Doha or Istanbul?

Neither city is a beach destination, but the swimming is very different. Doha's water is shallow, calm and warm, and the easy option is a groomed hotel beach in West Bay or on The Pearl, or the quieter public shores at Al Wakrah and Simaisma. The dunes at Sealine are the wilder alternative.

Istanbul's sea near the centre is for looking at. Proper sand means an hour's trip north to Kilyos or Sile on the Black Sea, which is good only in high summer and known for strong currents. Doha's beaches suit a gentle winter swim, Istanbul's a summer day out.

Istanbul is a food destination in its own right, and Doha is mostly not. Doha eats the cooking of its residents: South Indian and Pakistani grills, parotta and karak, Lebanese, Syrian and Iranian kitchens, and Qatari machboos and harees around Souq Waqif. Wine and beer are found only in the hotel restaurants.

Istanbul gathers the whole of Turkey on one table, from Black Sea anchovies to south-eastern kebabs and Ottoman palace dishes. Lunch can be a lokanta's trays of stew, an evening a long meyhane meal of meze and rakı, and Kadikoy's market streets are made for grazing.

The gap here is wide. Doha's culture rests on a handful of modern landmarks, chiefly the Museum of Islamic Art and Jean Nouvel's National Museum of Qatar, with a reconstructed souq and little that is genuinely old. Two or three days do it justice.

Istanbul was an imperial capital for well over a millennium and a half. It puts Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace and the Basilica Cistern within a short walk of each other, then adds Sinan's mosques, the Theodosian walls, Galata and the Bosphorus palaces. A week still leaves things unseen.

For a night out, Istanbul is in another league. Its rooftop bars and late meyhanes off Istiklal Avenue, the cocktail bars of Karakoy and Cihangir, and the cheaper, younger bar streets of Kadikoy and Moda all run late, and in summer the Bosphorus clubs at Ortakoy go on until dawn.

Doha's evenings are long but sober. People spend them over shisha, tea and dinner in Souq Waqif, on the Corniche and at Katara, and drinking means a polished, costly hotel bar or lounge.

Doha has very little landscape to offer. It is flat gravel desert with a built-up shore, and the outings are a four-wheel-drive run to Khor Al Adaid and kayaking in the Al Thakira mangroves, both limited by the heat.

Istanbul's outdoors is gentle rather than wild, but there is far more of it. You can ride the ferries along the wooded Bosphorus or walk the shore at Bebek and Rumeli Hisari. Emirgan's tulips bloom in April, Belgrad Forest has shaded trails and the car-free Princes' Islands are good for cycling among the pines.

Doha has almost nowhere to go for the day. The ruined pearling town of Al Zubarah, about an hour and a half away, is the one heritage site, and a single desert tour usually covers the rest of Qatar.

Istanbul has real outings, many of them by boat: the Princes' Islands with their wooden villas, a cruise up the Bosphorus to Anadolu Kavagi, and Bursa, the first Ottoman capital, about two hours away. Edirne and Iznik are long but rewarding days.

Both cities welcome children warmly and both keep families out late. The difference is in the setting. Doha is very safe, clean and built for easy family days: indoor theme parks in the malls and Doha Oasis, water parks, calm shallow hotel beaches and camel rides, though only in winter and mostly by taxi.

Istanbul gives children ferry rides, the ships and submarine at the Rahmi M. Koç Museum, and Miniaturk. Its crowds, steep cobbled hills and stairs are harder going for small legs and pushchairs.

Istanbul is the easier city to move around without a car. One card covers the metro, the T1 tram, the Marmaray tunnel, the funiculars and the ferries, and the old centre, Galata and Beyoglu can be walked, hills permitting. Rush-hour crowds and slow taxis are the price.

Doha's three driverless metro lines are cool and simple and reach Souq Waqif, Msheireb, West Bay and Katara. Beyond them the city is built for cars, and the heat makes even short walks uncomfortable for much of the year.

Both cities pair an old market with large malls, but Istanbul's version has far more depth. Doha offers Souq Waqif's incense, oud, dates and falconry gear, the Gold Souq, and huge themed malls full of familiar international brands, with little independent design.

Istanbul has the covered streets and hans of the Grand Bazaar, the Spice Bazaar and trades still grouped by craft. On top of that come Nisantasi's Turkish labels, Cukurcuma's antiques and the Kadikoy flea markets, so there is something to find well beyond carpets and Turkish delight.

Istanbul is the cheaper stay overall. In both cities local food and public transport cost little, while hotels and alcohol cost a lot. In Doha, though, nearly every visitor ends up in an international hotel priced like the rest of the wealthy Gulf, and the only drinks are in hotel venues.

Istanbul's tourist districts and monument entry fees add up, but staying in Kadikoy or a residential area and eating in lokantas keeps a trip much lighter. Doha's souq canteens and karak help, but its rooms remain the big expense.

Istanbul has a performing arts life you can simply drop into. The state opera and ballet perform at the Ataturk Cultural Centre, summer festivals fill historic courtyards, and there are Sema ceremonies in dervish lodges, fasil musicians in the meyhanes and small rock, folk and jazz venues in Beyoglu and Kadikoy.

Doha has fine stages, the Katara opera house where the Qatar Philharmonic plays and the National Convention Centre, but its programme depends on visiting events and fades in summer.

Istanbul has a bathing tradition people travel for. Sinan's sixteenth-century hammams such as Cemberlitas and Kilic Ali Pasa still work, with marble domes, star-shaped skylights and a scrub on the heated stone, though you have to find your calm away from a noisy city.

Doha has no bathhouse heritage. It offers polished hotel spas with hammam-style rooms and a healing retreat on the north coast, in a city that is quiet and orderly by day, which suits a pool-and-spa resort stay in winter.