Fethiye or Nicosia?

Fethiye is a beach destination and Nicosia is not. A minibus from town reaches the Oludeniz lagoon in under half an hour. Beyond it lie the sandy cove of Kidrak, the shingle at Kabak and Butterfly Valley by boat, all with clear water, and even Calis, the town's own shore, is fine for a swim.

Nicosia has no shore at all. The sea at Larnaca or around Kyrenia is just as warm, but each trip there takes about 45 minutes each way, and on ordinary days a pool is the only way to cool off.

Nicosia is the better place to eat. Start with a long meze at a taverna in the lanes around Faneromeni, with souvla from the charcoal grill. Then walk across the Green Line for kebab, lahmacun and syrupy pastries near the Bandabulya market, which gives you two kitchens in one afternoon, with Commandaria and Troodos wines to follow.

Fethiye's best meal is the fish market ritual: you buy your fish at the stalls and a restaurant on the square cooks it, followed by rakı on the harbour. In town there are also lokantas and the canal market, but the resort strips at Hisaronu and Oludeniz mostly serve package-menu staples.

Fethiye has a few striking sights. The Lycian rock tombs are carved into the cliff above town and glow at sunset. A Roman theatre lies by the harbour, and stone sarcophagi stand in ordinary streets. Over the ridge, the roofless houses and churches of Kayakoy, emptied in 1923, are the most affecting of all. Most of the town was rebuilt after the 1957 earthquake, so a day covers it.

Nicosia has far more to see. Inside the Venetian walls, with the Green Line running through them, the Archbishop's Palace holds Byzantine icons. Across the checkpoint stand the Selimiye Mosque and the Büyük Han caravanserai, with Lusignan, Ottoman and British buildings side by side. Just outside the walls near the Paphos Gate, the Cyprus Museum holds the island's best antiquities, and together they fill two or three days.

Neither is a nightlife destination, but evenings out feel quite different. In Fethiye they split between relaxed cocktail bars and rooftops in the Paspatur quarter and the loud Hisaronu strip of karaoke and late clubs aimed at package visitors. Much of that strip shuts from November to April.

Nicosia's nights belong to locals: students and young professionals drink on the pavements around Faneromeni Square, the bars filling only towards midnight, and a few clubs on the avenues stay open later. It goes on all year, though the island's big clubs are on the coast.

Fethiye is far stronger for the outdoors. Babadag rises almost 1,970m straight behind the Oludeniz lagoon, and the Lycian Way follows cliff paths past Faralya and Kabak. Saklikent Gorge, sea kayaking and diving fill the rest of a week.

Nicosia sits on a flat plain that bakes brown in summer, and the moat gardens are its main green space. The good walking is a drive away, on the Kyrenia ridge or in the pine-covered Troodos, which at least stay cool in high summer.

Both are good bases for day trips, of different kinds. Most outings from Fethiye go to ancient Lycia: Tlos, Pinara, Xanthos and Patara, plus the river tombs at Dalyan and the harbour towns of Kas and Kalkan. In season, a ferry with a passport check takes you to the medieval Old Town of Rhodes.

From Nicosia the whole island is in range: Kyrenia's harbour, Bellapais and St Hilarion to the north, Famagusta and Salamis to the east, and the painted churches of the Troodos to the south-west. In both places, a hire car or a tour makes the inland sites far easier.

Fethiye is much the easier choice with children. The shallow, sheltered lagoon at Oludeniz suits small swimmers, and pool hotels around Hisaronu and Ovacik have family rooms. Boat trips with swimming stops, a small water park and the paragliders overhead keep older children busy.

Nicosia is welcoming and safe, and families eat out together late, but it has little built for children and no beach without a car. Summer days are often above 35°C, so most families are better off staying on the coast and visiting Nicosia for a day.

Fethiye is a little simpler. Its centre and harbour are flat and walkable, dolmus minibuses run often to Oludeniz, Hisaronu, Calis and Kayakoy, and water taxis cross the bay. Only the inland ruins and Saklikent really need a car or a tour.

Nicosia's walled old town is easy on foot, and the Ledra Street crossing takes you to the north in minutes after an ID check. Beyond the walls the city is built around the car and buses are of little use to visitors, so most day trips mean hiring one and driving on the left.

Neither is worth a shopping trip, but the browsing differs. Fethiye means markets and bazaars: the long weekly market by the canal for spices, honey and peshtemal towels, and the Paspatur lanes for carpets, leather, ceramics and lamps. The resorts sell mostly imitation goods.

Nicosia has ordinary high-street shopping on Ledra and Onasagorou streets and designer brands on the avenues outside the walls. The Cyprus Handicraft Centre sells Lefkara lace, and across the line the Bandabulya market has copperware and Turkish delight.

Fethiye makes a budget go a little further, as long as you stay in town, eat in lokantas and ride the dolmus. The resort strips, paragliding, cruises and diving push costs up quickly, and alcohol is heavily taxed.

In Nicosia, meze and coffee are good value and the museums charge little. Hotels, though, are mid-range business rooms, and the real extra is the hire car most visitors need. Eating and shopping in the northern half cost noticeably less.

Nicosia is the one with a season. As the capital it has the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, a state theatre company and summer concerts in the moat, plus rebetiko, folk and jazz in the old-town bars, though most plays are in Greek.

In Fethiye, live music usually means a saz player in a meyhane or a cover band in Hisaronu, with the odd concert at the modest cultural centre.

Both have Ottoman baths, but Fethiye offers more ways to unwind. The historic hammam in the Paspatur quarter gives you the full ritual of scrubbing and foam massage, and the larger hotels have spas. Yoga retreats on the slopes above Kabak and Faralya offer slow stays with sea views, best in spring and autumn and away from the resort strips.

Nicosia has the domed Omeriye Hammam, the Büyük Hamam in the north and a slow pace in the old town, with coffee in shaded squares and a quiet lull on summer afternoons. For real rest, though, people head out to the Troodos villages.