Lisbon or Seville?

Lisbon has no beach in the city, but the coastal train reaches broad Carcavelos and the calmer bays of Estoril and Cascais without any planning. Costa da Caparica and the clear, sheltered Arrabida coves lie south of the river. The catch is the cold Atlantic, and on some beaches the swell suits surfers better than swimmers.

Seville has no sea at all. The Huelva sands at Matalascañas and Mazagón have warmer water, but they are well over an hour away by car or coach. In the city, cooling off means a pool, so if the sea matters, Lisbon makes it far easier.

The food is equally good in both cities, but you eat in different ways. Lisbon's cooking revolves around the sea and the family tasca: grilled fish, endless versions of bacalhau, clams in seafood beer halls, and a warm custard tart with a bica. Cheap glasses of Alentejo and Douro wine are a real bonus.

In Seville you graze rather than sit down. People order a few tapas at a time at a counter or a barrel and then move on: salmorejo, spinach with chickpeas, pork cheek, jamón. The drinks are chilled manzanilla and fino. Both cities have a narrow international range, and in both the best meals are away from the main sights.

The two cities are close here, but their heritage is laid out differently. Seville's great sights are packed into one place: the Mudéjar Alcázar, the huge Gothic cathedral built onto a mosque, and the Archivo de Indias, with the orange-tree squares of Santa Cruz around them. The tiled arcade of Plaza de España is a short walk away.

Lisbon's sights are split between Manueline Belem, the rebuilt grid of the Baixa and medieval Alfama below the castle. Its museums are stronger: the Gulbenkian and the National Tile Museum have no real equal in Seville apart from the Murillos at the Bellas Artes.

Lisbon has more going on after dark. On weekends the lanes of Bairro Alto fill with people drinking outside small bars, Cais do Sodre carries on later, and the riverside clubs in Santos and Alcantara fill after 2am and can run until daylight. Principe Real adds cocktail bars and the heart of the gay scene.

Seville's evenings are long and sociable but end earlier. People go from a late dinner on to terraces around the Alameda de Hércules, Alfalfa and Triana. Apart from the week of the April Fair, there is little serious clubbing.

This is one of the clearest gaps between them. From Lisbon you can walk the forested Sintra hills, follow the cliffs and dunes past Cabo da Roca to Guincho, surf at Ericeira or hike and kayak along the limestone ridges of Arrabida. Monsanto forest park offers shaded trails without leaving the city.

Seville lies in the flat Guadalquivir valley, among olive groves and orchards. The Doñana wetlands are a great outing for birdwatchers, but they mean a long guided trip, the sierras offer only gentle walks, and the summer heat rules out most outdoor plans.

Both cities make excellent bases, and the difference lies in where you end up. Lisbon's classic trip is Sintra, with its palaces just a short train ride away. Beyond that come walled Evora and the monasteries of Alcobaca, Batalha and Tomar, which are easiest to combine with Obidos and Nazare by car.

Seville's best trip is a whole other great city: Córdoba and its Great Mosque, under an hour by high-speed train. Jerez's sherry bodegas, the old port of Cádiz and the white villages beyond Arcos make the south of Andalusia easy to explore.

Lisbon gives children more to do. The Oceanario and the science centre next to it can fill a day at the Parque das Nacoes, the trams, funiculars and Santa Justa lift count as rides, and a train ride takes you to the beach. The downside is the steep, slippery streets, where a carrier is easier than a pushchair.

Seville's flat centre is far easier with a buggy. María Luisa Park, with its rowing boats, and the maze in the Alcázar gardens are the highlights. But the attractions are fewer, and summer days above 40°C make July and August a struggle with small children.

Seville is the easier city to get around on foot. The old centre is flat, many streets are pedestrianised, and almost everything from the cathedral to Triana is within half an hour's walk. Bike lanes and the public bike scheme cover the rest. The real obstacle is heat, not distance.

Lisbon's centre is just as compact, but every route between Baixa, Alfama and Bairro Alto climbs steep hills and stairways. On the other hand, it has the fuller network: a metro to the airport, ferries across the Tagus and trains to Sintra and Cascais, all on one card.

Both cities are best for local crafts, and both sell hand-painted tiles. Lisbon covers more ground: luxury labels on Avenida da Liberdade, local designers and antiques in Principe Real, independent shops at the LX Factory, and cork, Burel wool and tinned sardines to take home.

In Seville the shopping is more traditional. Triana's pottery workshops and the shops around Calle Sierpes sell flamenco dresses, mantillas, fans and guitars, mostly to locals getting ready for the Fair. There are few luxury or independent designer shops.

Day-to-day costs are similarly low in both. Coffee, house wine and simple meals are cheap, and the costs mostly come from where you stay. Lisbon's central rooms cost about as much as in other southern capitals and more in summer, so staying a little outside the centre makes a real difference.

Seville's rooms follow its calendar. They are moderate for most of the year and good value in the summer heat, but expensive and booked up early around Holy Week and the April Fair. A tapas evening is one of the best-value nights out in either city.

Seville has the stronger stage scene, and flamenco is the main reason. You can see it every night in small tablaos in Santa Cruz and Triana and in peñas where local enthusiasts gather, and the Bienal brings the leading artists in autumn of even-numbered years. The Maestranza adds opera in the city where Carmen is set.

Lisbon's equivalent is fado, sung over dinner in Alfama and Mouraria, sometimes by the neighbours themselves. It is quieter and more intimate. Beyond the Gulbenkian's concerts and the São Carlos opera house, there is less to see in the formal scene.

Neither city is a place to come to rest, but Seville has one thing Lisbon lacks: Arab-style bath houses in old mansions, with warm and cold pools under arched ceilings. Its shady tiled courtyards and slow afternoons also help.

In Lisbon, spas mean hotel floors, and the old quarters are noisy and steep. For real quiet you have to sleep out on the Cascais coast or in the Sintra hills.