Cork or Liverpool?

Neither city is a beach destination, and in both the sea stays cool, around 16°C at best. Where they differ is the kind of beach. Cork has small sandy coves at the mouth of the harbour and long strands such as Inchydoney further west. A car makes these much easier to reach, and a hardy local crowd swims there all year.

Liverpool's sands at Crosby and Formby are a short train ride away and are for walking among the dunes and Gormley's iron figures, not for swimming. The tide goes out a very long way and parts of the shore are unsafe.

Cork eats better, mostly because of its produce. The English Market sells West Cork cheeses, smoked fish and spiced beef, and nearby kitchens cook with the same suppliers. Kinsale's seafood is close by, though the overall choice runs out quickly.

Liverpool's food is more casual. Expect scouse in a pub, the old Chinatown and small independent kitchens on Bold Street and in the Baltic Triangle. Its Victorian gin palaces are often more memorable than what comes on the plate.

Liverpool has far more to see. The Pier Head and the Royal Albert Dock hold the maritime, slavery and city history museums, and William Brown Street adds the Walker and the World Museum. The two cathedrals at either end of Hope Street could each fill a morning.

Cork's sights are smaller in scale: the Shandon bells, St Fin Barre's, the Irish paintings in the Crawford and the old City Gaol. They are pleasant to walk between on the river island, but a day or two covers them.

A night out in Cork usually means a wood-panelled pub off Oliver Plunkett Street, plenty of talk and perhaps a music session in the back room. There are only a few late bars and small clubs.

Liverpool goes much bigger and later. At weekends Concert Square and Seel Street fill with clubs, the Baltic Triangle has warehouse club nights with an electronic leaning, and many nights finish after 2am. Stag and hen groups are part of that scene, so anyone wanting a quiet pint will find Cork easier.

Cork has better outdoors close by. The harbour is made for sailing and kayaking, and Atlantic cliff walks are within an hour. Beyond them lie West Cork's inlets and the mountain lake at Gougane Barra, and Killarney works as a long day out.

Liverpool's nature is flatter and gentler: Sefton Park, the breezy riverside promenade, the dunes and red squirrels at Formby and the wading birds on the Dee estuary. The nearest real hills are about two hours away.

Both are good bases, but the trips are different in kind. From Cork you visit small harbour and coastal towns: Cobh with its Titanic and emigrant story, Kinsale and Charles Fort, Blarney, and the distillery at Midleton. West Cork is best with a car.

From Liverpool the trips are to cities and historic towns: Roman Chester, Manchester's museums, the model village at Port Sunlight and, for a longer day, Conwy's castle in North Wales.

For families the difference is animals outdoors against museums indoors. In Cork the best day out is Fota Wildlife Park, where animals roam with few barriers, and the observatory at Blackrock and the grounds at Blarney add a couple more. After that the list runs short, and a rainy day needs a plan.

Liverpool gives children more to do under a roof, with dinosaurs and a planetarium at the free World Museum and a play gallery at the Museum of Liverpool. For animals there are Chester Zoo and Knowsley Safari Park. The thing to plan around is the noisy centre on weekend nights.

Both centres are easy to walk, but Liverpool is easier to leave without a car. Merseyrail trains run often to Crosby, Formby, Southport and the Wirral, and the ferry crosses the Mersey, though Sefton Park and Anfield mean taking a bus.

Cork's island centre is small, with a steep climb up to Shandon. The rail line to Cobh, Fota and Midleton is useful, but city buses are slow and the West Cork coast is far easier with a car.

Liverpool offers a shopper more. The open-air Liverpool ONE district and Church Street have the big British chains, and Bold Street adds vintage clothes, records and independent boutiques. Beatles and football souvenirs are everywhere.

Cork's Patrick Street and the Huguenot Quarter take a couple of hours. Cork does better for things to take home, though: farmhouse cheese from the English Market, Irish knitwear and whiskey.

Liverpool is the cheaper of the two. Rooms cost less than in Britain's most visited cities, except on match, Grand National and concert weekends. The big museums are free, so a day of sightseeing costs little.

In Cork, hotel rooms, meals and pub drinks all cost more than in much of Western Europe. Cheap lunches at the market and a walkable centre help, but only a little.

Music runs deeper in Liverpool. Live bands play most nights around Mathew Street, Seel Street and the Baltic Triangle, and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic plays a full season on Hope Street. The Everyman and the Playhouse produce their own theatre.

Cork's strength is narrower but its own: traditional music sessions in the pubs most nights. The Opera House takes touring shows, and the long-running jazz festival fills the city over the last weekend of October.

Neither city is a place to rest, and in both wellness comes down to hotel spas. In Cork the local ritual is cold-water swimming in the harbour coves all year, and there is a resort spa on Fota Island. In Liverpool the quiet hours come from walks in Sefton Park, a slow ferry crossing or an afternoon in the free galleries.