Edinburgh or Oxford?

Edinburgh at least has real sand. Portobello's long beach and promenade are a short bus ride from the centre, and the broad East Lothian beaches at Gullane and North Berwick make a fine walk on a clear summer day. The cold North Sea means that only the hardy swim, though.

Oxford has no coast within easy reach. Swimming there means a summer dip in the Thames at Port Meadow, the Cherwell or the open-air pool at Hinksey. Visitors to either city who want a beach vacation should plan it separately.

Edinburgh is the better place to eat. It draws on the Scottish larder: west-coast shellfish, Highland beef, venison and summer fruit, cooked in modern dining rooms in Leith, Stockbridge and the New Town. Whisky gives a meal out a character that Oxford cannot match.

Oxford eats around the pub, with a Sunday roast by the Thames and lunch stalls in the old Covered Market. Its one advantage is cheap variety: Cowley Road's Middle Eastern, South Asian and Caribbean food fills a gap that Edinburgh, short on street food, leaves open. Even so, few would plan a trip around the table in either city.

The two are close in depth, but they feel very different. In Edinburgh the heritage is the whole townscape: the medieval Royal Mile running from castle to palace, and the Georgian crescents of the New Town across the gardens, backed by the free national collections.

Oxford packs its riches into a few streets of honey-coloured colleges, chapels and libraries that are still in daily use. The Ashmolean and the Pitt Rivers are stronger than a city of its size would lead you to expect. Either one rewards two or three full days.

Both cities go out to the pub, but Edinburgh offers more choice. There are Victorian bars on Rose Street, old drinking dens in the Grassmarket, cocktail basements around George Street and the Cowgate's late clubs, and in August the whole centre stays out into the small hours.

Oxford's evenings follow the university calendar. Its taverns fill in term time and empty out over the summer vacation, Cowley Road holds the only real late scene, and it suits a drink after dinner rather than a big night out.

Edinburgh has wilder country much closer to hand. Arthur's Seat climbs to 251m above Holyrood Park, the Pentlands offer ridge walks and mountain biking within half an hour, and boats from North Berwick go out to the gannets on the Bass Rock. Loch Lomond and the edge of the Highlands are within about two hours.

Oxford's outdoors is tamer: cattle grazing on Port Meadow, punting on the Cherwell, flat towpath rides, and longer, gentle walks in the Cotswolds, the Chilterns and along the Ridgeway.

Oxford has the richer choice of day trips. Blenheim Palace is about twenty minutes away, the Cotswold villages are within the hour, and London, Stratford, Warwick, Windsor and Bath are all comfortably reachable. The catch is that the smaller Cotswold villages are far easier with a car or a tour.

Edinburgh is still a very good base, and most of its outings are simple by rail from Waverley. Glasgow and Stirling are each under an hour away, St Andrews and the Borders abbeys make full days, and Rosslyn Chapel and the Forth Bridges fill easy half-days.

Edinburgh gives children more to do in the city itself. There are the castle's cannons, the hands-on galleries of the National Museum, Dynamic Earth, the illusions of Camera Obscura and a hillside zoo, plus Portobello's sands for a run. Parents should be ready for steep closes, fast-changing weather and heavy August crowds.

Oxford is calmer and flatter. The dinosaur skeletons and the Pitt Rivers' masks, an afternoon on a punt and the Harry Potter echoes at Christ Church all go down well, but much of the rest is aimed at adults, and the wildlife park and Blenheim's maze both need a trip out of town.

Both centres are easy to explore on foot, but the ground underfoot is very different. Edinburgh's sights lie within about 2km of each other, though they are spread across ridges, bridges and stairways. A dense bus network and a tram to the airport and Leith fill the gaps.

Oxford is small and mostly flat, with traffic-free streets and bicycles everywhere, and its station is a short walk from the colleges. In both cities a car is best left outside town.

Neither is a shopping destination, and what is worth buying differs. In Edinburgh it is Scottish goods: cashmere, tweed, tartan from specialist kiltmakers and single malts, along with the independent shops of curving Victoria Street.

Oxford's appeal is in the detail: small traders in the Covered Market, antique maps and prints, and Blackwell's vast bookshop on Broad Street. For designer labels, the outlet village at Bicester is about twenty minutes away.

Both are expensive places to sleep, for similar reasons and at different moments. Edinburgh's rooms climb to extreme levels during the August festivals and at Hogmanay, and late autumn and winter are the kinder time to go.

Oxford's prices track graduations, conferences and summer, and many visitors simply come for the day from London. Free museums in both cities soften the cost. Oxford's Cowley Road keeps meals cheaper, while Edinburgh's best views from Arthur's Seat cost nothing.

Edinburgh is far ahead, and in August nowhere compares. The Fringe fills hundreds of venues, the International Festival brings leading orchestras and opera, and the Tattoo plays on the castle esplanade. The rest of the year it has two national orchestras, Scottish Opera and Ballet, the Traverse and easy folk sessions in the pubs.

Oxford's great live experience is quieter: Evensong sung by the choirs of Christ Church, Magdalen and New College, and chamber music in the historic Holywell Music Room. Its theatre is mostly touring productions.

Neither city is built for a spa break. Edinburgh has a curiosity in the tiled Victorian Turkish baths at Portobello, and a cold-water swimming crowd with saunas on the shore.

Oxford has no bathing tradition at all, but it is better at simple quiet: the Botanic Garden, the walled college gardens, Addison's Walk and a slow afternoon on a punt. Edinburgh is calm out of season, but in August it is no place to rest.