Marrakech or Rabat?

Marrakech has no beach at all. Swimming there means a riad plunge pool or a hotel pool, and the nearest sand is at Essaouira, a long drive away.

Rabat has the Atlantic on its doorstep, with a city beach under the Kasbah of the Udayas and calmer sand towards Temara, Harhoura and Skhirat. The swell and cool water make it better for surfing and an afternoon out than for long swims, but it gives a stay a sea breeze and a shoreline that Marrakech can't offer.

Marrakech gives the more memorable eating. Tanjia slow-cooked in hammam embers, mechoui lamb from underground ovens and the evening grill stalls of Jemaa el-Fna make food part of the spectacle, even if riad menus start to repeat after a few days.

Rabat cooks the same home-style dishes with less theatre, and its own strengths are plain Atlantic seafood near the port, a strong café-terrace culture and the French and Lebanese restaurants that serve the embassy districts of Agdal and Hassan.

Both cities are UNESCO-listed and both can be covered in two or three days, but Marrakech has the denser, more theatrical heritage. The medina's maze, the Koutoubia, the tilework of the Ben Youssef Madrasa and the Bahia and El Badi palaces sit within walking distance of one another, and the Jardin Majorelle adds a twentieth-century chapter.

Rabat's sights are calmer and cover a longer stretch of history: Roman Sala and the Marinid tombs at the Chellah, the blue-washed Kasbah of the Udayas, the Hassan Tower and an art deco Ville Nouvelle. Its national museums of modern art and archaeology give it more to see indoors, whereas Marrakech's museums are small.

Neither city is built for a long night out, but Marrakech goes further. Hivernage and Gueliz have lounge bars, hotel bars and a few large clubs with DJs and dinner shows that stay open late, and a sunset cocktail on a medina rooftop is easy to find.

Rabat's evenings are cafés, promenades along the Bou Regreg and a handful of hotel bars and lounges. Clubbing barely exists there, and locals who want one head to Casablanca.

Marrakech has the mountains. The High Atlas is visible from the city, and the waterfalls at Setti Fatma, the trailhead at Imlil and winter skiing at Oukaimeden are all within reach, along with the stony Agafay desert. Summer heat is the main limit.

Rabat's outdoors is gentler and flat: surfing at the river mouth, paddling on the estuary, cycling in the Maamora cork oak forest and birdwatching at Sidi Boughaba. It is pleasant in every season, but there is nothing to climb within a day.

This is where Rabat clearly comes out ahead. Its central station puts Casablanca, Tangier, Asilah and Meknes within easy train journeys, and Salé's old medina is a short tram ride across the river.

From Marrakech, the towns worth seeing mean long drives rather than short train rides. Essaouira is about two and a half hours each way, so it works better with a night there, and Ait Benhaddou lies beyond the Tizi n'Tichka pass, too far to get back the same day. Nearer the city, the choice comes down to village souks at Asni and Amizmiz and the Almohad mosque at Tinmel.

Rabat is much the easier city with children. The medina is calm, hassle is rare, the tram makes moving around simple, and the national zoo and Jardin d'Essais give a day's worth of open space. Strong waves on the beaches still call for close watching.

Marrakech asks more of parents: crowded lanes with motorbikes, persistent sellers and draining summer heat. A riad with a pool helps, and older, adventurous children who enjoy markets tend to cope best.

Rabat is far simpler to navigate. Its main sights line the river on broad, flat streets, and the tram, plentiful petit taxis and a central railway station cover everything else without a car.

In Marrakech, the medina can only be explored on foot through a maze of unnamed alleys, and fares for the beige petit taxis often have to be agreed before setting off. There is no tram, and every trip into the mountains or desert means hiring a driver or joining a tour.

Marrakech is one of the reasons to visit Morocco for shopping, and Rabat can't match it. The trade-by-trade souks north of Jemaa el-Fna, the spice stalls of the Mellah and the designer showrooms of Sidi Ghanem give real depth, though the long bargaining sessions wear some visitors out.

Rabat offers a single strong street, Rue des Consuls, with its own deep-pile carpet tradition and much gentler haggling, plus pottery across the river in Salé. Beyond that there are Agdal's high streets and a riverside mall.

Day-to-day costs are low in both cities, with cheap meals, taxis and entry fees and expensive alcohol, so the real difference is in where you stay. Marrakech has plenty of simple medina riads with character for modest money, alongside a lavish luxury tier, but souk prices depend on how well you bargain.

Rabat has fewer budget riads and more business hotels, and its rooms and smarter restaurants cost more, though its sights charge little or nothing and its markets need far less haggling.

Rabat has the formal stages: the Mohammed V National Theatre, the Grand Theatre on the Bou Regreg and the Mawazine festival with its international and Gnawa line-ups. Programmes are irregular and mostly in Arabic and French, so it takes some looking.

Marrakech's performances are almost all street performance, with Gnawa musicians, drummers and storytellers in Jemaa el-Fna every evening, but there is no theatre or concert season and staged shows are mostly tourist dinner entertainment.

Marrakech is the stronger choice for a hammam-and-spa stay. Neighbourhood bathhouses in every quarter sit alongside lavish marble spas, and a courtyard riad with orange trees makes a quiet retreat, though stepping outside means rejoining a loud, demanding medina.

Rabat has simpler hammams and fewer spas. What it offers instead is calm in the city itself, with tidy boulevards, quiet medina lanes and evening walks along the river, so rest there doesn't depend on shutting yourself away.