Galway or Manchester?

Galway at least has a seafront. The Salthill promenade is a walk from the centre, with small strands, the sheltered cove at Silver Strand and the Blackrock diving tower, where locals swim all year. The Atlantic stays cold, so think of a dip rather than a beach day.

Manchester is inland, and its nearest coast, the dunes at Formby or the promenade at Blackpool, is an hour or more away by train and better for sea air than for swimming. Of the two, only Galway lets a swim fit into an ordinary day.

Galway's strength is local produce from the sea and the land around it: Galway Bay oysters, mussels and chowder, Connemara lamb and Burren cheese, best found at the Saturday market beside St Nicholas'. Beyond that it is mostly pubs and cafés, with little range and high prices.

Manchester has nothing to match the oysters, but it wins on variety, with Chinatown, the South Asian kitchens of Rusholme and the food halls of Ancoats and the Northern Quarter. Drinkers also have more choice, from Victorian pubs to craft breweries under the railway arches.

Galway's heritage takes an afternoon on foot: the Spanish Arch, Lynch's Castle, St Nicholas' Collegiate Church and the City Museum. The pleasure is more in the Latin Quarter streets than in any one sight.

Manchester can fill two full days for anyone curious about the industrial revolution, with the Science and Industry Museum, the John Rylands Library, the neo-Gothic Town Hall and the Ancoats mills. Add the Pre-Raphaelites at the Art Gallery, the Whitworth and the People's History Museum, mostly free, and it has far more depth than Galway.

Galway does one thing very well, and that is the pub, from snugs with open fires to loud student bars. Most nights are over by the early hours, and the city is at its rowdiest during race week.

Manchester goes much further. Cocktail bars and basement DJ rooms in the Northern Quarter, the long-running Gay Village on Canal Street, the dressed-up crowds of Deansgate and the big warehouse raves in autumn add up to the club culture Galway lacks, and weekends run late.

Galway sits at the edge of truly wild country: the bogs, lakes and Twelve Bens of Connemara, the bare limestone of the Burren, the Cliffs of Moher and the Aran Islands, with Lough Corrib stretching north from town.

Manchester's scenery is also close. Heaton Park and the canal towpaths serve within the city, and trains reach Edale for Kinder Scout and Mam Tor in under an hour. The Peak District is fine walking country, but Galway's landscapes are bigger and emptier. In both places, bring waterproofs.

Galway's outings are mostly villages and single sites: Dún Aonghasa on Inis Mór, Kylemore Abbey, Cong, Dunguaire and Clonmacnoise. They are beautiful, but most mean a coach tour or a hired car.

Manchester's rail network makes it the stronger base. Liverpool, Chester and York are each an hour or so away by train, while Chatsworth, Buxton, Haworth and the Lake District add country days, so you could fill a week of outings without a car.

Galway is safe and relaxed with children, but most of what is built for them is at Salthill: the national aquarium, playgrounds and a summer funfair. Rainy days leave little to do indoors.

Manchester copes far better with bad weather. There are working engines at the Science and Industry Museum, dinosaurs at the Manchester Museum, and an aquarium, a Lego attraction and a snow slope at the Trafford Centre. Chester Zoo and Alton Towers make easy days out, though the centre gets rowdy on weekend evenings.

Both centres are compact enough to walk. Galway's runs from Eyre Square to the Spanish Arch in a few minutes, and the prom to Salthill is half an hour on foot, but the wider west means coaches or a car on narrow roads.

Manchester adds Metrolink trams to Salford Quays, Old Trafford and the airport, and its two main stations put day trips on the train, so a car is rarely needed.

Galway's shopping runs along one pedestrian street of bookshops, music shops and Irish craft. Claddagh rings and Aran knitwear are the things to take home, and souvenir shops take over along Quay Street.

Manchester is the shopping capital of the north: chains and department stores around Exchange Square, designer labels on King Street, vintage clothes and records in the Northern Quarter and at Afflecks, and the huge Trafford Centre on the edge of town.

Neither city is cheap, but Galway is the dearer of the two. Hotel rooms are scarce and jump in price in summer and during the festival and race week, eating out costs what it does elsewhere in Ireland, and exploring the west adds coach tours or car hire.

Manchester is mid-priced for Britain. Weeknight hotels are reasonable unless a match or concert is on, curry houses and food halls make a cheap meal easy to find, and most of the major museums are free to enter.

Galway's best evening may well be a traditional session in a Latin Quarter pub. Druid and An Taibhdhearc also give it serious theatre for its size, and the July arts festival is the high point of its year.

Manchester has more of almost everything else: gigs from Northern Quarter back rooms up to a huge arena, the Hallé and the BBC Philharmonic at the Bridgewater Hall, and the Royal Exchange's theatre-in-the-round inside the old cotton hall. For classical music in particular, Galway has nothing to compare.

Neither city is made for slowing down, but Galway comes closer. Cold-water swims at Blackrock, windy walks along the Salthill prom and seaweed baths along the coast are real ways to unwind, and Connemara or the Aran Islands offer true quiet.

Manchester has hotel spas and a few day spas, and Victoria Baths is open as heritage, not for swimming. For rest, take the train out to the Peak District or Buxton.