Edinburgh or Galway?

Both are cold-water seaside towns rather than beach destinations, and the real difference is the kind of shore. Edinburgh's Portobello is a long sandy beach with a Victorian promenade, and the broad East Lothian sands at Gullane and North Berwick are within an hour.

Galway's Salthill is a string of smaller sandy and stony strands along the bay, a short walk from the centre. The Blackrock diving tower gives the city a proper year-round swimming ritual. The Atlantic here is a degree or so warmer than the North Sea, but neither invites a lazy swim.

Edinburgh has the deeper table. Its ambitious dining rooms in Leith, the New Town and Stockbridge cook with scallops, Highland beef and autumn game, and its whisky bars, stocked with hundreds of single malts, are worth a visit in themselves.

Galway is at its best at the Saturday market and over a plate of Galway Bay oysters. Away from seafood, it is mostly pub food and cafés around the Latin Quarter. Both cities are pricey and short on cheap street eating, so in either one it pays to choose carefully.

This is the widest gap between the two. Edinburgh's castle, Royal Mile, Holyroodhouse and Georgian New Town make up a World Heritage townscape. The National Museum of Scotland and the Scottish National Gallery add to it, and together they fill several full days.

Galway's history fits into an afternoon: the Spanish Arch, Lynch's Castle, St Nicholas' Collegiate Church and the city museum. The pleasure there comes from wandering the Latin Quarter and the Claddagh rather than from sightseeing.

In both cities going out means the pub, and both quieten down earlier than a big capital. Edinburgh has more variety of setting: Victorian bars on Rose Street, old dens in the Grassmarket, harbour pubs in Leith, cocktail basements off George Street and the late-night Cowgate. In August the whole centre stays out late.

Galway is louder and younger on an ordinary night, thanks to its two universities. Crowds spill onto the pavements, and stag and hen groups fill the weekends. It has fewer cocktail bars and little club culture, but race week and the arts festival push it to a raucous peak.

Edinburgh keeps its wild ground inside the city. Arthur's Seat rises in Holyrood Park a short walk from the Royal Mile, the Water of Leith walkway follows a wooded river to the sea, and the Pentland ridges are half an hour out. The Bass Rock gannets and Loch Lomond make longer outings.

Galway has little of that within the town apart from the Salthill prom, but it opens onto bigger, emptier country: the bogs and quartzite peaks of Connemara, the Burren's bare limestone, the Cliffs of Moher, Lough Corrib and the Aran Islands. Choose Galway for scale and wildness, and Edinburgh for a hill climb before breakfast.

Edinburgh has more within easy reach, and most of it by train from Waverley. Glasgow and Stirling are under an hour away, Linlithgow is on the way, and St Andrews and the Borders abbeys make longer days out.

Galway's outings are memorable, above all Inis Mór with Dún Aonghasa, Kylemore Abbey and Cong. But they are villages and single sites rather than other cities, and most of them need a ferry, a coach tour or a hired car.

Edinburgh is the easier city with children. The castle, the National Museum's hands-on galleries, Dynamic Earth, Camera Obscura and the zoo make a run of good half-days, and the Botanic Garden and Holyrood Park give room to run. The Old Town's steps and cobbles are tiring with a buggy, though.

Galway is relaxed and welcoming, but beyond Salthill's aquarium, playgrounds and summer funfair it has little built for children. Families end up driving out to farm parks and the Burren caves, and a wet day in town is hard to fill.

Both centres are walkable, but Edinburgh is better connected. Its Old and New Towns lie within about 2km of each other, and the Lothian buses are frequent. The tram runs from the airport to Leith, and Waverley station sits right in the middle for day trips. The price is the hills and stairways.

Galway's core, from Eyre Square to the Spanish Arch, is flatter and only minutes across on foot. Beyond the town, though, Connemara, the Burren and the Aran ferry depend on coaches or a hired car on narrow roads.

Neither is a shopping destination, but Edinburgh gives more choice. There are chains on Princes Street, upmarket labels on George Street, independent shops on Victoria Street and boutiques in Stockbridge. For things to take home, it has cashmere, tweed, kiltmakers and whisky shops with deep selections.

Galway's shopping runs along a single pedestrian spine from Eyre Square to Quay Street. Its bookshops, music shops and Irish craft are the best of it, and the Claddagh ring and Aran knitwear are the local things to bring home.

Both are expensive, and in both the rooms cost the most, especially when festivals fill the town. In Edinburgh that means August and Hogmanay, and in Galway summer weekends, race week and the arts festival.

The savings come in different forms. Edinburgh's are its free national museums and galleries and its modest bus fares. Galway's are its walkable centre and the free music in its pubs, but tours or car hire for the west add up quickly.

Edinburgh has the bigger stage. In August the Fringe, the International Festival and the Tattoo make it the busiest arts city in the world. For the rest of the year, the national orchestras, Scottish Opera, Scottish Ballet, the Lyceum and the Traverse keep up a full programme.

Galway's strength is closeness to the performers. It has trad sessions in Latin Quarter pubs most nights, the acclaimed Druid theatre company, the Irish-language stage at An Taibhdhearc and the July arts festival. Classical music and opera are rare there, so lovers of anything beyond folk will find more in Edinburgh.

Neither city is built for rest, but Edinburgh has a little more to offer. There are the Victorian Turkish baths at Portobello, the modernist Royal Commonwealth Pool and shoreline saunas for cold-water swimmers. Out of season, the Botanic Garden makes for a quiet morning.

Galway's way to unwind is a dip off Blackrock and a windy walk along the prom. Seaweed baths and country-house spas are a drive away. The centre is loud at night, so for real calm you need to stay in Connemara or on the Aran Islands.