Fethiye or Paphos?

Fethiye has the more memorable coast. The shallow turquoise lagoon at Oludeniz sits behind a shingle spit, there is the cliff-walled cove of Butterfly Valley, and boats run to coves on the islands of the bay. Together these give it a variety Paphos cannot quite match, even though the town's own beach at Calis is coarse and windy.

Paphos has a similar weakness in town, with short, rocky strips along the Kato Paphos promenade, so the good beaches are Coral Bay's sandy crescent and wild Lara Bay, both a drive away. The water is equally clear and warm at both, and Paphos stays swimmable into November.

Neither is a place to go for the food alone, and in both the resort strips serve English breakfasts and international menus to package visitors. The difference lies in what you go looking for.

In Fethiye it is the fish market, where you choose your fish at the stalls and a restaurant on the square cooks it, followed by rakı and meze on the harbour. In Paphos it is the long Cypriot meze of halloumi, sausage and kleftiko lamb, best in the tavernas of Ktima and the hill villages, with wine from the Laona slopes.

Paphos is the clear choice for sightseeing. Its UNESCO-listed archaeological park holds Roman villas with some of the finest floor mosaics in the Mediterranean. With the Tombs of the Kings, the harbour castle and St Paul's Pillar, there is enough for two or three full days.

Fethiye's sights are striking but few: the Lycian rock tombs in the cliff above town, a Roman theatre by the harbour and sarcophagi standing in the streets. The emptied Greek village of Kayakoy over the ridge is the most moving of them. Beyond these, the town was largely rebuilt after an earthquake and has little else to see.

Both are summer resort scenes that go quiet in winter, and neither is a reason to pick one over the other. Fethiye lets you choose your mood: cocktail bars and rooftop terraces in the lit lanes of Paspatur, or the loud strip of karaoke bars and clubs at Hisaronu. Paphos puts its late nights on Bar Street in Kato Paphos and otherwise settles into long taverna dinners and drinks by the harbour.

Fethiye's landscape is the more dramatic. Babadag rises almost 1,970m behind the lagoon and you can paraglide off its slopes. The cliff paths of the Lycian Way run past Butterfly Valley and Kabak, and at Saklikent you wade upstream through icy water between the canyon walls.

Paphos has good walking too, on the roadless Akamas peninsula, through Avakas Gorge and in the mouflon country of Paphos Forest. The Troodos add pine-forest hikes and a little skiing in winter. All of it involves more driving, though, and none of it has mountains falling straight into the sea in the same way.

Fethiye sits in the heart of ancient Lycia, so a week fills easily with ruins: Tlos on its hilltop, the tomb cliff at Pinara, UNESCO-listed Xanthos and Letoon, and Patara behind its dunes. You can also take the river boat at Dalyan past temple tombs cut into the rock, visit Kas and Kalkan, and in season catch the ferry to the medieval Old Town of Rhodes, passport in hand.

Paphos has a solid list along the coast road, from Kourion's cliff-top site to Kolossi castle and Limassol. Inland are the painted Troodos churches, and further off is the walled capital, Nicosia. The range is narrower, though, and nearly all of it needs a car.

Both work well for a beach vacation with children, but Paphos has more to fill the days around the beach. Coral Bay has shallow sand, there are hotels with kids' clubs, a zoo near Peyia and a large water park, and older children usually enjoy the mosaics. Tavernas are happy to have children until late in the evening.

Fethiye's best card is the sheltered, warm lagoon at Oludeniz, close to ideal for small swimmers. Beyond boat trips and a small water park, though, little is made for children, and midsummer is hotter.

Fethiye is easier without a car. Dolmus minibuses run regularly from the compact town centre to Oludeniz, Hisaronu, Calis and Kayakoy, water taxis cross the bay, and intercity buses reach Dalyan and Kas. Tlos and Saklikent still need a car or a tour.

In Paphos you can walk the promenade, and buses run to Ktima and Coral Bay. But the hotels spread far along the coast, and reaching the gorges, villages and sites usually means hiring a car and driving on the left.

Neither is a place for a shopping trip, but Fethiye gives you more to browse. Its big weekly market by the canal sprawls with spices, honey, cotton towels and textiles, and the lanes of Paspatur add carpets, leather, ceramics and lamps.

Paphos has the covered municipal market in Ktima and a seafront of beachwear and gift shops. The better buys there are lace, pottery, carob products and wine, bought in the villages where they are made.

Money goes further in Fethiye as long as you stay in town, where lokantas, market food, dolmus fares and family-run guesthouses are all inexpensive. Paphos costs what you would expect of a eurozone resort, and the hire car you will almost certainly need adds to the bill, though meze dinners give a lot of food for the money. In both, prices climb sharply at seafront and lagoon-side hotels in July and August, and Fethiye's paragliding, cruises and heavily taxed alcohol soon add up.

Neither has a season worth planning a trip around, but Paphos has one real occasion. The Aphrodite Festival stages open-air opera in front of the harbour castle in early autumn, and the ancient odeon hosts the odd concert. In Fethiye, live music mostly means a saz player in a meyhane or a cover band in Hisaronu.

Fethiye has a bathing tradition that Paphos lacks. The historic Ottoman hammam in Paspatur offers the full ritual of hot marble, scrubbing and foam massage, and the terraced retreats above Kabak and Faralya run yoga weeks with sea views.

Paphos relies on the spas of its resort hotels and an easy pace of promenade walks and village lunches. Both are calmest outside high summer, and in Fethiye rest also means staying away from the Hisaronu and Oludeniz strips.