Jerusalem or Paphos?

There is no swimming in Jerusalem itself. The choice is between Tel Aviv's long sandy beaches, about an hour away door to door, and the Dead Sea, where you float off a rocky, salt-crusted shore. Both are excursions that take a whole day.

Paphos is built around the sea. The town beaches are only short strips of sand and shingle with rocky entries, but Coral Bay, about 13km north, is a proper sandy crescent with shallow water, and Lara Bay offers an undeveloped coast. You can be in the water before breakfast, which Jerusalem can never offer.

Jerusalem eats far more interestingly. Mahane Yehuda goes from spice and halva stalls by day to grills after dark, the Old City has morning hummus counters and ka'ak carts, and Kurdish, Iraqi and Yemenite Jewish cooking adds a further layer. Kosher menus and the Shabbat closures in the west take some planning.

Paphos has one strong suit, the Cypriot meze, with halloumi, kleftiko and charcoal grills best eaten in Ktima or the hill villages with a Laona wine. Down on the harbour and resort strip, much of the food is pitched at package tourists.

Jerusalem's history is stacked in layers on one ridge and still in daily use. The Western Wall runs along the foot of the Temple Mount with the Dome of the Rock above it, the Holy Sepulchre stands a few lanes away in the Christian Quarter, and the City of David and the tunnels go down to the Bronze Age. Outside the walls, the Israel Museum and the churches and tombs of the Mount of Olives would each be the main sight in most other cities, so sightseeing sets the shape of the whole trip.

Paphos has one compact ancient site, but it is a very good one. The Roman mosaics of the House of Dionysus and the sunken Hellenistic Tombs of the Kings lie close together along the shore of Kato Paphos, so they fit easily between mornings at the beach. These are quiet ruins next to a modern resort, not a working holy city, and once you leave them the town has little more to show you.

Neither is a place for a big night out, but the evenings differ. Jerusalem's are low-key and run all year: market stalls in Mahane Yehuda turn into bars, there are pubs around Nahalat Shiva, and students keep a few spots going on weeknights. Friday nights go quiet, and anyone wanting clubs takes the train to Tel Aviv.

Paphos packs its going out into Bar Street, with karaoke, pubs and a few late clubs suited to groups in summer. From November to March most of it closes.

Paphos has more outdoors on its doorstep. The roadless Akamas peninsula, the limestone walls of Avakas Gorge, mouflon in the Paphos Forest and pine trails in the Troodos make for varied walking, and the sea adds wreck diving, snorkelling and kayaking.

Jerusalem's appeal is the contrast between the green terraces of the Judean Hills around Sataf and the desert falling east to Wadi Qelt, Ein Gedi and a dawn climb to Masada. There is no water sport, and summer limits the desert to sunrise.

From Jerusalem, the day trips are famous names in their own right: Bethlehem just south, Masada with Qumran, Jericho, old Jaffa by train, and Caesarea, Acre and the Baha'i gardens in Haifa further out. Some West Bank sites involve a checkpoint, so a guide helps.

Paphos gives you a pleasant run along the coast to Kouklia, cliff-top Kourion and Limassol, plus the painted Byzantine churches of the Troodos and divided Nicosia. These make good outings but are less remarkable, and nearly all of them need a car.

Children are warmly received in Jerusalem, and the Biblical Zoo, the aquarium and the Bloomfield Science Museum are good for a day or two. Older children will enjoy wading through Hezekiah's Tunnel. Still, the solemn holy sites and stepped lanes, where a stroller is useless, make it a city for adults.

Paphos is far easier with children. Coral Bay's shallow water, hotels with kids' clubs, a water park and a flat promenade for pushchairs set up a relaxed family week, though the heat and the need for a car remain.

Jerusalem is easier without a car. The Old City, Jaffa Road and the market are within walking distance of each other, a light rail line runs out to Yad Vashem, and a fast train reaches Tel Aviv and the airport. Everything stops for Shabbat, though, and the hills and stone steps tire the legs.

In Paphos, the promenade in Kato Paphos is flat and easy, but hotels stretch along the coast and buses don't reach most villages or gorges. Most visitors hire a car and drive on the left.

Jerusalem offers more to buy and more character in the buying. You can haggle in the Old City souq for olive wood and embroidery, find hand-painted ceramics in the Armenian Quarter and silver Judaica near Ben Yehuda Street, and browse the brands along Mamilla.

Paphos has little beyond the covered market in Ktima and beachwear on the seafront. The best finds are lace, pottery, honey and carob products bought in the villages where they are made.

Jerusalem is the dearer of the two by a clear margin. Hotels, restaurant meals and drinks are all expensive, and only the free holy sites, the cheap transport and the hummus and falafel lunches keep costs down.

Paphos is priced like an ordinary eurozone resort. Its meze dinners give plenty of food for the money, and the shoulder and winter months are noticeably cheaper. July hotel rates and car hire are what push up the bill.

Jerusalem has the steadier programme. Its symphony orchestra and the Jerusalem Theatre perform through the year, the Israel Festival brings dance and music, and summer concerts are held in the Sultan's Pool below the walls. Most drama is in Hebrew, though.

In Paphos, a normal evening's entertainment is folk dancing at a taverna. The one event to plan around is the open-air Aphrodite Festival opera, staged in front of the harbour castle in early autumn.

Both are about equal for rest, but in different ways. In Jerusalem, wellness means a day trip to the Dead Sea for mud, sulphur pools and floating. Within the city, the calm comes from the weekly hush of Shabbat and the quiet gardens on the Mount of Olives.

Paphos has hotel spas, and it is restful in its everyday pace: promenade strolls, long lunches and sleepy inland villages, all at their best once the summer crowds have left.