walk around the bay takes under an hour, and there are bike lanes along the water. Euskotren trains run to the French border and towards Bilbao.

Cordoba's monuments are just as close together, but its cobbled lanes are narrow and awkward with luggage. Its buses are basic, and you need a tour bus or taxi to reach Medina Azahara.

In Cordoba, the things worth taking home come from workshops. In San Sebastian, they come mostly from the market. Cordoba's crafts are silver filigree, embossed guadameci leather, ceramics and handmade guitars, and the best pieces are in specialist shops rather than the souvenir stalls of the Juderia.

San Sebastian's best buys are edible: Idiazabal cheese, txakoli and tinned anchovies from La Bretxa and San Martin. The Parte Vieja also sells espadrilles, berets and linen, and Gros has surf shops. Both cities have a modest high street with Spanish chains, around Cruz Conde in Cordoba and the cathedral in San Sebastian, and little in the way of luxury labels.

Cordoba is much kinder to the wallet. Hotels are good value most of the year, a glass of Montilla with a tapa costs little, and you rarely need transport. The exception is May, when the patio festival and fair push prices up sharply.

San Sebastian is among the most expensive places to stay in Spain, with summer and festival room rates that rival Europe's big capitals. The beaches and coastal walks cost nothing, but beds and the famous restaurants are a real splurge.

Flamenco is Cordoba's live art, and you can hear it all year. There are small tablaos in the old town and rougher, more serious evenings in the peñas where aficionados gather. There is also the guitar festival, and on one summer night free performances run until dawn in squares across the city.

San Sebastian's music is concentrated in summer. Jazzaldia brings jazz to the Kursaal and free concerts to Zurriola beach in July, and the Quincena Musical fills August with orchestras and opera. Outside those months, the Kursaal's glass cubes and the ornate Victoria Eugenia theatre keep up a steady but smaller programme.

San Sebastian is somewhat the more restful choice. Its historic bathing pavilion on La Concha is a seawater spa looking straight onto the bay, a link to its past as a royal resort, and evenings on the promenade are calm and unhurried.

Cordoba has a few Arab-style bath houses in the old town and quiet courtyards with fountains and orange trees. But relaxing there mostly means taking shelter through a hot afternoon rather than a full wellness stay.