Madrid or Salamanca?

Neither city has a beach, and both are a long way from the coast. Where they differ is how locals cool off. Madrid has big open-air municipal pools and the reservoirs at the foot of the Sierra de Guadarrama, while Salamanca has the river beaches on the Tormes and the reservoirs of its province. If you want sea and sand, either trip needs a separate stretch on the coast.

Both cities eat standing at the bar counter, but Madrid has far more on the menu. Its tapas crawl runs through Cava Baja, Plaza de Santa Ana and Lavapiés, and market halls such as San Miguel and Antón Martín double as places to eat. As the capital it gathers Galician seafood, Basque grills and high-end tasting menus alongside its own cocido and calamari sandwiches.

Salamanca is narrower but very good at what it does: ibérico ham from nearby Guijuelo, hornazo, suckling pig and morucha beef, with Toro and Ribera del Duero wines and generous student-priced tapas around Calle Van Dyck. Seafood and international cooking are thin, so a week of meals there would feel more repetitive than in Madrid.

Madrid's case rests on painting. The Prado, the Reina Sofía and the Thyssen-Bornemisza sit along a single avenue, holding Velázquez, Goya, El Greco and Guernica. The Royal Palace and the Plaza Mayor add grand Habsburg and Bourbon architecture, though there is little that is medieval.

Salamanca is the lovelier place simply to walk around. Its UNESCO-listed old town of golden sandstone has one of Spain's finest baroque squares, the University's carved Plateresque façade and two cathedrals side by side. Its museums are modest apart from the Casa Lis, though, and two or three days covers the town, while an art lover can fill a week in Madrid.

Both are late-night Spanish cities, but Madrid's nightlife is bigger and more varied. Malasaña has rock bars, Chueca the gay scene and La Latina its terraces, and the large clubs around Gran Vía cover everything from mainstream to techno. The night runs past dawn, every night in summer.

Salamanca has a famous student night: cheap, friendly and packed from Thursday to Saturday around the Plaza Mayor and Calle Bordadores, ending in small clubs well after 3am. It is aimed squarely at a young crowd and goes quiet outside term time, especially in high summer, which is just when Madrid's terraces are fullest.

Madrid has the easier way into real mountains. The Sierra de Guadarrama, about an hour north, has granite peaks above 2,400m, the boulder maze of La Pedriza, glacial lakes below Peñalara and modest skiing in winter. Within the city, the Retiro, the woodland of Casa de Campo and Madrid Río are good for runs and bike rides.

Salamanca's landscapes are also about an hour away and quieter in character: the chestnut and oak forests of the Sierra de Francia and Las Batuecas, and the granite canyon of the Arribes del Duero. Close to the city there is little beyond the paths along the Tormes, and nearly all of it needs a car.

Madrid is an outstanding base for day trips, because fast trains fan out in every direction. Toledo and Segovia are about half an hour away, Salamanca and Cuenca around an hour to an hour and a half, and Córdoba can be done on a long day. El Escorial, Aranjuez and Alcalá de Henares are closer still.

Salamanca has a good circle of its own. Ávila and Zamora are about an hour away, and there are the ramparts of Ciudad Rodrigo and the untouched mountain villages of La Alberca and Mogarraz. Many of those villages need a car, though, and Segovia is a stretch.

Madrid is the easier city for families by some way. The Retiro has rowing boats, puppet shows and playgrounds, and Casa de Campo adds the zoo, aquarium, cable car and funfair, with Faunia and a Warner Bros theme park further out. The flat centre and the lifts in the metro make life easy with a pushchair.

Salamanca is safe, compact and welcoming. Children enjoy hunting for the carved frog and astronaut and climbing the cathedral towers. With no zoo or theme park, sights that are mostly churches and colleges, and cobbled slopes in places, it works best as a day or two within a wider trip.

Both centres are walkable, but on very different scales. Madrid's flat core, from the Royal Palace to the Prado, is easy on foot. Beyond it, a huge air-conditioned metro, the Cercanías trains and a direct line to the airport reach everywhere, and Atocha and Chamartín connect straight to the high-speed network.

Salamanca hardly needs transport at all. You can cross the old town on foot in about twenty minutes, though some cobbled slopes are hard work with a pushchair. The catch comes outside town, where the sierras and the Arribes del Duero are far easier to reach by car.

This is one of the widest gaps between the two. Madrid's shopping is divided by neighbourhood: luxury houses on Calle Serrano in its own Salamanca district, flagships and department stores around Gran Vía and Preciados, independent and vintage shops in Malasaña and Conde Duque, and El Rastro flea market on Sunday mornings.

Salamanca has high-street chains along Calle Toro and Calle Zamora and plenty of university souvenirs. Its best buys are local: ibérico ham and cheese from the Mercado Central, and charro silver filigree jewellery. They make good gifts, but they are not a reason to go.

Salamanca is kinder on the wallet. Its large student population keeps bar and tapas prices low, and a drink at the counter often comes with a free tapa. Guesthouses and mid-range hotels are moderately priced, and you walk everywhere. The one cost that adds up is the separate admission to the cathedrals, the university and the towers.

Madrid sits in the middle for a Western European capital. Hotels cost what a big city charges, but the midday menú del día and tapas keep food spending modest, the metro is inexpensive and the great museums have free entry at set times.

Madrid has a full stage calendar. There is opera at the Teatro Real, the national orchestra at the Auditorio Nacional, zarzuela at its own theatre and long-running musicals along Gran Vía. Tablaos in the old centre put on flamenco with serious performers every night, and there are jazz clubs and indie venues in Malasaña.

Salamanca's programme is much thinner: touring theatre, dance and flamenco at the Teatro Liceo and the municipal arts centre, university choral concerts and a summer festival. Its most memorable music is free, the caped student tunas singing under the arcades of the Plaza Mayor in the evening.

Neither city has a bathing culture of its own, and in town both offer much the same: Arab-style bathhouses and hotel spas. Madrid's rhythm works against rest, though. It is late, social and noisy, and the calm moments come from a long lunch, an afternoon in the Retiro or the shade of the Botanical Garden.

Salamanca is the better place to slow down. Outside weekend nights the old town is quiet, with a real siesta and peaceful cloisters at San Esteban and Las Dueñas. Real spa waters are also within reach: the old balneario over mineral springs at Ledesma, and Baños de Montemayor, whose springs have been used since Roman times, about an hour south.