Marmaris or Paphos?

Both are first of all swimming resorts, and the difference is where you swim. Marmaris has a long town beach of coarse sand and shingle inside an almost enclosed bay, so the water off the promenade is calm. Boat trips reach clearer coves and the fine sand of Sedir Island.

The beaches in Paphos itself are short and often rocky to get into, so a proper beach day means a bus or drive to the sandy crescent of Coral Bay or the wild shore at Lara Bay. In return, its sea stays warm later into the year.

Neither is a place to travel for food, and in both the seafront mostly serves resort menus. The difference is what you find when you leave it. In Marmaris that means Turkish home cooking: stews and olive-oil vegetables in the lokanta, pide and kebab houses, grilled fish by the harbour, and a weekly market piled with cheeses, olives and pine honey.

In Paphos the reward is the Cypriot meze, a long run of halloumi, village sausage and kleftiko lamb. It is best eaten in Ktima or the hill villages with local Laona wine, which usually means a drive inland.

History is the clearest reason to choose Paphos. Its UNESCO-listed archaeological park by the harbour holds Roman floor mosaics among the finest in the Mediterranean, above all in the House of Dionysus. The rock-cut Tombs of the Kings are a short walk away, and together they fill two or three days.

Marmaris has a small Ottoman castle with a modest museum, and the stepped lanes of its old quarter are worth about an hour. Anyone who wants ruins there has to go on an excursion.

Both towns have a Bar Street, but on a different scale. In Marmaris it is a whole lane of open-fronted clubs with laser shows and foam parties, running until near dawn and aimed squarely at a young crowd. The marina has calmer cocktail bars.

The Paphos version is mostly pubs and karaoke with a few clubs. It is fine for a group, but most evenings there end with a long taverna dinner or a drink by the harbour. Both towns go quiet in winter.

Both sit in fine coastal country, so the choice is between sea and land. Marmaris is the sailor's pick. Its pine-covered bay opens onto the Bozburun and Datca peninsulas, and gulets and yachts leave the marina for day or week-long cruises among inlets and islands, with the Carian Trail for walkers.

Paphos has more variety on foot: the roadless Akamas peninsula, the limestone walls of Avakas Gorge, mouflon in the Paphos Forest and pine-forest hiking in the Troodos. Both have turtle beaches within reach and well-organised diving.

The best day out from Marmaris is across the sea. The ferry to Rhodes takes about an hour and lands you in Greece, beside a walled medieval town of knights' palaces and cobbled streets. On the Turkish side, boats at Dalyan run up a reed-lined river past Lycian rock tombs to the ruins of Kaunos, and the long road to Knidos at the tip of the Datca peninsula fills a whole day.

From Paphos every outing goes by road, and the days lean towards history and wine. Clifftop Kourion and the Sanctuary of Aphrodite are within an hour along the coast, and inland the wine villages around Omodos lead up to the frescoed chapels of the Troodos. Nicosia is about an hour and a half away, a walled capital where you can walk across the line into the north.

Paphos has a slight edge with children. Coral Bay's shallow sand suits toddlers, and away from the beach there is a water park, a zoo near Peyia and mosaics that hold older children's attention. Tavernas welcome children late into the evening.

Marmaris does the beach-and-pool side just as well, with calm bay water, a water park and boat trips, but has little else for children. Families need to stay in Icmeler or Armutalan to avoid the noise of Bar Street. In Paphos the catch is that most outings need a car.

Marmaris is the easier place to manage without a car. The flat promenade runs for kilometres around the bay, dolmus minibuses run constantly between its districts, and water taxis cross to Icmeler and Turunc. You only need a car or a tour for the peninsula and Dalyan.

In Paphos the walkable part is the Kato Paphos seafront, and Ktima is a steep climb uphill. Hotels spread a long way along the coast and buses reach few of the villages and gorges, so most visitors hire a car and drive on the left.

Neither is a shopping destination, but Marmaris gives you more to browse. Its covered bazaar is a maze of haggling over leather, carpets, spices and copy designer goods, and the weekly market adds textiles. Pine honey, natural sponges and peshtemal towels make good things to take home.

Paphos has the old covered market in Ktima and gift shops along the seafront. Its best buys, such as lace, pottery and carob products, are found in the villages where they are made.

Marmaris makes a budget go further. All-inclusive packages are plentiful and keenly priced, dolmus rides cost little and a meal in a lokanta or kebab house is cheap. Watch the mark-up on seafront restaurants, Bar Street drinks and organised trips.

Paphos is priced like a typical eurozone resort. Meze dinners are fair value, but seafront hotels are expensive in summer and a hire car you can hardly do without adds to the bill. Both are noticeably cheaper outside July and August.

Neither town is a place for an evening at the theatre, but Paphos has one event worth timing a trip for. The Aphrodite Festival stages open-air opera in front of the harbour castle in early autumn, and the ancient odeon hosts the odd concert. In Marmaris, performance means hotel shows, Turkish nights with belly dancing and cover bands in bars.

Marmaris has a bathing tradition to draw on. Hammams across town and in most hotels offer the steam, scrub and foam massage, though they are modern rather than historic. The mud baths near Dalyan make a half-day of soaking, and Turunc, Selimiye and Bozburun are slow places to do very little.

Paphos has no bathing ritual of its own, so relaxing there means a resort spa, walks along the promenade and long lunches in the inland villages.