Fethiye or Marmaris?

These are two equally good beach bases, but the beaches work differently. Fethiye's own shore at Calis is only adequate, so its swimming is built around trips out: the shallow lagoon and open bay at Oludeniz, Kidrak's sandy cove and Butterfly Valley reached by boat.

Marmaris puts the swimming right on the doorstep, with a long promenade beach in a calm, enclosed bay. Its standout spots, the coves of Icmeler and Turunc and the fine sand on Sedir Island, need a short trip, and the main strip gets crowded in high summer.

Neither town is a reason to travel for food, and in both the resort areas lean on full breakfasts and pizza. Fethiye has the more memorable ritual: you buy fish at the town-centre market and have it cooked at the restaurants around the square.

Marmaris has its harbour fish restaurants and pide houses tucked away from the promenade, and its forests produce pine honey. In both, the weekly market is the best place to eat your way around.

Fethiye has far more to see. Ancient Telmessos still shows through the modern town, with temple-fronted tombs cut into the cliff, a Roman theatre by the harbour and stone coffins standing on ordinary streets. The emptied hillside village of Kayakoy is one of the most moving places on this coast.

Marmaris has one castle with a modest museum, a whitewashed old quarter good for an hour, and a caravanserai that now holds the bazaar. Anyone interested in history there ends up on excursions.

Marmaris is the place for a big night out. Bar Street is lined with clubs, laser shows and foam parties that run until close to dawn, and calmer cocktail bars line the marina.

Fethiye's going-out scene is gentler. Its best evenings are in the lit lanes and rooftop terraces of Paspatur, and Hisaronu's karaoke and club strip is the loud option. Both towns largely close down from November to April.

Fethiye has the more dramatic landscape and more to do in it. Babadag rises almost 1,970m straight behind the lagoon, the Lycian Way begins at Ovacik along cliff paths above the sea, and Saklikent Gorge offers icy canyon wading.

Marmaris's strength is the water. Its pine-covered bay opens onto the largely empty headlands of Bozburun and Datca, among Turkey's best sailing grounds, and the quieter Carian Trail winds through olive groves inland.

Fethiye sits in the middle of ancient Lycia, so there are ruins in every direction: Tlos, Pinara, the UNESCO-listed pair of Xanthos and Letoon, and Patara behind its dunes. Kas and Kalkan add relaxed days along the coast, and in winter the sites are at their most pleasant.

Marmaris has the shorter crossing to Rhodes, and the boatbuilding harbours of Selimiye and Bozburun are close by. Otherwise its outings are long drives to Knidos or Dalyan, and Dalyan is nearer to Fethiye anyway.

Both towns suit families equally well, and in both the pools and boat trips with swimming stops do most of the work. Fethiye's prize is the Oludeniz lagoon, shallow, sheltered and warm, and teenagers can watch the paragliders or wade through the gorge.

Marmaris has the bigger water park and calm water at the edges of the bay. Families there stay in Icmeler or Armutalan to keep away from the noise of Bar Street.

Getting around is similar in both, with dolmus minibuses and water taxis covering the local area. Fethiye's compact centre is walkable, but the inland Lycian sites really need a car or a tour.

Marmaris has a long, flat promenade you can walk or cycle all the way to Icmeler. Dalaman airport is about 45 minutes from Fethiye but roughly an hour and a half from Marmaris.

Fethiye spreads its shopping between two places: the long covered weekly market by the canal, with fruit, spices, honey and textiles, and the narrow lanes of Paspatur, where carpet, ceramics and lamp shops are pleasant to browse though not cheap. Marmaris gathers most of it into one covered bazaar behind the harbour, a maze of leather jackets, carpets and spices where haggling is part of every purchase.

The stock overlaps a good deal, with copy designer goods in both and no fashion streets or boutiques worth the trip. Peshtemal towels make an easy gift from either town, and Marmaris adds pine honey from its forests, natural sponges and olive oil soaps to the list of things worth packing.

Costs are the same in both, and they follow the same rule: eat at lokantas, ride the dolmus and stay away from the seafront to spend little. In Fethiye the extras that add up are paragliding and diving, while Marmaris's plentiful all-inclusive packages make it easy to fix the cost of a stay in advance.

Neither has a performing arts season worth planning around. In Fethiye, a saz player in a meyhane is the most authentic music you will hear. In Marmaris, most of what is on offer is Turkish nights put on for visitors, with an occasional concert at the open-air amphitheatre.

The two are fairly evenly matched, with hammams at the centre of relaxation in both. Fethiye has a genuine historic Ottoman bath in Paspatur and yoga retreats on the terraced slopes above Kabak.

The Marmaris baths are modern ones run for visitors. Its slow corners are the villages of Turunc and Selimiye, and the Dalyan mud baths are close enough for a half-day of soaking.