Fes or Jerez de la Frontera?

Neither city has a beach in town, but the gap between them is wide. From Fes the nearest coast is about three hours away, so swimming means a hotel pool or a riad's small plunge pool. That is worth checking before you book for the hot summer.

Jerez is 12km from the Costa de la Luz. Valdelagrana, El Puerto and La Caleta in Cádiz are a short train ride away, and the broad Atlantic sands of La Barrosa and Sanlúcar are within an hour. The water is cooler than the Mediterranean, and the Levante wind makes some days rough.

The two kitchens are about as good as each other, and both go deep into one tradition rather than offering range, but they eat to different rhythms. Fes is the urban Moroccan table: pastilla, tagines with quince, bissara and sfenj at the medina counters, and long multi-course dinners in riad dining rooms, with alcohol mostly limited to hotels.

Jerez eats around a glass of sherry. There is fino from the barrel in the tabancos, kidneys and oxtail cooked in sherry, fried fish from the coast, and tapas rounds near Plaza del Arenal that run late. Go to Fes to eat, and to Jerez to eat and drink.

Fes is the stronger city for sightseeing by some distance. Fes el-Bali is a living medieval medina of thousands of lanes. The Bou Inania and Al-Attarine madrasas, the Chouara tannery and the Mellah can fill several days, and the old city itself is the main sight.

Jerez has a handsome centre with the Almohad Alcázar, the Baroque cathedral and the Gothic-Mudéjar parish churches. It also has two things no one else has: the sherry bodegas and the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art. Two or three days cover it well.

Neither is a party city, but Jerez at least has evenings out. Fes goes silent once the medina shops close. A night there usually ends with tea on a riad roof, and the only alternative is a few hotel bars in the Ville Nouvelle.

In Jerez, dinner starts late. Tabancos, copa bars and the terraces on Calle Larga stay full past midnight, and a few clubs carry on later. During the Feria del Caballo in May the casetas keep going until dawn.

Both cities have their best landscapes an hour or so out, and both need a car to reach them. From Fes you climb into the Middle Atlas: the cedar forests around Azrou with their wild Barbary macaques, the plateaux with their small lakes and the caves of Tazekka. The high ground sometimes gets snow in winter.

Jerez has more variety within reach. There are Grazalema's gorges and marked trails, the cork oaks of Los Alcornocales, Doñana's wetlands by boat from Sanlúcar, birdwatching in the Bay of Cádiz marshes and kitesurfing towards Tarifa. Riding through the white albariza vineyards is easy to arrange.

Fes has one outstanding day out: Meknes, Volubilis and Moulay Idriss together with a driver. There are quieter options in Ifrane, Sefrou and Bhalil, but the big Moroccan names are too far for a day.

Jerez is the better base. Seville is an hour away by train and Cádiz half an hour, and Sanlúcar and El Puerto make up the rest of the sherry triangle. With a hired car you can add Arcos, Vejer, Ronda and even Gibraltar.

Fes asks a lot of a family. The medina lanes are steep and shared with donkeys and handcarts, touts are persistent, the tannery smells strongly and summer afternoons are fierce. Older children who like watching craftsmen and eating street snacks can love it, but with small ones you need a pool and short outings.

Jerez is much the easier place with children. They are welcome at late dinners on café terraces, the zoo and botanical garden and the dancing horses keep them busy, and in summer the sandy beaches nearby slope gently into the sea.

Both centres are walkable, but in very different ways. The Fes medina is car-free and full of twists, dead ends and climbs, and maps only half work there. Many visitors hire a guide for the first day, then take red petit taxis between the gates, the Ville Nouvelle and the station.

Jerez is compact and flat, with the Alcázar, the bodegas and the tapas streets a short walk apart. Its station has direct trains to Seville and Cádiz. In both cities, the countryside needs a hired car or a driver.

Fes is one of Morocco's great craft markets. Leather, copper from the Seffarine square, blue-and-white pottery, zellige and carved cedar are made in the same lanes where they are sold. You are expected to bargain, and it pays to shop without a guide who takes a commission. You won't find fashion or big brands.

Jerez has a pleasant provincial shopping street in Calle Larga and a handful of local specialities: sherry and brandy from the bodegas, saddlery and riding boots, flamenco dresses and guitars. Beyond those, there is little to take home.

Both are kind to a budget, and Fes more so. Street food, mint tea, taxis and entry to the madrasas cost very little, and a modest riad in the medina gives you a lot of character for the money. Alcohol is the exception, and grand riads and private drivers add up.

Jerez is good value for Western Europe. Tapas in the tabancos are cheap, bodega tours are inexpensive and the centre is walkable. Rooms get dearer and harder to find during the Feria, the flamenco festival and the motorcycle race weekends.

Fes has a deep tradition of Andalusian classical and Sufi music, and holds the Festival of World Sacred Music. Between festivals, though, there is little beyond the occasional concert and music over riad dinners, and there is no regular theatre.

Jerez has the far richer live scene, because flamenco is still a local art there. There are peña evenings in Santiago and San Miguel, informal close-up sessions in some tabancos and polished tablao shows. The late-winter flamenco festival takes place at the Teatro Villamarta, which also stages opera and zarzuela.

Fes is the place for proper bathing. Steam and a black-soap scrub in a neighbourhood hammam are part of daily life, and riads offer calmer versions with massage. The thermal springs of Moulay Yacoub and Sidi Harazem are close by, and a riad courtyard is a good escape from the noise of the medina.

Jerez has one Arab-style bathhouse and a few hotel spas. It is restful because of its pace: long lunches, a quiet afternoon in the heat and an evening stroll past shaded patios.