Costa del Sol or Mallorca?

The Costa del Sol has quantity: one almost unbroken line of beach from Nerja to Estepona, backed by beach bars and rows of sunbeds. The sand is coarse and grey-gold, and the central resorts get crowded in high summer. The clearest water is in the coves below the cliffs at Maro.

Mallorca's beaches are prettier and more varied. The southeast has narrow white-sand calas with turquoise water, Es Trenc is a long, undeveloped dune beach, and the shallow bays of Alcúdia and Pollença suit long, easy days. The sea also runs a few degrees warmer by August.

Both coasts eat about equally well, but from different larders. The Costa del Sol cooks from the sea: espetos of sardines grilled over beach fires, fried fish in the old fishing districts of Pedregalejo and El Palo, and barrel wine in Málaga's tiled taverns. Marbella adds a fine-dining tier.

Mallorca's cooking comes from the farm, built on sobrassada, pa amb oli, tumbet and ensaïmadas at breakfast. Its best meals are in Palma and in the old cellers of Inca and Sineu, where the island's own wines are poured. In both places, the resort seafronts are where you eat least well.

On the Costa del Sol, the draw is Málaga and above all its museums: the Picasso Museum in the painter's home city, the Carmen Thyssen collection and the Pompidou branch on the port. The Alcazaba climbs above a Roman theatre nearby. Outside the city, the resorts add little beyond Nerja's cave and Marbella's whitewashed old town.

Mallorca's heritage is more about monuments, and it is spread further. Palma has La Seu over the sea wall, the Almudaina palace and the round Bellver Castle. The rest of the island adds Chopin's charterhouse at Valldemossa, Alcúdia's medieval walls and the Bronze Age villages near Artà, all easy to fit around beach days.

Both have a lot going on after dark, in different styles. The Costa del Sol ranges from the superyacht beach clubs of Puerto Banús to Torremolinos, one of Spain's oldest gay scenes, and Málaga's long tapas nights around Calle Larios.

Mallorca's going out splits more sharply. Palma has wine bars in Santa Catalina and seafront clubs, while Magaluf and Playa de Palma are mass party resorts aimed at young British and German crowds. The north and the villages go quiet after dinner. On both, only the main city stays lively out of season.

Mallorca is the better outdoor destination. The Tramuntana rises to about 1,400m and drops straight into the sea, with terraced olive slopes, the village-to-village GR221 and some of Europe's best-known road-cycling climbs. The coast adds kayaking, sailing and climbing on the sea cliffs.

On the Costa del Sol the landscape sits behind the resorts rather than meeting the sea. There are still fine walks, such as wading up the Río Chíllar gorge, climbing La Concha, or going inland to the Caminito del Rey and El Torcal, while golf is the main activity on the coast itself.

This is where the Costa del Sol pulls clearly ahead. From Málaga, high-speed trains reach Córdoba and Seville, Granada's Alhambra is a drive away, and Ronda and Gibraltar are close to the western end. White villages such as Frigiliana and Casares fill the shorter days.

Mallorca's outings are pleasant but smaller in scale: stone villages in the Tramuntana, the old wooden train to Sóller, weekly markets at Sineu and Santanyí, and a boat to Cabrera or a ferry to Menorca for a longer day.

The Costa del Sol fills family days with organised outings. There is the tropical zoo at Fuengirola, the marine park with sea lions and the cable car at Benalmádena, water parks at Torremolinos and Mijas, and a drive-through safari park in the hills above Estepona. The stretch between Torremolinos and Fuengirola makes the easiest base.

On Mallorca, the day revolves more around the resort itself. In the north bays of Alcúdia and Pollença and at Cala Millor in the east, hotels are built around kids' clubs and flat promenades. The boat ride across the underground lake in the Caves of Drach is an outing children remember, and the short distances mean little time in the car.

Neither is fully easy without a car, but the mainland coast has the edge for those relying on public transport. A commuter train runs from Málaga airport through Torremolinos to Fuengirola, and Málaga's flat, pedestrian centre connects to the high-speed line. Beyond that, the buses to Marbella and Nerja are slow in summer traffic.

Mallorca is compact, and buses and a few rail lines cover the main towns. However, the coves and mountain villages really call for a hire car, which means narrow hairpin roads and car parks that fill early.

Brand names or island-made goods is the real choice here. The Costa del Sol is mostly about fashion and convenience: luxury houses on the Puerto Banús waterfront, Spanish chains and a national department store around Málaga's marble-paved Calle Larios, and large malls beside the motorway. Local craft runs to little more than painted pottery and esparto work from the inland villages.

Mallorca has more that is made on the island itself: shoes and leather from around Inca, cultured pearls from Manacor, striped roba de llengües cloth and olive-wood carving. Palma's Passeig des Born and its old-town lanes cover fashion, and the weekly markets at Sineu and Pollença are worth a morning in their own right.

The Costa del Sol is easier on the wallet. Apart from Marbella and the Golden Mile, the coast is built for package travel, and competition keeps the hotels and apartments between Torremolinos and Fuengirola reasonable. Beachside fish, weekday set lunches and the local trains are all cheap.

Summer on Mallorca costs more than on the mainland. Palma's boutique hotels, the Tramuntana estates and the rooms near the best coves are expensive, and car hire and sunbeds add up. On both, the shoulder months bring prices down noticeably.

Neither is a major stage, and the Costa del Sol has only a slight lead. Its distinctive offer is flamenco in Málaga's peñas, which is far more authentic than the dinner shows in the resorts, along with the orchestra and touring productions at the Teatro Cervantes and big open-air pop concerts around Marbella in summer.

Mallorca leans classical, with a short opera season at Palma's Teatre Principal and summer concerts in the Bellver Castle courtyard, Valldemossa and the cloister at Pollença.

Spa time is a little easier to arrange on the mainland coast. The hills between Marbella and Estepona hold large spa hotels and residential clinics for fasting and detox stays of a week or more, and Arab-style bathhouses near Málaga's old town offer warm pools and steam rooms in the Moorish manner. Mild, sunny winters also bring visitors for long, slow stays on the promenades.

Mallorca's calm depends more on where you sleep. Old country estates in the Tramuntana and on the central plain sit quietly among almond and olive groves, and yoga retreats run mostly in spring and autumn. The small spring at Font Santa near Es Trenc, used since Roman times, is the island's only thermal water, and it serves a single hotel spa.