Lagos, Portugal or Ronda?

On beaches the two are as far apart as they can be. In Lagos the beaches are the point. Cliff-backed coves such as Camilo and Dona Ana lie just south of the walls, and the long sand of Meia Praia is across the footbridge. The Atlantic water is clear but on the fresh side.

Ronda has no beach of its own. The Costa del Sol around Estepona has warmer Mediterranean water, but it is about 50km away over a winding road. For most visitors in Ronda, swimming means the pool at their hotel or country house.

Both towns eat simply and well once you leave the obvious places behind, so the difference is in what reaches the plate. Lagos cooks the sea: grilled sardines and octopus, cataplana, and whatever the boats bring to the riverfront market. Ronda cooks the mountains: oxtail stew, lamb, game, cured hams, and chestnuts and mushrooms in autumn, with wineries nearby for tastings.

The tourist traps are alike too. Lagos has its photo-menu lanes in the old town and Ronda has its view terraces by the gorge, and in both the better meals are a street or two away.

Ronda has the stronger sights, starting with its setting: the Puente Nuevo spans the Tajo, with the Moorish La Ciudad on the far side. The Real Maestranza bullring, the Arab baths and the Mondragón palace add a day or two of real heritage.

Lagos offers a worthwhile morning rather than a full programme. You can see the old walls, the harbour fort and the gilded interior of Santo António. The slave market museum tells a hard story about the town's part in the fifteenth-century voyages.

Lagos is a place to go out, and Ronda is not. In summer the old town of Lagos fills with surfers and backpackers moving between bars and pubs, with pub crawls and a few small clubs open until near dawn, although it goes quiet from November.

An evening in Ronda means tapas around the Plaza del Socorro and a late dinner. Outside the September fair, the town is asleep by the early hours.

Both are strong bases for the outdoors, but one faces the sea and the other the mountains. Around Lagos the draw is the coast: kayaking into the grottoes at Ponta da Piedade, clifftop paths to Luz, dolphin trips, and the wild Costa Vicentina with its surf breaks and the Fishermen's Trail.

Ronda is ringed by limestone sierras. Vultures circle over Grazalema, the Sierra de las Nieves has forests of Spanish fir, climbers use the Tajo cliffs, and the Caminito del Rey is within an hour. In both places, spring and autumn are the seasons for walking.

Ronda is the better base for days out. Setenil de las Bodegas, Grazalema and Zahara are short drives, and the Roman ruins of Acinipo and the cave paintings at La Pileta are close by. Seville, Málaga, Jerez and Gibraltar are all possible in a long day.

From Lagos the best trip is west to Sagres and Cape St Vincent, with the Moorish castle at Silves and the river town of Tavira further away. It is a pleasant list, and many visitors skip it for another beach. In both places a car makes outings much easier.

Lagos suits children far better. The gently shelving sand of Meia Praia gives them room to play, and boat trips to the grottoes are an easy treat. Water parks and a marine park are a drive away, though the stairs down to the coves and the cobbled lanes are hard going with a pushchair.

Ronda has the bridge, the walk down into the gorge and the rock stairway for older children, but nothing built for them. Its steep lanes and exposed viewpoints call for care. Families there usually stay in a country house with a pool.

You walk everywhere in both towns, and both need a car for the country around them. Lagos spreads a little further, from the old town to the marina and the coves, with a footbridge to Meia Praia and buses in summer. Ronda is more compact, with everything a few minutes apart, though the lanes dropping into La Ciudad are steep.

Trains are slow from both: Lagos sits at the end of the Algarve line, and Ronda is on the line between Algeciras and Antequera. In Ronda, parking in the old town is tight.

Shopping in Lagos leans towards the beach. Surf shops selling boards and wetsuits stand beside shops with hand-painted Algarve ceramics, cork goods and sardine tins, and the riverfront market sells local honey, figs and medronho brandy.

Ronda's main shopping street, Carrera Espinel, is mostly everyday Spanish shops, and the lanes near the bridge sell ceramics and leather. The better buys come from the hills around it: wine from the local wineries, cured meats, olive oil and convent sweets. Neither town has fashion or luxury shops to speak of.

Ronda is the cheaper stay. Tapas and set lunches in the Mercadillo are good value, the sights cost little to enter, and the rural houses around town are fairly priced for what they offer. Costs rise at Easter, during the September fair and at hotels with views over the gorge.

Lagos is closer to the Western European average, and in summer beachside rooms and restaurants on the main streets cost much more. From October to May it becomes a good-value base, and the beaches are always free.

Neither town is worth planning evenings around the stage, so the difference lies in the local tradition. Lagos has guitar and fado evenings put on for visitors in summer, cover bands in the bars, and a modest programme of concerts, theatre and dance at the municipal cultural centre. For an orchestra or opera, visitors to Lagos have to go to Faro or, better, Lisbon.

Ronda's music is flamenco, staged in small venues and a few bars, with looser sessions during fiestas. Its small municipal theatre has only an occasional programme. The big date is the September fair, when the Corrida Goyesca, a bullfight in eighteenth-century costume, fills the old bullring. For serious concerts, Seville and Málaga are the nearest cities.

Lagos is a little better for a restful trip, mostly because of what lies around it. Yoga teachers and surf and wellness retreats gather towards Luz and the west coast, and the thermal springs of Caldas de Monchique, used since Roman times, are about an hour inland. Avoid August, when the town is crowded and noisy.

Ronda's Arab baths are a monument, not a spa. Rest there means a country hotel in the hills, with a pool, olive groves and quiet evenings once the day-trippers have left.