Granada or Lagos, Portugal?

This is where the two differ most. Granada is inland, so a swim means a pool in town or a drive of about an hour to the Costa Tropical. There, Salobreña and La Herradura have pebble and dark sand, and the Mediterranean is calm enough for snorkelling in late summer.

In Lagos the beach starts at the edge of town. Sandy coves such as Dona Ana and Camilo lie beneath honey-coloured cliffs and sea stacks, and Meia Praia's long open shore is just across the river. The Atlantic is cooler, but you can walk to the sand every morning, and the surf beaches of the west coast are close.

Granada eats better, mostly because of the way it eats. A small plate comes with each drink, so an evening moves from bar to bar through the Realejo and the lower Albaicín, with Alpujarra ham and aubergine with cane honey along the way, and mint tea in the Moroccan teterías of Calderería Nueva.

Lagos is simpler and more uneven. Grilled sardines, octopus and cataplana are worth having, but the old town lanes are full of tourist menus, and the good meals take some finding, in family places and by the harbour. Neither town has much at the top end.

Granada is in a different league. The Nasrid palaces and Generalife gardens of the Alhambra justify the journey on their own. The lanes of the Albaicín, the cathedral and Royal Chapel, the Carthusian monastery and the caves of Sacromonte fill a few unhurried days on top of that.

Lagos has a real story as a base for Portugal's fifteenth-century voyages. The gilded interior of Santo António and the slave market museum are worth seeing, but the whole historic centre fits into a morning.

Both are bar towns rather than club destinations, but Granada has the edge. Its students fill the bars of Calle Elvira and the pubs around Pedro Antonio de Alarcón until late for most of the year, and the scene only thins out in summer.

Lagos runs on the opposite calendar. In summer the old town is packed with surfers and backpackers moving between cocktail bars, pubs and pub crawls, and from November to March it goes quiet.

Both are excellent for the outdoors, but they face in opposite directions. Granada looks up to the Sierra Nevada, with skiing above Pradollano in winter, summer routes towards Mulhacén, and the terraced valleys and mule paths of the Alpujarras.

Lagos looks out to sea. You can kayak among the arches and grottoes of Ponta da Piedade, take a boat out to look for dolphins, follow the clifftop paths to Luz, or head for the wild Costa Vicentina with its Fishermen's Trail and surf. In both places, spring and autumn are the seasons for walking.

Granada is within reach of some of Andalusia's finest towns. Córdoba and its Mezquita are a fast train ride away, and so are Málaga and the dolmens of Antequera. Renaissance Úbeda and Baeza and the white villages of the Alpujarras round out the choice.

The days out from Lagos are pleasant rather than great: Sagres and Cape St Vincent at the tip of Europe, Moorish Silves, the Monchique hills and, further off, Tavira. Most of them need a car, and many visitors simply go to another beach instead.

Lagos is the easier choice for families, because the day can be built around a beach. Meia Praia shelves gently and has plenty of room, children enjoy the boat trips to the grottoes, and water parks and a marine park are a short drive away.

Granada has the Parque de las Ciencias, good for a full day of hands-on science, and the Alhambra's fountains. But its steep cobbled hills and summer heat soon tire small legs. Both welcome children at dinner late into the evening, and in both the old streets are hard going with a pushchair.

On foot the two are much alike: compact, cobbled and steep in places. Granada pulls ahead because its small red minibuses climb to the Alhambra, the Albaicín and Sacromonte, and trains link it well to Córdoba and Málaga.

In Lagos you can walk from the old town to the coves, and across the footbridge to Meia Praia. Beyond town, though, slow trains and infrequent buses make a hire car close to essential.

Neither is a shopping destination, but Granada has more to offer. Look for its taracea inlaid woodwork, Fajalauza ceramics and guitars from local workshops, browse the Alcaicería beside the cathedral, and find the Spanish chains and a department store around Calle Recogidas. Lagos goes little further than painted ceramics, cork goods, sardine tins, surf gear, and honey and medronho from the market.

Granada is the cheaper of the two. The free tapa with each drink keeps evenings inexpensive, and rooms in the lower town are modestly priced. Costs rise mainly around the Alhambra and in the Albaicín.

Lagos is nearer the Western European average and changes a lot with the season. Beach rooms are in heavy demand in July and August, while from October to May rates drop a long way.

Granada is far ahead here. Flamenco is a living art in the caves of Sacromonte and the peñas of the Albaicín. The summer festival of music and dance puts concerts and ballet inside the Alhambra and the Generalife, and the city orchestra plays through the rest of the year.

Lagos has fado and guitar evenings aimed at visitors, cover bands in the bars and a modest cultural centre. For serious concerts you have to go to Faro or Lisbon.

Granada has the edge through its revived Moorish bathing culture. Hammams in the lower Albaicín have warm, tepid and cold pools under vaulted roofs, and the spa towns of Lanjarón and Alhama de Granada are within an hour.

Lagos offers rest of a different kind: yoga and surf retreats towards Luz, and slow sunset walks on the cliffs outside the summer peak. Its nearest thermal springs are at Caldas de Monchique, inland.