Marbella or Tangier?

Marbella is the clear choice for a beach trip. Its fine grey sand runs for kilometres, from the town beaches of La Venus and El Fuerte out to the dunes at Cabopino. There are sun loungers, beach clubs and chiringuitos all along it, and the water is usually calm and clear.

Tangier's own city beach is better to look at than to swim from. The good swimming is out west on the wide Atlantic beaches at Achakar, where there is surf and a bit more wildness, or further away at Asilah. Beach dress is more modest, and the sea is mostly a local family affair in July and August.

The two cities are broadly level for food but feel very different, and oddly they share one dish: sardines grilled over fire. Marbella has the wider range, from beach chiringuitos and old-town tapas to tasting-menu kitchens on the Golden Mile, with local wine from the Ronda hills. Its weak point is the overpriced, forgettable seafront food in between.

Tangier's cooking is narrower and more homely: bissara at breakfast, harira, tagines and fish chosen at the port. The tea terraces looking over the Strait matter as much as the food. There is little fine dining, and wine is hard to find.

Tangier has far more to see. The kasbah's old sultan's palace, the whitewashed medina climbing from the port, the Moorish-style American Legation and the Art Deco streets of the Ville Nouvelle tell the story of a city where Europe and Africa meet. That story is fuller still for anyone who knows Paul Bowles and the Beat writers.

Marbella's heritage is pretty but small. The Plaza de los Naranjos and its lanes, the print museum, the Dalí bronzes on the Avenida del Mar and the Roman mosaics at Río Verde fill an afternoon. After that, Andalusia's great monuments are a drive away.

Marbella is the place for a night out, at least in summer. Dinner is late, and then come champagne bars facing the yachts at Puerto Banús, beach-club parties on the Golden Mile and clubs open until dawn. It is polished and expensive, and from November to March the scene shrinks to quiet drinks in the old town.

In Tangier the evening means a stroll along the seafront and a café terrace. Drinking is limited to a few old bars from the international era, hotel lounges and some summer beach clubs. There is no club district, and the medina falls silent after dark.

Marbella has the stronger outdoors, because real mountains rise straight behind the beach. The half-day climb up La Concha in Sierra Blanca looks across to Gibraltar and Morocco. The fir forests and ibex of the Sierra de las Nieves are under an hour inland, and El Torcal and the Caminito del Rey are within reach.

Tangier's outdoors centres on the Cap Spartel headland, with its cliffs, lighthouse and pine paths, and the wooded Perdicaris park. In spring and autumn, storks and raptors crossing the Strait are a real draw. Proper mountain hiking in the Rif needs an overnight stay.

Both cities are fine bases, and the real difference is in what lies around them. From Marbella the choice is Andalusian: Ronda's gorge, Málaga's Alcazaba and Picasso Museum, hilltop Casares, Gibraltar, or a long day to the Alhambra. Most of these need a car, since there is no train.

From Tangier you can explore northern Morocco without a car. Asilah and Tetouan's UNESCO-listed medina are about an hour away. Chefchaouen makes a long day, and the high-speed train reaches Rabat in well under two hours. A ferry to Tarifa even puts Spain within a day trip.

Marbella is much better set up for children. The town beaches are sheltered and lifeguarded in season, many places to stay are built around pools, and the coast nearby has an animal park, a zoo, water parks, an aquarium and a cable car. Just keep children away from Puerto Banús at night.

Tangier welcomes children warmly but offers them little. The promenade, the Caves of Hercules and the ferry over to Spain make good outings. The steep medina stairs are hard work with a pushchair, though, and the touts tire parents quickly.

Getting around is about equally awkward in both, but in different ways. Marbella stretches along a motorway, with only the old town and seafront within walking distance. Buses are slow, there is no train, and most visitors end up hiring a car or taking taxis.

Tangier's centre is compact but steep and confusing at first. Cheap petit taxis are everywhere, and they make up for the lack of useful buses. Tangier also has a train station with good links south and a ferry port in the city centre.

Marbella has the better shopping, though mostly for big-name labels. Puerto Banús lines up fashion and jewellery boutiques facing the yachts, with a department store and malls nearby, and the old town adds linen, leather and ceramics. Beyond the brands there is little to browse.

Tangier's medina sells more characterful souvenirs: leather slippers, rugs, lanterns and the striped cloth worn by Rif women. The range is small, you have to bargain, and the hard sell can be tiring.

Tangier is far cheaper. Grilled fish, tagines, terrace tea, taxis and medina riads all cost little, and only sea-view hotels and alcohol push the bill up.

Marbella is expensive by Spanish standards, especially in July and August, when villa rates, prime sunbeds and dinners around the Golden Mile get very costly. Old-town tapas bars and off-season stays help. Many visitors keep costs down by staying in a neighbouring town and coming in for the day.

Neither city has much live performance, and both send serious music lovers elsewhere. Marbella's highlight is summer pop and rock in an old quarry amphitheatre, plus flamenco staged for visitors. For opera or real flamenco you have to go to Málaga.

Tangier's offer is more local but irregular. There are festival nights of Andalusian classical music, gnawa and Jilala, a long-running jazz festival, and the historic art-house cinema on the Grand Socco. On an ordinary evening, though, there is little on.

Marbella offers rest in resort spas, Tangier in the public hammam. On the Golden Mile and in the hills behind it, big spas, yoga, detox clinics and golf make for a polished retreat. It works best from October to May, because the summer heat and parties take the peace away.

Tangier's neighbourhood bathhouses give you the full ritual of steam, black soap and a scrub with the kessa glove. They are plain, local places, and riads and larger hotels run more comfortable versions. Quiet riad rooftops above the medina add to the calm, even with the noisy port below.