Jerez de la Frontera or Lagos, Portugal?

Lagos wins easily here. From the old town you can walk to the cliff-backed coves of Camilo and Dona Ana, or cross the footbridge to the 4km of open sand at Meia Praia, and the sheltered coves are usually calm and clear.

From Jerez, the beach is a day out. Valdelagrana, La Caleta in Cádiz and the wide sands of La Barrosa are reached by train or car. These beaches are broader and more exposed than the Lagos coves, with slightly warmer water in late summer but rough days when the Levante blows.

Jerez is the better place to eat and drink. Sherry runs through everything, from fino poured from the barrel in the tabancos to oxtail and kidneys cooked in it, and the tapas streets around Plaza del Arenal make for a long, late evening of grazing.

Lagos does grilled sardines, octopus and cataplana well, but its old town is full of menus aimed at visitors. The better meals take some finding, in family places a street or two back and by the harbour. In Jerez food can be the reason for the trip. In Lagos it is a pleasant part of a beach day.

Jerez gives you several days of real sightseeing. There are the Almohad Alcázar, the Baroque cathedral, the Gothic-Mudéjar parish churches and the flamenco quarters of Santiago and San Miguel, plus two things you won't find elsewhere: the cathedral-like sherry bodegas and the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art.

Lagos covers its history in a morning: the old walls, the Ponta da Bandeira fort, the gilded interior of Santo António and the slave market museum, which is sobering and worth the time. For more, you have to go out to Silves or Sagres.

Lagos has the livelier nights, at least in summer. Young travellers, surfers and organised pub crawls move through the old town bars past midnight, and a few small clubs stay open until near dawn. From November to March the town goes very quiet.

Jerez is more local and grown-up. The evening is a late dinner followed by tabancos and copa bars, and for most of the year it feels provincial. The exception is the Feria del Caballo in May, a week when the fairground casetas dance until dawn.

Lagos has dramatic scenery on its doorstep. The arches and grottoes of Ponta da Piedade are a short walk away and best seen by kayak, clifftop paths lead to Luz and Burgau, and the wild Costa Vicentina, with its Fishermen's Trail and year-round surf, is close.

Around Jerez the vineyards are gentle, and the bigger landscapes take a drive: the gorges of the Sierra de Grazalema, the cork forests of Los Alcornocales, and the Doñana wetlands across the river from Sanlúcar. Its own strengths are horse riding and the kitesurfing coast towards Tarifa.

Jerez is one of the best bases in southern Spain. Seville is about an hour away by train, Cádiz about half an hour, and Sanlúcar and El Puerto are close. With a car, Arcos, Vejer, Ronda and the other white towns fill several more days.

From Lagos, the best outing is Sagres and Cape St Vincent, with Silves and the Monchique hills inland. Beyond those the choice is thinner, and Tavira makes a long day. Many visitors simply move from beach to beach.

Lagos is better for a beach vacation with children. Meia Praia shelves gently and has plenty of room, the town is calm and safe, and boat trips to the grottoes are a hit. A baby carrier is more useful than a pushchair on the cobbles and the long stairways down to the coves.

Jerez has one of Spain's better zoos and the dancing-horse show, and children join late dinners as a matter of course. But the town is very hot in July and August, and every beach day means a train ride or a drive.

Both are walkable towns where you need a car for the countryside, but Jerez is easier. Its centre is flat and compact, and the station is close by, with direct trains to Seville, Cádiz and El Puerto and the airport a few minutes up the line.

Lagos is walkable too, but on cobbles and some steep lanes, and it sits at the end of a slow railway. For Sagres, the west coast beaches or Monchique, a hired car is close to essential.

Neither is a shopping destination, and what is worth buying differs in kind. Jerez has a little more: sherry and brandy from the bodegas, handmade saddlery and leather riding boots, flamenco dresses, shawls and guitars, and Calle Larga for everyday chains.

In Lagos, shopping means browsing on the way to dinner: Algarve ceramics, cork goods, linens, sardine tins and surf gear, plus honey, figs and medronho brandy from the market.

Jerez is the cheaper stay. Tapas and sherry cost little, central hotels are moderately priced and the sights are within walking distance. Rooms only get expensive and hard to find during the Feria, the flamenco festival and the big motorcycle race weekends.

Lagos is about average for Western Europe and expensive in July and August, when beach accommodation and restaurants on the main streets charge resort prices. From October to May it becomes much better value.

This is where the two differ most. Jerez is one of the birthplaces of flamenco and still lives it: evenings in the peñas of Santiago and San Miguel, informal singing in the tabancos and polished tablao shows, with the late-winter festival at the Teatro Villamarta bringing major dancers and students from abroad.

Lagos has a modest programme at its municipal cultural centre, fado and guitar evenings for visitors and cover bands in the bars. For serious music or theatre you would have to go to Faro or Lisbon.

Neither town has a bathing tradition, and there are few spas in either. Jerez has an Arab-style bathhouse in the old town. Lagos relies on resort hotel spas, with the thermal village of Caldas de Monchique an hour inland.

What differs is the kind of rest. Jerez slows you down with long lunches, shaded patios and quiet afternoons. Lagos offers sunset walks along the cliffs and yoga and surf retreats towards Luz and the west coast.