Galway or Glasgow?

Galway has the edge simply because the sea is part of town. Salthill's promenade is a short walk from the centre, with small strands, the Blackrock diving tower and regulars swimming all year. Glasgow's nearest sand is at Largs, Troon or Ayr, each about an hour away by train.

The water is cold off both: about 15°C at its peak in Galway Bay and a little colder on the Clyde. Neither is a beach destination, but in Galway a swim fits into an ordinary morning, while from Glasgow the coast makes a day out.

Glasgow gives you more range. Its long tradition of curry houses, the Italian-founded cafés and chip shops, Finnieston's modern Scottish cooking and the small restaurants of Shawlands and Strathbungo let you eat differently every night, with a deep whisky list to follow.

Galway is narrower but has a sharper local identity. Galway Bay oysters, mussels and chowder, Connemara lamb and Burren cheese are at their best at the Saturday market by St Nicholas' Church. Beyond Irish and modern European cooking, though, the choice thins out quickly.

You can see Galway's heritage in an afternoon: the Spanish Arch and the old wall, Lynch's Castle on Shop Street, St Nicholas' Collegiate Church and the city museum. The real pleasure is wandering the Latin Quarter and the river by the Claddagh.

Glasgow is a different scale altogether. It has Victorian sandstone streets, the free Kelvingrove and Burrell collections, the Hunterian and Riverside museums, the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and the cathedral with its Necropolis. Anyone who travels for museums will find far more to fill the days in Glasgow.

Galway's nights revolve around the pub: snugs and open fires, students packing the centre in term time, and the whole town going wild in race week. After closing there are only a few late bars, and most nights end by the early hours.

Glasgow offers more layers. There are cocktail bars in the Merchant City, late bars and student clubs around Sauchiehall Street, and a respected underground techno and house scene that draws DJs from across Europe. For dancing rather than drinking and talking, Glasgow is the place.

Both cities sit on the edge of superb country, so the choice is about the kind of landscape. Galway faces the raw Atlantic west: the bog, lakes and quartzite Twelve Bens of Connemara about an hour away, the bare limestone Burren across the bay, and Lough Corrib reaching north from town for kayaking, fishing and boat trips.

Glasgow looks towards the Highlands instead. The train reaches Loch Lomond at Balloch in about 40 minutes, while the climb up Ben Lomond starts on the quieter eastern shore and means a longer trip by road. The West Highland Way begins at Milngavie on the city's northern edge, and the wooded glens of the Trossachs, the Campsie Fells and Arran are all within reach. Galway's country feels emptier and more exposed to the weather, and Glasgow's is gentler, with woods and lochs. Both are wet, so bring waterproofs either way.

Glasgow is the much stronger base. Edinburgh is under an hour away by train, and Stirling Castle, Linlithgow Palace and New Lanark are all close. Add Burns country, Culzean Castle and the ferries to Bute and Arran, and you have a long list with real variety.

Galway's outings are villages and single sites rather than cities. The best are Dún Aonghasa on Inis Mór, Kylemore Abbey, Cong, Dunguaire and Clonmacnoise. They are memorable, but apart from Ennis and Limerick most of them mean a coach tour or a hired car.

Glasgow copes better with children, mainly because its big museums are free and made for touching things. The Riverside Museum has trams and a tall ship, Kelvingrove has a Spitfire hanging from the ceiling, and the Science Centre is aimed squarely at young visitors, so rainy days are covered.

Galway has what Glasgow lacks, the national aquarium, out on the Salthill prom along with playgrounds and a summer funfair. Beyond that, families head out to farm parks and Connemara ponies, and a wet day leaves few indoor options.

Galway's centre is tiny. Eyre Square, Shop Street and the Spanish Arch are minutes apart on foot, and Salthill is a half-hour walk along the prom. The difficulty is the wider west, where reaching Connemara, the Burren or the Aran ferry usually means a coach or narrow roads in a hire car.

Glasgow takes more effort to learn but goes further. It has a walkable grid, with hills to the north, a small circular Subway to the West End, and a large suburban rail network out to the coast and the day-trip towns. The buses, run by several companies on separate fares, are the one confusing part.

Glasgow is a serious shopping city. The pedestrian loop of Buchanan, Sauchiehall and Argyle Streets has the department stores and big British names, and Princes Square and the Argyll Arcade add fashion and jewellers. The West End has vintage clothes and independent boutiques, and the Barras is a rough-edged weekend market.

Galway's shopping runs along one street from Eyre Square to Quay Street, with good independent bookshops and music shops. What it does better is local craft, with Claddagh rings from the town where they began and Aran knitwear, the kind of thing Glasgow sends you to the Highlands for.

Glasgow is easier on the budget. Its hotels are generally cheaper than Edinburgh's, curry houses and pub lunches keep meals reasonable, and Kelvingrove, the Burrell, the Riverside Museum and the Hunterian are all free.

Galway has too few hotel rooms for the visitors it gets, so rates climb steeply in summer and at weekends, and the town books up months ahead for the arts festival and race week. The streets, churches and pub sessions cost nothing, but coach tours or car hire for the wider region soon add up.

Galway does intimate things well. Fiddles and bodhráns play round pub tables in the Latin Quarter most nights, buskers fill Shop Street, and it is a real theatre town, home to Druid and to An Taibhdhearc, the Irish-language national theatre. The arts festival takes over in July.

Glasgow has far more range. Its gig circuit runs from the Barrowland Ballroom to the arenas by the Clyde. Scottish Opera, Scottish Ballet and two symphony orchestras are based there, and Celtic Connections brings folk and trad music in winter. Anyone after classical music or big touring bands should choose Glasgow.

Neither city is made for unwinding, and both are loud in the centre at night. The local ways of relaxing differ, though. In Galway it is the cold-water swim at Blackrock and a windy walk along the prom, with traditional seaweed baths on the west coast and country-house spas in Connemara.

Glasgow's bathing heritage is a pair of Victorian swimming clubs in the West End with Turkish baths, though they mainly serve members, so most visitors use hotel or day spas. For real quiet, stay on the Aran Islands from Galway or head out to the lochs from Glasgow.