Faro or Tangier?

Faro is the clear winner for a beach trip. Its sand lies on the barrier islands of the Ria Formosa: Praia de Faro is a short bus ride over the bridge, and summer ferries reach Ilha Deserta and Culatra, where the beach runs for kilometres backed only by dunes and the water is calm and sheltered.

Tangier's curved city beach is better to look at than to swim from, and the good swimming is out west at Achakar and Cap Spartel, wide Atlantic beaches with surf and slightly cooler water. Beach life there is a local summer scene with more modest dress, and the beach is a side trip from the city rather than the reason to come.

Both kitchens lean on the sea and neither has much fine dining, but Tangier gives you more to explore. Its days run from bissara soup at breakfast to harira, tagines and Friday couscous, with msemen and grill counters around the Grand Socco, and long hours over mint tea on terraces facing the Strait.

Faro's strength is the lagoon itself: clams, oysters and cockles, grilled fish by weight and cataplana in simple grill houses, plus almond and fig sweets. The best seafood is a train ride away in Olhão. A glass of wine with dinner is easy in Faro and limited to certain restaurants and hotels in Tangier.

Tangier has much more to see. The kasbah's old palace museum looks across to Spain, the medina climbs from the port between the Petit and Grand Socco, and the American Legation tells the story of the city's international era, with the Paul Bowles and Beat-writer connections adding to it.

Faro's heritage fits inside its medieval walls: the Arco da Vila, the cathedral with its lagoon view, a Roman mosaic in the convent museum and the bone-lined chapel of the Igreja do Carmo. It is charming and quiet, but it fills a day where Tangier fills several.

Neither is a place for a big night, but the evenings feel different. Faro has an ordinary bar scene on Rua do Prior and near the marina, with a few late clubs that liven up at weekends and in university term. The loud Algarve strip is forty minutes away in Albufeira.

Tangier's nights belong to café terraces and the seafront promenade, with drinking kept to a discreet circle of old international-era bars, hotel lounges and summer beach clubs along the bay. The medina goes quiet after dark.

Faro has the edge because its best landscape starts at the old town walls. The saltmarsh, channels and islands of the Ria Formosa can be explored by kayak or paddleboard, flamingos and spoonbills feed in the salt pans, and the flat lagoon lanes suit easy cycling. The cork-oak hills of the Serra do Caldeirão add quiet walking inland.

Tangier's outdoors centres on the headland: cliff paths through pine at Cap Spartel, the wooded Perdicaris park above the Strait, and storks and raptors crossing on migration. Proper mountain hiking in the Rif means an overnight stay away from the city.

Tangier opens up more variety. Asilah's ramparts and Tetouan's UNESCO-listed medina are each about an hour away, Chefchaouen makes a long day in the mountains, the high-speed train reaches Rabat in well under two hours, and a ferry puts you in Tarifa, Spain, in about an hour.

From Faro the outings are pleasant but more alike: Tavira's Roman bridge, Olhão's market halls, Loulé's castle, Silves and the Roman villa at Milreu, with Lagos and Sagres further west. Seville is possible but takes the whole day.

Faro is far easier with children. The lagoon beaches are sandy and shallow, the ferry to the islands is a treat in itself, there is a small hands-on science centre on the waterfront, and the old town is quiet enough to wander. The Algarve's marine park and water parks are within forty minutes by car.

Tangier is welcoming to children but offers little built for them: no zoo, aquarium or theme park, a steep medina that defeats pushchairs and touts that tire parents quickly. The park, the caves and a day ferry to Spain are the main outings.

Faro is simpler to handle. Its centre is small and flat, the airport is close, and buses and ferries reach the beaches and islands. Touring the wider Algarve is where it gets harder, as the coastal railway is slow and many visitors hire a car.

In Tangier the medina's stairways and tangled lanes take getting used to, and the city buses are little use, so you rely on cheap blue petit taxis and a driver for Cap Spartel and the Atlantic beaches. Its long-distance links are the stronger ones, though, with fast trains south and a ferry port right in the centre.

Tangier has more to buy, mostly in the medina lanes around the Petit Socco: leather slippers, rugs, lanterns, ceramics and red-and-white Rif cloth, with bargaining expected and a hard sell to match. The Saturday markets by the Grand Socco bring farm women with produce and woven hats.

Faro's shopping is practical: chains on Rua de Santo António, cork goods, painted ceramics, tinned fish and salt flower from the lagoon. It is calmer, with no haggling, but for a wider choice you go to Loulé's market.

Tangier goes noticeably further on the same budget. Street food, tagines, café tea, petit taxis and medina riads all come cheaply, and only alcohol and the sea-view hotels cost anything like European prices.

Faro is moderate: fish lunches, house wine and buses are fair, but summer rooms are priced for the beach season, and a hire car for touring adds to the bill. Outside July and August the gap narrows.

Both have thin stages, but the kind of evening differs. Faro has proper venues, the ornate nineteenth-century Teatro Lethes for chamber music and plays, and the Teatro das Figuras, where the regional orchestra, dance and occasional opera appear. Fado here is an occasional guest, not a tradition.

Tangier has no regular theatre or classical programme. Its music comes in bursts: Andalusian classical, gnawa and Jilala at festivals, a long-running annual jazz festival, and the historic art-house cinema on the Grand Socco.

Tangier has the real bathing culture. Neighbourhood hammams in the medina offer the full ritual of steam, black soap and a kessa scrub, simple and local, while riads and larger hotels run gentler hammam spas. Rooftop terraces over the Strait do the rest.

Faro's relaxation is about pace rather than treatment: long lunches, sunset walks along the lagoon and quiet winters. Its spas sit in resort hotels on the golf coast, and the old spring-water baths at Caldas de Monchique are well over an hour away.