Marrakech or Windhoek?

Neither city is a place for the sea, and both are equally weak here. The difference is how far away the coast is and what you find there. From Marrakech, windy Essaouira is two and a half to three hours away, which is just about possible as a long day out. Windhoek's coast at Swakopmund is four hours across the desert, and the Atlantic there is too cold for comfortable swimming. In both cities swimming means a pool, although Marrakech adds riad plunge pools and a lakeside afternoon at the Lalla Takerkoust reservoir.

Marrakech has much more to eat. There are tagines, pastilla and harira, tanjia slow-cooked in the embers of a hammam furnace, lamb from the mechoui ovens, and the evening grill stalls on Jemaa el-Fna. After a few days the riad menus start to repeat, and alcohol is limited to licensed places, but the best home-style cooking is very good.

Windhoek's food is simpler and centres on meat. Oryx and kudu appear on most menus, and kapana beef is grilled over open fires in Katutura. German bakeries and beer halls brewing to the old purity law add a colonial flavour, and beer is easy to find here in a way it is not in Marrakech.

The two cities are far apart for sightseeing. The whole medina in Marrakech is a sight, with its medieval street plan, carved cedar doorways and mosques. Within walking distance are the Saadian Tombs, El Badi and Bahia palaces and the Ben Youssef Madrasa, and the Jardin Majorelle and Yves Saint Laurent museum lie outside the walls. Even so, most visitors see the main sights in two or three days.

Windhoek's sights fit into a single day on one short ridge: the Christuskirche, the Tintenpalast and the Alte Feste. The Independence Memorial Museum is the one essential visit. It deals with the colonial period and the Herero and Nama genocide very frankly, and it gives a view of Namibia's history that Marrakech cannot offer.

Neither city is for a big night out, but Marrakech has a bit more going on. Evenings there begin with the crowds and food stalls of Jemaa el-Fna or a sunset drink on a rooftop terrace. Later, the lounge bars and a few large clubs in Hivernage and Gueliz stay open late, at high prices.

Windhoek is quieter and mostly about beer gardens. There are a few weekend clubs playing amapiano and kwaito, and the shebeens of Katutura are best visited with someone local. Because walking at night in the centre is not advised, most evenings end early in a taxi.

Marrakech has more spectacular scenery close by. The snow-capped High Atlas is under two hours away, with the waterfalls of the Ourika valley, walks between Berber villages from Imlil and the climb of Jebel Toubkal. Closer still, the Agafay desert has camel rides and dawn balloon flights.

Windhoek's surroundings are quieter: thornbush highland, granite koppies and the Auas Mountains. Its strength is animals rather than scenery. At Daan Viljoen you walk among zebra and wildebeest, which is something you cannot do near Marrakech, while the famous dunes and Etosha need an overnight trip.

Neither city is a good base for day trips, but Marrakech has a few more options. You can reach the weekly Berber souks at Asni and Amizmiz or the Almohad mosque at Tinmel in the Nfis valley, and Essaouira is a long but possible day. Ait Benhaddou needs a night away.

From Windhoek, the woodcarvers' market at Okahandja and the Gross Barmen hot springs beyond it are about all you can reach in a day. Everything else in Namibia is part of a road trip with overnight stops.

Both are hard places to bring children, but in different ways. Marrakech can be intense, with crowded lanes shared with motorbikes, pushy sellers and the snake charmers on the square. It suits older children who like an adventure, and a riad pool gives everyone somewhere to recover.

Windhoek is calmer but has almost nothing aimed at children. Its highlight is a game drive where children can see giraffe and antelope up close. With a hire car and a guest house with a garden in the suburbs, it is easy to manage on the way to Etosha.

Marrakech is easier to get around, even though the medina is a maze of unnamed alleys where you share the lanes with carts. Most of what you want to see is within walking distance, and petit taxis link the medina with Gueliz and the Majorelle garden, though you will usually need to agree the fare first.

Windhoek is spread across hilly suburbs, and its buses are of little practical use to visitors. The shared sedan taxis that locals use run informal routes and can be used, but they take some confidence. You can walk the centre by day, but most visitors book a taxi through their lodging or hire a car, which they need anyway for the rest of Namibia.

Many people come to Marrakech partly to shop. The souks are laid out by trade, with leatherworkers, dyers, metalworkers and carpet sellers. The classic buys are carpets, lanterns, argan oil and baskets, bargaining over tea is expected, and Gueliz and Sidi Ghanem have quieter design shops.

In Windhoek, the Namibia Craft Centre in the old brewery is the place to go, with Herero dolls, ostrich-shell jewellery and baskets. Karakul wool and semi-precious stones are other local buys. Its malls are useful for stocking up before a road trip but not worth a visit for their own sake.

Marrakech is the cheaper trip overall. Stall food, mint tea, palace entry fees and petit taxis cost little, and simple medina riads are characterful and affordable. The two things that add up are alcohol and bargaining with too little patience.

A stay in Windhoek itself is reasonable, with cheap kapana and good-value guest houses. The cost rises with the way Namibia is travelled: a hire car, plus lodges and safaris priced for an international market.

Neither city has a real stage season, but Marrakech has more live performance. Every evening, gnawa musicians with guembri and iron castanets, Atlas drummers and storytellers play on Jemaa el-Fna for free. The Marrakech Popular Arts Festival brings folk troupes from across Morocco.

Windhoek's performing life centres on the National Theatre of Namibia and student concerts at the College of the Arts. Shambo and Namibian kwaito turn up in bars from time to time, so check what is on during your stay.

Marrakech is the clear choice for relaxing. You can scrub with black soap in a neighbourhood hammam or book a marble spa with rhassoul clay and argan oil. Back at the riad, a courtyard with orange trees shuts out the noise of the medina.

Windhoek's calm comes from the city itself rather than any bathing culture: low-rise suburbs, garden guest houses and cool, clear winter nights. Spa treatments are limited to hotels and lodges, and the thermal pools at Gross Barmen are an hour away.