Fethiye or Izmir?

Fethiye is a beach destination, and Izmir is a city with beaches an hour away. From Fethiye a short minibus ride brings you to the turquoise lagoon at Oludeniz, and beyond it lie Kidrak's sandy cove, Butterfly Valley by boat, Kabak's quiet shingle and island coves on day cruises. The water is clear and warmer through the summer.

Izmir's own gulf isn't for swimming, so beach days mean heading west to Ilica's shallow sand or the wilder coves of the Cesme peninsula, or south to the long family strips at Gumuldur. These are good beaches, but they are day outings rather than something you step out to each morning.

A meal in Fethiye is at its best as a ritual: you choose fish at the stalls of the town market, and a restaurant on the square cooks it and serves it with meze. The weekly canal market is good for gozleme and honey. In Hisaronu and Oludeniz, though, menus drift towards English breakfasts and pizza.

Izmir eats far better. It has a cooking style of its own, built on olive oil, wild greens and herbs. Boyoz with a boiled egg and the kumru sandwich belong to the city, and gevrek is its local name for the sesame ring sold from carts. Long meze dinners by the water, Kemeraltı's market lanes and the wines of Urla round it out.

Izmir has more to see, though neither city is a great sightseeing destination in its own right. Both lost their old centres, Izmir to the fire of 1922 and Fethiye to the earthquake of 1957. Izmir still has the Roman Agora, the walls of Kadifekale above the gulf, the Clock Tower, Kemeraltı's Ottoman hans and synagogues, and archaeology and ethnography museums worth a few hours.

Fethiye's sights are fewer and more concentrated: the Lycian rock tombs lit up at sunset, a Roman theatre by the harbour, sarcophagi standing in the streets and the abandoned village of Kayakoy over the ridge. It is affecting, but you can see it in a day or two.

Izmir has the livelier and more grown-up night out. Evenings start with a drink on the Kordon at sunset and move into the crowded bar lanes of Alsancak, where rock bars and pubs fill the street until late. In summer, the beach clubs of Alaçatı are within reach.

Fethiye offers either a relaxed drink under the lights in Paspatur or the loud karaoke-and-clubs strip at Hisaronu built for package visitors. Much of that shuts between November and April, whereas Izmir's bars keep going all year.

Fethiye has the more dramatic outdoors, with mountains falling straight into the sea. You can paraglide from Babadag down to the lagoon, walk the cliff paths of the Lycian Way past Faralya and Kabak, wade upstream through Saklikent Gorge, or take a kayak or dive in the bay.

Izmir's nature is gentler and more spread out. There are flamingos in the Gediz Delta, olive-grove coast on the Karaburun peninsula and forest walks on Spil Mountain. What it has that Fethiye lacks is the steady wind at Alaçatı, among the best windsurfing in the Mediterranean, plus winter skiing on Bozdağ.

Both cities are surrounded by ancient sites, but Izmir's are the bigger names. Ephesus is an easy train ride away, and Pergamon, Sardis, Priene and Didyma all make full days. Şirince, Alaçatı and Old Foça add villages and harbours to the mix.

Fethiye's Lycian ruins are quieter and full of character: Tlos on its hilltop, the tomb cliff at Pinara, Xanthos and Letoon, and Patara behind its dunes. It also has two things Izmir cannot match, a summer ferry to medieval Rhodes and the coast road to Kas and Kalkan.

The two are about equal for families but suit different trips. Fethiye works best for a beach vacation with small children, with the sheltered, shallow lagoon at Oludeniz, pool hotels in Ovacik and boat trips with swimming stops.

Izmir works better for a mixed city stay. Children can ride scooters on the Kordon, see the animals at the Sasalı Wildlife Park and take the ferries across the bay. Its beach days are at Ilica, a drive away. Neither city has a theme park, and both are very hot in high summer.

Izmir is the easier place to get around without a car. Its metro, İZBAN suburban railway, trams and bay ferries all run on one card, and trains reach Selçuk for Ephesus. The catch is distance, since the city wraps a long way round the gulf and the coast roads clog at rush hour.

Fethiye's walkable centre and its dolmus minibuses cover Oludeniz, Hisaronu and Kayakoy well. There is no rail line, though, and Tlos, Pinara and Saklikent are awkward to reach without a hire car or a tour.

Fethiye's shopping is the weekly canal market, the carpet, leather and ceramics lanes of Paspatur, and resort shops full of beachwear and copy brands. That is enough for a few peshtemal towels and gifts, but not for a shopping trip.

Kemeraltı is what puts Izmir ahead. It is a working bazaar of old hans and courtyards where locals buy copperware, fabrics and olive oil soaps, and there are few souvenir stalls. Alsancak adds boutiques, and the city has several large malls.

Costs are much the same in both cities, and in each one they depend on where you are. In Fethiye, staying in town and eating in lokantas is cheap, while Oludeniz's beachfront and extras like paragliding and cruises push the bill up. In Izmir, street breakfasts, transport and cheap ferry rides keep daily costs low, but seafood meyhanes, Cesme in summer and the entry fees at Ephesus add up.

This is the widest gap between the two. Izmir has a state opera and ballet in the historic Elhamra theatre, a symphony orchestra at the Saygun Arts Centre and an international summer festival that stages concerts at Ephesus. Theatre is in Turkish, but music and dance don't need translation.

Fethiye has no season at all. Live music there means a saz player in a meyhane or a cover band in Hisaronu.

Both are equally good for relaxing, but they offer different kinds of rest. Fethiye has a historic Ottoman hammam in Paspatur and, down the coast, small yoga retreats on the terraces above Kabak and Faralya, with sea views and little else to do.

Izmir's draw is warm water from the ground: the thermal springs at Balçova, known in antiquity as the Baths of Agamemnon, and the springs at Ilıca. Add the slow rhythm of tea and meze on the Kordon, and the city has a calm that suits an unhurried stay.