Glasgow or Kilkenny?

Neither is a place for the beach, and the difference is mostly in how you reach the coast. From Glasgow, trains run in about an hour to the old Clyde resorts of Largs, Troon and Ayr, with long promenades looking out to Arran. From Kilkenny it is an hour's drive to Tramore and the coves of the Copper Coast, where the water is a touch warmer but still cold, and a few locals swim in the Nore in summer.

Glasgow has far more choice. Its long tradition of curry houses, the cafés and chip shops left by Italian families, modern Scottish cooking along Finnieston's stretch of Argyle Street and the neighbourhood places of Shawlands and Strathbungo give you a different kind of meal each night.

Kilkenny is a small town that eats above its size. The best cooking uses the county's dairy, lamb and cheese, often in country-house kitchens outside town. In the centre, dinner is mostly gastropubs and bistros, and you will find few cuisines from abroad. The drinking is the stronger part, with red ale and stout poured in old pubs on a street with centuries of brewing behind it.

Glasgow has much more to see. Kelvingrove and the Burrell Collection are serious collections, the Hunterian and the Riverside Museum add depth, and Mackintosh's buildings, the medieval cathedral and the hillside Necropolis fill two or three full days. The grand Victorian sandstone streets of the old merchant city are worth seeing in their own right.

Kilkenny offers one coherent picture rather than breadth. The Medieval Mile links a Norman castle above the Nore to St Canice's Cathedral, whose round tower you can climb for a view over the slate roofs. Rothe House, the stained glass of the Black Abbey and the narrow slips lie in between. A day or two covers it, and it has no great art collections to set beside Glasgow's.

Going out is one of Glasgow's real strengths. Polished bars in the Merchant City, late student clubs around Sauchiehall Street, the busy lanes of the West End and a well-respected underground techno and house scene make for hard, loud nights until the clubs shut.

In Kilkenny a night out means pubs: low ceilings, open fires and snugs on High Street and Parliament Street. They are full of wedding and birthday groups at weekends and quiet midweek. You will find a couple of late bars and one small club, but nothing like Glasgow's range.

Glasgow puts you on the edge of the Highlands. Loch Lomond, with Ben Lomond and Conic Hill above it, is under an hour away, the West Highland Way starts in Milngavie on the city's edge, and ferries cross to the mountains of Arran.

Kilkenny's countryside is gentler: green farmland, the wooded Nore Valley Way through Thomastown and Inistioge, and modest climbs on Brandon Hill and the Blackstairs. It is pleasant for easy walks and cycling. For real mountains, though, you have to drive to the Comeraghs or the Wicklow Mountains.

Glasgow has the stronger and easier list. Edinburgh, Stirling Castle and Linlithgow Palace are each under an hour by train, and New Lanark, Culzean Castle and the islands of Bute and Arran add variety.

Kilkenny's outings centre on the monastic and Norman southeast: the Rock of Cashel, Jerpoint Abbey's carved cloister, Kells Priory and the Viking quarter of Waterford. They are rewarding but closer in theme. Apart from Waterford and Dublin, most of them need a car.

Glasgow gives children more to do, mainly because its big museums are free and hands-on. They can see the trams and tall ship at the Riverside Museum and the Spitfire in Kelvingrove, and the Science Centre is built for them. Plan indoor days for the rain.

Kilkenny is small, safe and easy to walk with children. The castle lawns and playground are right in town, and the best outings, the forest park with zip lines near Castlecomer and Dunmore Cave, are a short drive out. Neither has a zoo, aquarium or theme park.

Glasgow's grid-plan centre is walkable despite some steep streets. The little circular Subway serves the West End, and a large suburban rail network reaches the South Side, the coast and most day trips. The bus fares, split between several companies, are the main annoyance.

Kilkenny needs no transport inside the town: the Medieval Mile is about 1km long and the station is a short walk away. Beyond the town, rural buses are sparse, so to reach the abbeys and villages you need a hire car, a taxi or a tour.

Glasgow is a proper shopping city. Buchanan, Sauchiehall and Argyle Streets form a pedestrian loop of department stores and high street names, and Princes Square and the jewellers of the Argyll Arcade sit in Victorian arcades. The West End has vintage clothes and bookshops, and the Barras market is rough and characterful.

Kilkenny's strength is craft, not fashion. The old castle stables, where a national design movement began, sell pottery, glass, jewellery and woollens made in the region, and makers work in studios around the county. High Street's boutiques and delis fill a pleasant afternoon.

Glasgow is the cheaper of the two. Rooms usually cost less than in Edinburgh, curry houses and pub lunches keep meals down, and the biggest saving is that Kelvingrove, the Burrell, the Riverside Museum and the Hunterian are all free. Train fares for day trips are what add up.

Kilkenny is cheaper than Dublin, but Irish prices apply to pints, pub meals and dinners, and rooms in the centre cost much more at weekends and during festivals. Walking the town costs nothing, but the hire car most visitors need for the county is a real extra expense.

Glasgow is one of Britain's great music cities. Bands play everywhere from the Barrowland Ballroom to small rooms famous for early shows, folk sessions run in the pubs and Celtic Connections fills the city each winter. Scottish Opera, Scottish Ballet and two major orchestras give it a full classical season as well.

In Kilkenny the music is mostly traditional sessions in pub corners, played most nights of the week. The town comes alive during its festivals, above all the Arts Festival in August with concerts in St Canice's Cathedral. Outside those weeks, opera, orchestral music and large-scale theatre are scarce.

Neither city is somewhere people go mainly to rest, and on wellness the two are level. The difference is the kind of calm each one offers. Glasgow's is historic and indoors. Two West End swimming clubs from Victorian times still keep their Turkish-style hot rooms and cold plunges, though visitors usually can't get in because they mostly admit members. Beyond those, there are the spas in central hotels and day spas, and for real quiet Glaswegians head out to the lochs.

Kilkenny's calm is rural. Its pampering happens at country-house hotels on the edge of town, some with pools and treatment rooms set in wide parkland, and the river villages of Inistioge and Thomastown are quieter still. Stay there rather than in the centre, which turns loud on weekend nights.