Cordoba or Segovia?

Neither city is a place for the sea, but Cordoba is a little better placed. The fast train to Malaga takes about an hour, so a long day on the Costa del Sol beaches is possible.

From Segovia the coast is a long day's drive away. Swimming means hotel or municipal pools, or the chilly river pools and reservoirs of the Guadarrama foothills, which are colder than the reservoirs Cordobans head to in the Sierra Morena.

Cordoba has the broader table. Its tabernas, many set around tiled patios, serve salmorejo where it began, along with flamenquin, rabo de toro and aubergine with cane honey. Tapas rounds in Santa Marina and San Agustin, and the counters of the Mercado Victoria, make grazing easy.

Segovia's cooking centres on the wood-fired oven: cochinillo, lechazo and the big judiones beans from La Granja. It is a memorable lunch, but the range beyond the roasts is narrow. Both cities are thin on fine dining, and Segovia's Ribera and Rueda wines are a good contrast to Cordoba's dry Montilla.

Both are UNESCO-listed old towns, but Cordoba's heritage goes deeper. The Mezquita, with its striped arches and a cathedral built into its heart, is the centrepiece. Around it are the lanes and synagogue of the Juderia, the Alcazar gardens, the patios of the Palacio de Viana and the caliphal ruins of Medina Azahara, which easily fill two or three days.

Segovia's sights run along one ridge, from the mortarless granite arches of the Roman aqueduct to the late Gothic cathedral and the Alcázar. Romanesque porches and the twelve-sided Vera Cruz add depth, but the museums are modest and a full day covers the essentials.

Cordoba stays out later. On warm nights the Corredera, Las Tendillas and the riverside terraces fill after ten, summer brings open-air bars, and the May fair keeps the casetas dancing until dawn. Outside those seasons it is mostly a city of long evenings at the table rather than clubs.

Segovia's evening is a tapas crawl around Plaza Mayor, with a few student bars at weekends. On weeknights and through the cold months the old town goes quiet early, and anyone wanting a real late night takes the train to Madrid.

Here Segovia leads clearly. The Sierra de Guadarrama fills the view from the Alcázar, and within half an hour you reach the Valsaín pines and the passes of Navacerrada and Cotos. From there trails climb to Peñalara, at 2,428m, and its glacial lakes, with snow in winter. Closer in, the Eresma valley path circles below the old town, and the Hoces del Duratón gorge has griffon vultures.

Cordoba's countryside is gentler: the wooded Sierra Morena, Hornachuelos with its birds of prey, and the Subbeticas karst about an hour away. A car is needed, and summer heat limits walking to dawn.

Both are excellent bases, and Cordoba has a slight edge because of the size of its neighbours. Seville, Granada with the Alhambra and Malaga are all an hour or so by fast train. By car you can reach Ubeda, Baeza, Antequera's dolmens and the Montilla bodegas.

Segovia's trips are different in kind. You get royal palaces at La Granja and Riofrío, walled villages such as Pedraza and Sepúlveda, Ávila and El Escorial, and Madrid less than half an hour away by train.

There is little between them, and neither has much built for children, but the days feel different. Cordoba's centre is flat and largely free of traffic, with the Alcazar fountains, a horse show at the royal stables and a modest zoo, though the summer heat is hard on small children.

Segovia offers a proper storybook castle with a tower to climb and the giant arches of the aqueduct, plus La Granja's gardens for running about. Its steep cobbles are tough going with a pushchair, and it has no zoo.

Both centres are walked rather than ridden, but Cordoba is easier to arrive in and get around. Its railway station is a walk or short taxi ride from the old town, and the Mezquita, Juderia, Alcazar and Roman bridge sit close together on fairly level ground. Only Medina Azahara needs a tourist bus or taxi.

Segovia's high-speed station lies several kilometres out, a bus ride of about fifteen minutes. The ridge from the aqueduct to the Alcázar is short but steep in places, and the villages and trailheads really need a car.

Cordoba gives you more reason to buy. Its workshops still make silver filigree, embossed guadameci leather and guitars, and the streets around Cruz Conde and Las Tendillas have Spanish chains and a department store.

Segovia's shopping runs to souvenirs along Calle Real, some ceramics and embroidery, and boxed ponche or La Granja beans to take home. For anything more you go to Madrid.

Costs are much the same in both, so the difference lies in when prices climb. In Cordoba, rooms near the Mezquita cost more and May brings steep prices around the patios and the fair. Otherwise its tabernas and lunch menus are very cheap.

Segovia gets pricier at weekends and in summer, when visitors arrive from Madrid, and its famous roasts are a splurge. Midweek in winter it is an inexpensive stay.

Cordoba has the stronger live scene, and flamenco is its heart. There are tablaos in the old town, rougher evenings in the peñas, a guitar festival and the Noche Blanca, when the squares play until dawn. The Gran Teatro adds the city orchestra and touring theatre.

Segovia's arts come in seasonal bursts. Titirimundi brings puppets to its squares in spring, and summer concerts fill churches and palace gardens. Outside those dates Teatro Juan Bravo has occasional touring shows and little else.

In a few Arab-style bath houses in Cordoba's old town, you move between warm and hot pools under horseshoe arches, an echo of the ruined Caliphal Baths near the Alcazar. That gives it the edge, and its patios with fountains and orange trees, plus the forced midday rest in summer, slow the day down too.

Segovia has no bathing tradition and only a few hotel spas. Its calm comes once the coaches leave: an evening walk along the walls and pine-scented air from the sierra.