Glasgow or Manchester?

Neither city is a beach destination, and the sea is a walk rather than a swim at both. What differs is the kind of coast. Glasgow's trains run to the old Clyde resorts of Largs, Troon and Ayr, with long promenades looking across to the hills of Arran. Manchester's nearest shore is the Irish Sea, where you choose between the dunes and pinewoods of Formby and the brash promenade at Blackpool.

The two eat at much the same level, and both are cities of good everyday food rather than a famous cuisine. Glasgow's strength is its curry houses, with a claim on chicken tikka masala, plus an Italian café and chip-shop heritage and Finnieston's modern Scottish cooking built on west coast seafood, game and beef.

Manchester plays on range: a large Chinatown, cheap South Asian food along Wilmslow Road in Rusholme, and food halls in converted mills in Ancoats and the Northern Quarter. Drinking separates them too. Glasgow's pubs lean on whisky, while Manchester's pride is craft beer brewed under the railway arches.

Glasgow has the richer sightseeing. Kelvingrove's vast free collection and the Burrell's medieval tapestries and Chinese ceramics would stand out anywhere, and the Mackintosh House, Scotland Street School and Queen's Cross Church give the city an architect to follow around town. The cathedral and the Necropolis on the hill behind it add an older, atmospheric layer.

Manchester's sights are good but tell one main story, the world's first industrial city. The neo-Gothic Town Hall, the John Rylands Library, the Castlefield warehouses and the Science and Industry Museum on its historic railway site reward anyone curious about cotton, politics and Victorian building, though the range is narrower.

Both cities take going out seriously, but Manchester has the deeper night scene. The Northern Quarter's warehouse grid is the core, the Gay Village along Canal Street is one of Europe's oldest, and autumn and winter bring big warehouse raves in industrial spaces. Two large universities keep it busy midweek in term, though summer is quieter.

Glasgow's nights are louder and friendlier in the pub, with a respected basement techno and house scene and polished bars in the Merchant City. Clubs mostly close around 3am, so the night is short and intense, and weekends are far busier than the rest of the week.

Glasgow has the grander outdoors on its doorstep. Loch Lomond, with Ben Lomond and Conic Hill above it, is about 40 minutes away, the Trossachs lie just beyond, and the West Highland Way sets off from Milngavie on the city's edge. Ferries carry you to Arran and its peak, Goatfell.

Manchester's own centre is flat and built up, but the Peak District starts on its eastern fringe, and trains to Edale put Kinder Scout and the Mam Tor ridge within an hour. This is gritstone moorland, often in low cloud, and the Lake District is a longer ride than Glasgow's lochs.

Both make excellent bases, and the difference is in the menu. From Glasgow, Edinburgh is under an hour by train, with Stirling Castle, Linlithgow Palace and the mill village of New Lanark close too, and ferries add island days on Bute and Arran.

Manchester's strength is its rail hub: Liverpool is under an hour, Chester about an hour and York a little further, with Chatsworth, Buxton and the Peak District villages nearer still. Glasgow offers castles and islands, while Manchester offers a spread of historic English cities.

Free museums built for small hands carry a family stay in either city, and the difference lies in what surrounds them. Glasgow's are the stars: trams, cars and a tall ship at the Riverside Museum, a Spitfire under Kelvingrove's roof and the Science Centre on the Clyde, with Highland cattle to meet in Pollok Country Park. There is no zoo or aquarium in town, the safari park near Stirling is the nearest animal day, and the steep streets north of the centre are hard going with a buggy.

Manchester adds more of the indoor-attraction kind: dinosaurs and a vivarium at the Manchester Museum, an aquarium, a Lego attraction and a real-snow slope at the Trafford Centre, and stadium tours for young football fans. Chester Zoo is about an hour away, but the flat centre turns rowdy on weekend evenings.

Both are easy to manage without a car, but they move differently. Glasgow's centre is a walkable grid with some stiff climbs to the north, and its Subway is a single small circular line, handy for the West End but not much else. Buses from several companies with separate fares can puzzle a visitor.

Manchester's centre is flat and compact, so Castlefield, Piccadilly and the Northern Quarter link up easily on foot. The Metrolink trams reach Salford Quays, Old Trafford and the airport, which makes the outer sights simpler to reach than in Glasgow.

Each is the shopping capital of its region, and they offer much the same breadth. Glasgow's pedestrian loop of Buchanan, Sauchiehall and Argyle Streets is the centrepiece, with Victorian touches in the galleried Princes Square and the jewellers of the Argyll Arcade, vintage and bookshops along Byres Road, and the rough-edged Barras market at weekends.

Manchester's character is in the Northern Quarter's record shops, vintage clothing and long-standing multi-storey indoor emporium of stalls, with King Street for designer labels and the huge Trafford Centre on the edge of town.

The two cost much the same, with Glasgow coming in slightly cheaper, and in both the hotel bill depends more on your dates than on the city, because a home football match, a big concert or a conference sends room rates up sharply. Glasgow's free civic collections, from Kelvingrove and the Burrell to the Riverside Museum and the Hunterian, cover most of a sightseeing itinerary. The cost that builds is rail. Every day out to Edinburgh, Stirling or the Clyde coast is another fare, and over a week of trips those fares add up.

Manchester's main museums and galleries are mostly free as well, so sightseeing costs little in either city. Where Manchester helps a tight budget is cheap food in quantity, from Chinatown and the South Asian restaurants of Rusholme to the food halls in Ancoats, whereas in Glasgow the curry houses and pub lunches keep the bill down. A round in the pub costs the usual British amount in both.

Music defines both cities, and they are closely matched. The difference lies in what fills the stages. Glasgow has the Barrowland Ballroom, folk and traditional sessions in pubs, the winter Celtic Connections festival, and Scottish Opera and Scottish Ballet resident at the Theatre Royal.

Manchester has no resident opera, but the Hallé and the BBC Philharmonic share the Bridgewater Hall, and theatre-in-the-round at the Royal Exchange inside the old cotton hall is a memorable night. For a band night in a small room, both deliver.

Neither is a place to unwind, but Glasgow gives you a little more. Its West End has two Victorian swimming clubs with Turkish baths and plunge pools, though they mainly serve members, and Loch Lomond is close enough for a quiet day by the water. Manchester's Victoria Baths can be visited as heritage but not swum in, so the city offers little beyond hotel spas, and the restful option is the train to Buxton or the Peak District.