Malaga or Segovia?

Malaga has a city beach within walking distance of the cathedral at La Malagueta. The old fishing quarters of Pedregalejo and El Palo lie further east, and the resort strip of Torremolinos, Benalmadena and Fuengirola is on the suburban train. The sand is plain grey-brown and the Alboran Sea runs cool, but swimming is easy from June to October, and Nerja's coves are an hour away for clearer water.

Segovia sits on the Castilian plateau, with no coast within reach for a day out. A swim there means a pool or a cold reservoir in the Guadarrama foothills, so anyone who wants time by the sea should plan it for another part of the trip.

Malaga has the wider table. You can eat sardine espetos grilled on the beach, plates of fried fish in El Palo, tapas in the lanes around Plaza de la Merced, counter food at the Atarazanas market, and sweet moscatel poured from the barrel at old bodegas. Most of it is casual grazing, easy to try in many small rounds.

Segovia is built around one great meal: roast suckling pig or milk-fed lamb from a wood-fired oven, with judiones beans and ponche segoviano alongside. That lunch is worth the journey, but beyond the roasts the choice narrows quickly, and international cooking and fine dining are hard to find.

Malaga's history is layered into a small core: a Roman theatre, the Moorish Alcazaba climbing to Gibralfaro, and the unfinished cathedral. Much of its appeal is indoors, in the Picasso Museum, the Carmen Thyssen and the Museo de Malaga.

Segovia goes further on monuments, which matter more here than its modest museums. The mortarless arches of the Roman aqueduct, the late Gothic cathedral, the Alcázar on its cliff, a run of Romanesque churches and the twelve-sided Vera Cruz all fit inside a UNESCO-listed old town on one ridge. For a sightseer, it is the more memorable of the two.

Malaga stays up late. Dinner starts after ten, then people move between terraces and small bars around Plaza de la Merced and Calle Granada, the beach bars of La Malagueta keep going, and the clubs and gay scene of Torremolinos are a short train ride away.

Segovia's evenings are a tapas round on Plaza Mayor and a few student bars at weekends. On winter weeknights the old town goes quiet early, and for a big night out people head to Madrid.

Both cities have mountains on the doorstep, but of different kinds. Malaga's outdoors are Mediterranean and varied: the pine-covered Montes de Malaga behind the city, the Caminito del Rey gorge walkway, El Torcal's stacked limestone, and kayaking and snorkelling off the Maro cliffs, with summer heat pushing walks to dawn.

Segovia's are alpine. In the Guadarrama there are Valsaín's Scots pines, the passes of Navacerrada and Cotos, and trails up to Peñalara's glacial lakes, and vultures circle the Hoces del Duratón further out. The high ground offers cooler walking in summer and snow close by in winter.

From Malaga you can reach three of Spain's great cities. Cordoba's Mezquita is about an hour away by fast train, Granada's Alhambra a little further, and Seville is possible at a stretch. Ronda, the Antequera dolmens and Nerja with Frigiliana are closer.

Segovia is a strong base too, with La Granja twenty minutes away, Madrid under half an hour by high-speed train and Ávila about an hour. Its finest outings, though, such as Pedraza, Sepúlveda and Peñafiel castle, depend on a car, while more of Malaga's longer list works by rail.

Malaga suits children better. The city beaches shelve gently, the flat pedestrian centre is easy with a pushchair, and the Bioparc, Sea Life and Selwo parks are along the coast by suburban train.

Segovia has a real storybook castle in the Alcázar, and the aqueduct impresses children too, but there is no zoo or aquarium, and the steep cobbles are hard work with a pushchair. A day or two there with children works well. A full week asks more of them.

Both centres are best on foot, but Malaga's is flat, and its suburban train links the airport, the centre and the coast in minutes, with fast trains on to Cordoba, Seville and Madrid.

Segovia's sights run along one ridge that you can walk in a morning, though the cobbles climb steeply and the high-speed station is about fifteen minutes out by bus. In both places a car is what opens up the villages and trailheads.

For anything beyond souvenirs, the shops are in Malaga. Marble-paved Calle Larios runs from the port to Plaza de la Constitucion, lined with Spanish chains. El Corte Ingles is across the river, Muelle Uno has shops along the port and Soho has a few independents among the street art. For luxury, Puerto Banus is an hour west.

Segovia offers souvenirs on Calle Real, some local ceramics and embroidery, and little else, so anyone after clothes or design ends up heading to Madrid. Both cities are good for edible gifts, from olive oil and sweet wine at the Atarazanas market to boxed ponche segoviano and La Granja beans.

Overall costs come out much the same, but they fall in different places. In Malaga, eating and drinking are the bargain and the room is the expense, especially near the old town and the beach from spring to autumn.

In Segovia it works the other way round. Small family-run hotels keep rooms modest, while the famous roast in a dining room by the aqueduct is the splurge. Both cities are cheaper in winter, and Segovia is also cheaper midweek, when the visitors from Madrid have gone home.

Malaga has more going on through the year. The Teatro Cervantes hosts the Malaga Philharmonic, a second large theatre puts on musicals, and flamenco is performed both in tablaos and in the peñas where locals play for each other.

Segovia's stage life comes in seasons: the Titirimundi puppet festival in spring, summer concerts in churches and palace gardens, and the Teatro Juan Bravo in between. Neither city suits anyone looking for a serious opera season.

An Arab-style bathhouse in Malaga's old town, with warm pools, steam and massage under brick arches, gives it the only real bathing experience of the two cities. The larger resort and golf spas towards Marbella add more. Segovia has no bathing tradition and only a handful of hotel spas.

In both cities the rest comes more from the pace than from the facilities. In Malaga that means a siesta through the hottest hours and evening walks along the Paseo Maritimo, at their best in the mild, sunny winter. In Segovia it means the hush of the old town once the coaches leave, walks along the walls and pine-scented air from the sierra.