Girona or Segovia?

Girona puts the Mediterranean about 40 minutes away by car or bus, so the city works as a base for swimming even though it sits on a river. Sant Feliu de Guíxols, Platja d'Aro and Tossa de Mar are the nearest, while the coves around Begur and L'Escala further north have some of the clearest water on the coast. Treat the coast as a day out rather than the whole stay. Without a car, the buses limit how far you get, and in high summer the best-known coves fill early.

Segovia has nothing comparable. It sits on the Castilian plateau, a long day's drive from any coast, so summer swimming means a municipal pool or a cold reservoir in the Guadarrama foothills. That is fine for cooling off, but it is no reason to go.

Girona has more range at the table. Catalan home cooking such as botifarra with beans and mar i muntanya dishes sits alongside kitchens with an international fine-dining name. The Mercat del Lleó and nearby Empordà wineries supply both, and xuixos pastries cover breakfast.

Segovia eats well in a narrower way. Wood-roasted cochinillo and lechazo are the reason to book a table, with judiones beans and ponche as supporting acts. After two or three meals you have covered most of what the city does, and international food or fine dining is hard to find.

Segovia has the more striking monuments. The aqueduct's mortarless granite arches, the cathedral and the Alcázar on the tip of the ridge form a line of world-class sights. The many Romanesque churches with arcaded porches and the twelve-sided Vera Cruz add depth.

Girona's appeal is the atmosphere of a whole quarter rather than a few great buildings. You climb the Barri Vell's stairways to a cathedral with an enormously wide Gothic nave, walk the walls, and explore the Call, one of Europe's best-preserved Jewish quarters. Both cities have modest museums and can be seen in a day or two.

Both cities wind down early compared with Spain's big cities, and in both the real late night is a fast train away, to Barcelona from Girona and to Madrid from Segovia. In Girona, term-time students fill the bars around Plaça de la Independència, and a few small clubs open at weekends. Segovia is more about a tapas crawl around Plaza Mayor, and its old town goes quiet in the cold months.

Girona offers more variety outdoors. Road cyclists ride from the door to Rocacorba and Els Àngels, and the old railway greenways run flat to Olot and the coast. The Garrotxa volcanoes, the Cap de Creus headland and the Costa Brava cliff paths are all within about an hour.

Segovia's strength is mountains close at hand. The pine forests of Valsaín and the passes below Peñalara, at 2,428m with glacial lakes, are about half an hour away. The Duratón gorge with its vultures adds a wilder outing. Segovia is better for high hiking, while Girona combines riding, coast and volcanic landscapes.

Both are excellent bases with a capital-sized city close by on high-speed rail, but Girona's options are more varied. In one stay you can visit Barcelona, Dalí's museum at Figueres and his house at Portlligat, medieval Besalú, the ruins at Empúries and, across the border, Perpignan or Collioure.

Segovia's trips are more about royal and medieval Castile. They include La Granja's palace gardens twenty minutes away, Madrid, walled Ávila, the villages of Pedraza and Sepúlveda, and El Escorial over the mountains. Both work much better with a car once you leave the rail lines.

Neither city is built around children, and both have steep cobbled streets that are hard work with a pushchair. The difference is what keeps children interested. In Segovia it is a turreted castle on a cliff and the giant arches of the aqueduct. Girona families walk the walls, play in the shaded Devesa park and head to the Costa Brava beaches for most of the day.

Both centres are best on foot and both are steep. Segovia's sights run in one line along its ridge, while Girona spreads across the river into a flat modern centre. Girona's station is a walk from town. Segovia's high-speed station is several kilometres out and needs a bus. In both cities a car makes the hill villages much easier, and Girona's quiet lanes also suit a bike.

Girona gives you more to browse. The Rambla and the old-town streets have independent fashion, shoe and book shops, the Mercat del Lleó sells Empordà cheese, oil and wine, and visiting riders find plenty of cycling shops.

In Segovia, shopping mostly means souvenirs along Calle Real, with some local ceramics, embroidery and boxed ponche or La Granja beans. For serious shopping you would go to Barcelona from one city and Madrid from the other.

Segovia is the cheaper stay. It has plenty of small family-run hotels and guesthouses, and midweek or in winter it is inexpensive. The one costly habit is the famous roast at the dining rooms by the aqueduct.

Girona is mid-range for Western Europe, and its weekday set lunches are good value. Old-town rooms are limited, though, and climb in price in summer, at the spring flower festival and in the cycling season. Many visitors also rent a car to see the region, which adds to the cost.

Girona has the stronger stage life. The Auditori brings touring orchestras and jazz, the Teatre Municipal stages drama and dance, and the autumn Temporada Alta festival draws international theatre companies, though many plays are in Catalan.

Segovia's live arts depend on its festivals. Titirimundi fills squares with puppetry in spring, and summer concerts are held in churches and palace gardens. Outside those seasons there is little beyond touring shows at the Teatro Juan Bravo.

Girona has a proper bathing option nearby. Caldes de Malavella, a thermal-spring town with Roman roots, is about 20 minutes south, with hotel pools and treatments that use its spring water. The city's Arab Baths are a monument to visit, not a place to bathe.

Segovia has no thermal tradition and only a few hotel spas. What it offers is quiet: once the day coaches leave, there are evening walks along the walls and pine air from the sierra.