Marbella or Salamanca?

Marbella has more than two dozen beaches along its shore, from La Venus and El Fuerte in the centre to the dunes at Cabopino. The sand is fine and greyish, with loungers and chiringuitos along it, and the water is calm and clear, if a little cool so close to the Strait.

Salamanca sits on the high plain, a long way from any sea. On hot summer days locals swim in municipal pools or at river beaches on the Tormes, which is fine for an afternoon but nothing more.

The two eat about equally well, but in very different ways. Marbella has the sea: grilled sardines, fried fish and cold summer soups on the beach, plus a top tier of tasting-menu kitchens and international restaurants along the Golden Mile. Around the port you need to choose carefully, as many places serve the same tired menu.

Salamanca is all meat and the bar counter. There is ibérico ham from nearby Guijuelo, hornazo, suckling pig and morucha beef, and the Mercado Central for cheese and charcuterie. It is cheaper and more consistent, but there is little seafood or foreign cooking.

Salamanca is one of Spain's great historic cities. Its Plateresque university façade, Old and New Cathedrals side by side, Casa de las Conchas and baroque Plaza Mayor are all built in the same glowing stone, and at night the floodlit centre is a sight in itself. Museums are the weak point, apart from the Casa Lis.

Marbella has a pretty Casco Antiguo around the Plaza de los Naranjos, a museum of Spanish prints and Dalí bronzes on the Avenida del Mar, and a Roman villa outside town. It is pleasant, but an afternoon is enough.

Both are well known for going out, but the crowds hardly overlap. Marbella is glamorous and expensive: champagne bars by the yachts in Puerto Banús, beach clubs with DJs that run into the night, and clubs open until dawn. It is busiest in summer and quiet in winter.

Salamanca runs on students and is cheap. Packed bars around the Plaza Mayor and Calle Bordadores lead on to dance bars and small clubs from Thursday to Saturday. It is liveliest in term time and quietens in high summer, the opposite of the coast.

In Marbella the mountains come almost down to the beach. You can hike up La Concha in Sierra Blanca straight from town and see over to Gibraltar and Morocco on a clear day. The fir forests and gorges of Sierra de las Nieves are under an hour away, and the coast adds paddleboarding, sailing and dolphin trips.

Around Salamanca there is little beyond the riverside paths on the flat plain. The good landscapes, the Sierra de Francia, Las Batuecas and the granite canyon of the Arribes del Duero, are about an hour away and need a car.

Marbella's day trips are more varied. You can reach the gorge town of Ronda, Málaga's Alcazaba and Picasso Museum, the British oddity of Gibraltar, white villages such as Casares, and even the Alhambra if you don't mind a long day.

Salamanca's trips are all historic towns: the walls of Ávila, the Romanesque churches of Zamora, the ramparts of Ciudad Rodrigo and the old village of La Alberca. Valladolid is easy by train, but from either base a car helps a great deal.

Marbella is the easier choice with children. The town beaches are sheltered and lifeguarded, the flat promenade suits scooters and buggies, and many places to stay are built around pools. Within a short drive there are a zoo, water parks, an aquarium and an animal park.

Salamanca has small pleasures: hunting for the frog on the university façade and the astronaut on the cathedral, and climbing the towers. But there is nothing built for children, so one or two days is enough.

Salamanca is very easy to get around. Almost everything is in a pedestrian old town you can walk across in about 20 minutes, and trains run to Madrid and Valladolid.

Marbella stretches thinly along the motorway from San Pedro to Cabopino. The centre and promenade are fine on foot, but there is no train, so most visitors rely on taxis, slow buses or a hire car.

For shopping, Marbella is the stronger choice. Puerto Banús is lined with international fashion and jewellery boutiques, there are malls on the edge of town, and the old town has linen, leather and ceramics. Away from the big brands, though, there is little to browse.

Salamanca has high-street chains on the streets north of the Plaza Mayor. The things worth buying are local: ham and cheese from the Mercado Central, and charro silver filigree jewellery.

Salamanca is much easier on the wallet. Thanks to the students, tapas stay cheap, a free tapa often comes with a drink, rooms are moderately priced and you can walk everywhere. The main extra costs are the admission fees for the cathedrals and the university.

Marbella is expensive for Spain, especially in July and August, when room rates rise and a day at a beach club or dinner by the port costs a lot. Old-town tapas bars, visits outside summer, or staying in a neighbouring town all bring costs down.

Neither is a city for opera or a resident orchestra, but Salamanca has more going on through the year. The Teatro Liceo and a municipal arts centre host theatre, dance and flamenco, the university holds concerts in its historic halls, and tunas in black capes sing under the Plaza Mayor arcades.

Marbella's live music is mostly in summer: big pop and rock acts in a quarry amphitheatre, and DJs at the beach clubs. For serious flamenco or classical music you have to go to Málaga.

Marbella is built for pampering. Spa resorts, yoga retreats and detox clinics line the Golden Mile and the hills behind it. From October to May the mild, sunny weather makes it calm, but the summer heat and parties make it much less restful.

Salamanca offers rest through its slow pace rather than spas. Long lunches, a real siesta and the quiet cloisters of San Esteban and Las Dueñas set the tone. For mineral springs you drive out to the old balneario at Ledesma or to Baños de Montemayor.