Lisbon or Tbilisi?

Lisbon has no beach in the city, but the riverside train runs out to the surf at Carcavelos and the calmer bays of Estoril and Cascais, and Costa da Caparica's long sands lie just across the Tagus. The water is cool Atlantic and some beaches suit surfers better than swimmers. Even so, a summer beach day is easy to arrange.

Tbilisi offers only the Tbilisi Sea reservoir, Turtle Lake, Lisi Lake and pools for cooling off in the heat. The nearest real coast, on the Black Sea, is about five hours away.

Both cities eat very well, and the difference lies in the cooking itself. Lisbon is a seafood city: grilled fish and bacalhau in tascas, clams and prawns in beer halls, and warm custard tarts at the pastelaria counter, with cheap glasses of Douro and Alentejo wine.

Tbilisi will feel less familiar and more of a discovery, with khinkali, molten Adjarian khachapuri, walnut and pomegranate sauces, and amber qvevri wines from Kakheti in the Sololaki wine bars. Neither city has much food from elsewhere in the world, and in both the best meals are the local ones.

Lisbon has more to see. Belem's Jeronimos Monastery and tower, the rebuilt Baixa after the 1755 earthquake and Alfama under the castle make up distinct historic areas, and the Gulbenkian, the Tile Museum and the Ancient Art Museum give it museums worth planning a day around.

Tbilisi is more a city to walk than a list of famous sights. Its carved balconies, sixth-century Anchiskhati, Metekhi on its cliff and the Art Nouveau entrance halls of Sololaki are atmospheric. The Colchian gold in the National Museum is the one collection that stands out.

Both cities give you a good night out, of quite different kinds. Lisbon's happens largely outdoors: crowds drinking in the lanes of Bairro Alto, later bars in Cais do Sodre, sunset drinks at the miradouros, and riverside warehouse clubs that fill after 2am.

Tbilisi is better known for serious techno, with strict doors and parties in industrial buildings that run past dawn. Its everyday evenings are quieter, in Sololaki wine bars and courtyard bars near Marjanishvili. Lisbon is livelier on an ordinary night, while Tbilisi is the trip for people who want a big club weekend.

Lisbon has more varied outdoors close to town. The misty Sintra hills, the cliffs at Cabo da Roca, kitesurfing at Guincho, year-round surf at Ericeira and the Arrabida ridges with their kayaking and dolphin trips from Setubal are all within easy reach. The coast is the attraction here, because there are no mountains nearby.

Tbilisi offers the opposite: forested hills right above the city and, about two hours north, the Greater Caucasus, with skiing at Gudauri and hiking near Kazbegi. The high mountains reward a night away more than a quick day trip.

Both are excellent bases for excursions, though they lead to different places. From Lisbon the outings are royal and monastic: Pena Palace and Regaleira in Sintra, the palace-convent at Mafra, Roman Evora, and the UNESCO monasteries of Alcobaca, Batalha and Tomar. Trains cover the nearer ones.

Tbilisi's excursions mix ancient churches with wine and wild country. You can see Svetitskhoveli at Mtskheta, the rock-cut town of Uplistsikhe, the qvevri cellars of Kakheti and the cave monastery of David Gareja in the semi-desert, though most of them are easier with a driver or a tour.

Lisbon gives children more to do. The Oceanario, the science centre and the cable car are grouped together at the Parque das Nacoes, the trams and the Santa Justa lift make good rides, and the Cascais beaches are an easy escape on a hot day. The hills and slippery pavements are the main drawback.

Tbilisi welcomes children just as warmly, but it has less for them: the Mtatsminda amusement park, the zoo and a few parks. Stepped underpasses, aggressive traffic and summer heat make it harder going with a pushchair.

Lisbon is easier to manage. Its metro is clear and reaches the airport, and trams, funiculars, suburban trains and river ferries all use one rechargeable card. The seven hills make walking hard work, but the system around them is simple.

In Tbilisi, the two-line Soviet metro covers the main axis well and little more. Minibus routes are hard for a visitor to work out, so most travellers rely on cheap ride-hailing, and crossing busy roads often means an underpass.

Lisbon is the better city for shopping, above all for Portuguese crafts. Hand-painted azulejos and ceramics, cork, Burel wool and embroidered linen are easy to find, Chiado keeps its old bookshops and glove makers, and Principe Real, the LX Factory and the Feira da Ladra make for a good morning of browsing. Avenida da Liberdade adds the luxury houses, but away from that boulevard the choice of international fashion is narrow.

Tbilisi has less to offer and suits collectors of curios more than shoppers for clothes. The Dry Bridge market, with its Soviet badges, old cameras and carpets, is the highlight, along with cloisonné enamel workshops and bottles of qvevri wine and chacha. A few local designers have boutiques in Vera and Sololaki, and the rest is malls and souvenir streets.

Tbilisi costs clearly less. Generous meals with wine, ride-hailing trips and guesthouse rooms all cost little, and most churches are free. Only boutique hotels and cocktail bars approach European prices.

Lisbon's everyday costs, such as coffee, tasca lunches and transport, are low for a Western capital, but central rooms are its weak point, along with the restaurants for visitors around Baixa and Chiado.

The two are about level, and each has its own tradition. In Lisbon it is fado, sung over dinner in the casas of Alfama and Mouraria, with the Gulbenkian orchestra and the Sao Carlos opera house behind it.

Tbilisi answers with Georgian polyphonic singing, which is most moving in church services, along with athletic national dance troupes, the Moorish-style opera house on Rustaveli and the Gabriadze marionette theatre, whose puppet plays need no translation. In both cities most plays are not in English.

Tbilisi has the clearer reason to come for this. It is named after its warm springs, and under the brick domes of Abanotubani you can still take a private sulphur pool and a kisi scrub in a bathhouse tradition centuries old. The streets outside are loud and steep, though.

Lisbon has no bathing culture at all. Rest there means long lunches, river viewpoints and the Gulbenkian and Estrela gardens, or staying out on the Cascais coast or in the Sintra hills.