Girona or San Sebastian?

San Sebastian has its beach right in town. La Concha's sheltered sand is a short walk from almost anywhere, Ondarreta is quieter for family days and Zurriola has the surf. The catch is the Bay of Biscay, with cooler water and summer days that can turn grey.

Girona has no beach at all. The Costa Brava, about 40km away, has warmer Mediterranean water and clearer coves around Begur and L'Escala, but each beach visit is a day trip planned around a car or a bus timetable, not a swim before dinner.

Food is San Sebastian's strongest suit. Moving between pintxo counters in the Parte Vieja and Gros, the fish and peppers at La Bretxa and San Martin, and a cluster of celebrated restaurants in the hills make eating the core of a stay, with the Astigarraga cider houses adding to it in season.

Girona eats well too, with Catalan home cooking, xuixos, serious tasting-menu kitchens and Empordà wine and cava close by. It is a city of sit-down meals, though, not grazing from bar to bar. Neither city offers much beyond its own regional cooking.

Girona has the richer historic core. The walled Barri Vell, the cathedral's vast Gothic nave, the Arab Baths, Sant Pere de Galligants and the Call make up a compact medieval city that you explore lane by lane.

San Sebastian's appeal lies more in its late 19th-century townscape than in its monuments: the streets around Buen Pastor, the Miramar Palace, San Telmo's story of Basque society and Chillida's Peine del Viento on the rocks. Neither city has a major museum, and each is covered in two or three days.

San Sebastian is the livelier of the two. The pintxo crawl runs on into late bars in the old town and Gros, and in summer and during Semana Grande the city stays out well past midnight. Girona's nights are terraces, long dinners and student bars in term time, and a real night out means taking the train to Barcelona. Neither is a club city.

Girona has more outdoors to explore, and it is made for road cycling: quiet lanes, the climbs of Rocacorba and Els Àngels, and greenways to Olot and the coast. The Garrotxa volcanoes, Cap de Creus and the Pyrenees, for hiking or skiing, are all within reach.

San Sebastian's nature is closer to hand and greener because of the rain. Hills ring the bay, the cliff path from Monte Ulia to Pasaia and over Jaizkibel is superb walking, and Zurriola has surf that the Costa Brava cannot match.

Both make fine bases, and Girona is slightly the stronger. Barcelona is a short high-speed train ride away, Dalí's Figueres and Cadaqués are close, and Besalú, Pals and Peratallada are easy outings, though the villages are much simpler with a car.

San Sebastian's advantage is the border. Bilbao and the Guggenheim, Hondarribia, Biarritz and Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Pamplona and the Rioja Alavesa vineyards are all within reach, mostly by bus or train.

San Sebastian is plainly the better choice with children. Sheltered city beaches, the flat promenade, the aquarium tunnel, Eureka's hands-on exhibits and the funfair at the top of the Igueldo funicular fill several easy days, and rain is the main risk.

Girona is safe and relaxed, and children enjoy walking the walls. Beyond that there is little built for them, the museums are aimed at adults and the stepped Barri Vell is hard work with a pushchair. Families there usually head for the Costa Brava.

San Sebastian is flat and compact. The old town, the bay and Gros sit along a promenade with bike lanes, buses fill the gaps, and Euskotren runs to the French border and towards Bilbao. Hardly anyone needs a car.

Girona is walkable too, but the old town is steep and full of stairs. Beyond the rail line to Barcelona and Figueres the buses are infrequent, so the villages, coves and wineries really call for a hire car.

Neither is a shopping destination, and serious shoppers leave both for a bigger city. The difference is in what you take home. Girona's Rambla has independent fashion, bookshops, delis and cycling shops, and the Mercat del Lleó has Empordà cheese and oil.

San Sebastian's Centro has more chains and boutiques, the Parte Vieja sells espadrilles, berets and tinned anchovies, and Gros has surf shops.

Girona is the easier city on the wallet. Set lunches and everyday taverns are fairly priced, and accommodation is the main cost, rising in summer, during the flower festival and in the cycling season. A hire car adds to the bill.

San Sebastian is one of the most expensive places in Spain to stay, with scarce rooms and steep summer and festival rates, and its famous restaurants are a real splurge. Free beaches and walks and cheap buses help, and coming outside the summer makes the biggest difference.

San Sebastian has the stronger stage life, built on two long-running summer festivals: Jazzaldia in July, with free concerts on Zurriola, and the orchestras and opera of the Quincena Musical in August. The Kursaal and the Teatro Victoria Eugenia keep a programme going through the year.

Girona's high point is in autumn, when Temporada Alta brings international theatre and dance, and the Auditori hosts touring concerts. Outside that festival and the summer music on the coast the programme is thin, and many plays are in Catalan.

San Sebastian has the more distinctive place to unwind: the old bathing pavilion on La Concha is a seawater thalassotherapy spa looking onto the bay, and evening walks on the promenade set a calm rhythm.

Girona's Arab Baths are for looking at, not bathing in. The real option is the thermal-spring hotels of Caldes de Malavella, about 20 minutes south. Both are slow-paced cities built around long lunches.