Killarney or Limerick?

Neither is a beach destination, but Killarney is closer to the sand. Inch and Rossbeigh are about 40 minutes away by car. They are wide, wild strands, good for walks and beginner surf lessons, and driving the Ring of Kerry makes the coast part of an ordinary day out.

From Limerick, the beaches at Kilkee, Lahinch and Ballybunion take an hour or more, so a day on the coast has to be planned as its own outing. In both places the Atlantic stays cold, and anyone who swims does so in a wetsuit.

Both eat well on Munster farm produce, but in different settings. Killarney's restaurants and pubs crowd High Street and Main Street, with Kerry lamb, Dingle seafood and chowder on most menus. Plenty of those menus are built for coach parties, though, and keen eaters often drive to Kenmare or Dingle.

Limerick has what Killarney lacks: a proper market. The Milk Market fills with producers, bakers and hot-food stalls at the weekend, and the student city adds cafés and a few ambitious modern Irish kitchens. Neither has a local cuisine worth travelling for.

Limerick has the more substantial sights, and they are in the city itself. King John's Castle and St Mary's Cathedral share King's Island, the Hunt Museum holds a fine collection of medieval objects in the old Custom House, and the Georgian terraces of Newtown Pery add an orderly older city to walk through.

Killarney's best sights are at the edge of the park: Muckross House and its gardens, Ross Castle on Lough Leane, and the ruined abbey with its yew. They are lovely, but they are country-house history, and the town itself has little to see beyond Pugin's cathedral.

Killarney's night out is a summer pub crawl. High Street and Plunkett Street are packed and loud in season, and a few late bars and hotel venues carry on after the pubs close. There is no real club culture, though, and winter weeknights go quiet.

Limerick offers more range, and it keeps going all year. Traditional bars with snugs and open fires sit alongside louder late bars and a few nightclubs that stay open into the early hours at weekends. Students from three colleges fill weeknights in term, and a Munster match at Thomond Park brings crowds into every pub.

This is where Killarney pulls far ahead. You can walk or cycle straight from town into the national park, with its three lakes, red deer and ancient oak woods. Beyond them rise MacGillycuddy's Reeks, Ireland's highest mountains, and the Gap of Dunloe, a narrow glacial pass, is close by for a day on foot or by bike.

Limerick has the Shannon quays and a canal greenway on its doorstep. Its real landscapes, Lough Derg, the Galtees and the Burren, all mean taking a car and driving for up to an hour and a quarter.

Limerick is the more versatile base. Bunratty and Adare are about twenty minutes away and the Rock of Cashel about an hour. Galway, Cork and Kilkenny all work as day trips, and the Clare coast is within reach as well.

Killarney's outings are mostly scenic drives: the Ring of Kerry, Dingle, and Kenmare over Moll's Gap. What it has that Limerick lacks is Skellig Michael, if the summer boats can land.

Both are safe, easy places to bring children, and neither has a zoo or theme park nearby. In Killarney the days are spent outdoors: bikes on flat lakeside paths, jaunting cars, boat trips and the animals at Muckross Traditional Farms, with hotel pools for wet afternoons. Limerick's days lean on history, with the battlements of King John's Castle to climb, the old village at Bunratty Folk Park, and a playground in the People's Park.

Both centres are small enough to walk and have railway stations close to the centre. In both, seeing the wider region means a car. Limerick adds city buses to the university and suburbs, trains to Ennis and Galway, and Shannon Airport close by for picking up a hire car.

Killarney's advantage is the bike. Muckross House and the park's main sights are reached on flat, traffic-free paths, though the Ring of Kerry and Dingle mean narrow roads shared with coaches in summer.

Limerick has the wider choice. There are high-street chains on O'Connell Street, a large suburban centre, some independent bookshops and the craft and secondhand stalls of the Milk Market. Killarney offers little beyond a few streets of knitwear, tweed and Celtic jewellery aimed at visitors, though it is an easy place to pick up an Aran sweater.

In Killarney, costs swing with the season. Family-run B&Bs keep rooms reasonable outside July and August, and the park costs nothing to walk or cycle. Hotels charge heavily in high summer, though, and tours beyond the town add up.

Limerick's costs stay steadier. Its hotels are fairly priced for Western Europe most of the year, rising in summer and on big rugby weekends, and its sights cost little. Eating out and drinking are dear in either town, and the hire car takes a large share of the budget in both.

Traditional music is at the heart of both, but Limerick offers more beyond it. In Killarney, pub sessions and dinner shows with set dancing run most nights in season, and the nearest staged folk performance is Siamsa Tíre in Tralee.

Limerick's programme runs all year. The Irish Chamber Orchestra plays at the University Concert Hall, the Lime Tree and the Belltable put on drama and comedy, and students from the university's Irish music programme keep the pub sessions strong.

Killarney is much the better place to unwind. Large lakeside and country hotels with full spas, pools and mountain views are a big part of the town, and a day of walking followed by a treatment is easy to plan, especially out of season.

Limerick is a working city with a few hotel spas. For a restful stay you would base yourself near Adare or Lough Derg, or head to the seaweed baths on the coast, an hour or so away.