Marbella or Santiago de Compostela?

Marbella is a true beach destination. More than two dozen beaches run along its shore, from La Venus and El Fuerte in town to the dunes at Cabopino, with chiringuitos and loungers all the way and water you can swim in from June into October.

Santiago is inland, and the nearest sand is about 35km away on the Ría de Muros e Noia and the Ría de Arousa. These sheltered white beaches are lovely, but the water stays cold and the summer is short. Here the beach is a day out, not the centre of the trip.

Santiago eats better and more consistently. Galician seafood is the draw: pulpo á feira, scallops in the shell and razor clams. At the Mercado de Abastos some counters will cook what you buy, and the taverns of Rúa do Franco pour Albariño. It is one cuisine done very well, with little else on offer.

Marbella has more range but less consistency. At one end are sardines grilled on the beach and tapas in the old town, at the other are tasting menus on the Golden Mile, and in between are dull, overpriced menus around the port. To eat well there, choose carefully and go a few streets inland.

Here Santiago is in another league. The cathedral with the Pórtico da Gloria and the shrine of Saint James, the Praza do Obradoiro and the UNESCO-listed granite old town of monasteries and arcades fill two or three days. The Museo do Pobo Galego and the Cidade da Cultura add more.

You can see Marbella's heritage in an afternoon: the whitewashed lanes around the Plaza de los Naranjos, the Dalí bronzes on the Avenida del Mar, a print museum and the Roman villa at Río Verde. For major monuments you drive to Málaga, Ronda or Granada.

Marbella's nights are bigger and later, at least in summer. There are yachts and champagne bars at Puerto Banús, beach clubs with DJs along the Golden Mile and clubs open until dawn. It is polished and costly, and from November to March it shrinks to a quiet drink.

Santiago's nights are smaller and driven by students: wine on Rúa do Franco, pub-like bars around the Praza de Cervantes, folk sessions and a few late clubs. Its busy season is the opposite of Marbella's, with the city liveliest in term time and quiet in summer, when the pilgrims go to bed early.

Marbella has the more dramatic setting. Sierra Blanca and the climb to La Concha rise straight behind the town, the fir forests and gorges of the Sierra de las Nieves lie inland, and El Torcal and the Caminito del Rey are within reach. Mild winters make it a walking base all year, though the coast itself is heavily built up.

Santiago's countryside is greener and gentler. You can walk the Camino paths straight out of town, see the cliffs of the Costa da Morte and the ancient Fragas do Eume woodland, and kayak in the rías. There are no high mountains, and rain is part of the experience.

Both cities make excellent bases, and the real difference is how you get around. From Marbella the highlights are Ronda's gorge, Málaga, Gibraltar, white villages such as Casares and, on a long day, the Alhambra. With no train, you really need a car.

From Santiago, trains reach A Coruña in about half an hour, and Pontevedra, Vigo and Ourense are also easy by rail, so you can manage without a car. Lugo, inside its complete Roman walls, takes a full day, and a car or a tour makes the Rías Baixas wine country and Fisterra much easier.

For children, Marbella is the easier choice. It has sheltered, lifeguarded town beaches, a flat promenade for scooters, apartments built around pools, and animal parks, water parks and an aquarium along the coast, which are easiest to reach by car. The main drawback is the heat of high summer.

Santiago is safe and relaxed, but its sights are churches and museums, the cobbled old town is hard work with a pushchair, and rain can keep everyone indoors. Most families will see it in a day or two, and the aquarium in A Coruña is the obvious outing.

Santiago is far easier without a car. Almost everything lies within a pedestrian old town you can cross in twenty minutes, and trains run to the main Galician cities. Watch out for the granite paving, which is slippery in the rain.

Marbella is long and thin, stretching along the motorway from San Pedro to Cabopino. The old town and the promenade are pleasant on foot, but beyond them you depend on slow buses, taxis or a hire car, and there is no train.

Marbella is the place to shop for fashion and luxury. International boutiques and jewellers line the port at Puerto Banús, there is a department store and there are malls, and the old-town lanes sell linen, leather and ceramics. Beyond the big labels, there is little independent design.

Santiago's shopping is narrower but more distinctive. You can buy jet amulets in the Azabachería, silver around the Praza das Praterías, Sargadelos ceramics, and tetilla cheese and tinned seafood from the delicatessens. Beyond these, it is pilgrim souvenirs and ordinary high-street shops.

Your money goes much further in Santiago. Tapas often come free with a drink, set lunches are generous, seafood and wine are cheap, the centre is walkable and there are pilgrim hostels. The exception is the feast of Saint James in July, when rooms cost noticeably more.

Marbella is expensive by Spanish standards, especially in July and August and around Puerto Banús and the Golden Mile. Old-town tapas bars and cheaper rooms outside summer help, and many visitors save by staying in a neighbouring town.

Neither city is a destination for the performing arts, but Santiago offers more all year. The Real Filharmonía de Galicia plays at the Auditorio de Galicia, the Teatro Principal stages drama, and you can hear genuine Galician music, with bagpipes in old-town bars and student tunas singing in the streets.

Marbella's live culture is mostly in summer and mostly brought in from outside: big pop and rock acts at the festival in the old quarry amphitheatre, DJs in the beach clubs and flamenco shows staged for visitors. For classical music or serious flamenco, you go to Málaga.

Marbella is built for resting in a way Santiago is not. Spa resorts, wellness retreats and detox clinics are spread across the Golden Mile and the hills, there are a few Arab-style bathhouses, and the calm, sunny months from October to May suit promenade walks and golf. High summer undoes much of that.

Santiago itself has only a few hotel spas and its quiet arcades in the evening. Its strength lies nearby: the old spa towns of Caldas de Reis and Cuntis and the riverside thermal pools of Ourense make a pleasant outing, though not a reason to choose the city.