Paris or Barcelona?

This is the widest gap between the two. Barcelona has several kilometres of sand from Barceloneta to Mar Bella within easy reach of the centre, and the sea is warm enough to swim in all summer. The city beaches are man-made and packed in high summer, but local trains reach the better ones at Castelldefels and Sitges.

Paris has no sea. Its summer riverbank beaches and the open-air swimming at the Bassin de la Villette are only for cooling off, and the Normandy coast is two hours away, with colder water. Anyone who wants to swim in the sea should choose Barcelona.

Both are serious places to eat, but Paris goes deeper. Barcelona has a cuisine of its own, from suquet to calçots with romesco, and a late-morning vermouth habit. Its covered markets such as Santa Caterina and Sant Antoni have counters where locals eat, and there is a strong tasting-menu scene on top.

In Paris, good food is part of every street: the boulangerie, the cheese shop, the market on its set mornings, the zinc-counter bistro and the natural wine bar, with haute cuisine at the top. North African cooking in Belleville and Vietnamese in the 13th add range, and the pastry alone is a reason to go.

Barcelona's great draw is something no other city has: Gaudí and the Modernistas, from the Sagrada Família to the Palau de la Música Catalana. Under them lies a Gothic Quarter with Roman walls. Its museums, among them the Picasso and the MNAC's Romanesque frescoes, are good without being vast.

Paris simply has more, and more of it is world-class. The Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay and the Pompidou can each fill a day, the Sainte-Chapelle and Notre-Dame stand on the Île de la Cité, and Haussmann's boulevards make the whole centre a sight. A week in Barcelona covers the essentials, but in Paris it barely makes a start.

The two are evenly matched after dark, but the nights take different shapes. Barcelona runs later, with dinner at eleven, bars after that and clubs from two until dawn. Gràcia's squares and Poble Sec's pintxos bars carry the crowd, and a deep electronic music scene moves to open-air parties in summer.

Paris starts earlier and is more polished. The evening opens on a terrace or in a wine bar, the east around Oberkampf and the Canal Saint-Martin is where most people go out, and the clubs and summer barges take over when the bars close around two. Doors can be selective, and drinks cost more.

Barcelona has real landscape on its doorstep. The Collserola hills start at the edge of Gràcia, the sea offers sailing and paddleboarding, and the rock pinnacles of Montserrat and the cliffs of the Costa Brava are within two hours.

Paris is gentler. Its outdoors means formal gardens, the cliffs and lake of the Buttes-Chaumont, the woods of Boulogne and Vincennes, and the sandstone boulders of Fontainebleau. With no mountains or coast nearby, it suits a bike ride along the canals better than a proper hike.

Barcelona's day trips stay inside Catalonia and mix old towns with mountain and sea. Fast trains reach medieval Girona in under forty minutes, as well as the Dalí museum at Figueres and Roman Tarragona. Montserrat, Sitges and the cava cellars of the Penedès are closer still.

Paris has the longer list, built around châteaux and great cathedrals. Versailles, Fontainebleau and Chartres are each about an hour or less away, and Giverny adds Monet's garden. Fast trains bring Reims and its Champagne houses, Rouen and the Loire châteaux beyond Tours within easy range. On a long stay, these trips can fill many more days than Barcelona's.

Both work well with children, in different ways. Barcelona adds the beach to the aquarium, CosmoCaixa and the Tibidabo funfair, and children are welcome in restaurants late into the evening. Its weak points are the narrow, crowded old town and the summer heat.

Paris has the bigger theme parks close by, Disneyland and Parc Astérix, plus the Cité des Sciences and the carousels and toy sailboats of the Luxembourg gardens. Day-to-day life is harder, with stairs at many metro stations and small hotel rooms.

Both cities are best on foot, and a car is a burden in either. Barcelona's centre is flat from the Gothic Quarter to Gràcia, the metro is simple, and the seafront promenade links the port to the beaches. Park Güell, Montjuïc and Tibidabo all mean a climb.

Paris is more compact and better connected. Walking along the Seine from the Louvre to the Eiffel Tower is a sight in itself, there is nearly always a metro station close by, and the RER reaches Versailles and the airports. The downsides are long corridors and stairs at many stations and packed trains at rush hour.

Paris is in another league here. The luxury flagships on Avenue Montaigne, the department stores of Galeries Lafayette and Le Bon Marché, the covered passages, the Saint-Ouen flea market and the bouquinistes along the Seine are reasons to visit in themselves.

Barcelona's shopping is on a smaller scale: the Passeig de Gràcia, independent designers in the Born, vintage shops in the Raval, and espadrilles, ceramics and turrón to take home. It is enjoyable, but there is less at the luxury end.

The gap shows most clearly in the hotel bill. Rooms in Barcelona cost less than in Paris, although they cost more than elsewhere in Spain and are dearest in summer near the old town and the seafront. The tourist tax and the Gaudí entry fees add up on a sightseeing trip, but neighbourhood tapas bars and market counters keep meals reasonable.

Paris costs more at almost every step, from small, expensive rooms to drinks on a terrace and full museum admission. Saving takes effort. The city's own museums have free permanent collections, a picnic by the river costs little, and rooms are cheaper in the outer arrondissements.

Paris has more on stage. It has two opera houses, the Palais Garnier with its ballet and the larger Opéra Bastille, plus the Philharmonie and a full classical calendar. The Comédie-Française, the jazz cellars of Saint-Germain and the cabaret of Pigalle add more.

Barcelona has fewer venues, but some are memorable: the Liceu for opera, and the Palau de la Música Catalana, where any concert feels like an occasion. Its strength is festivals, with Sónar and Primavera Sound in early summer and the Grec on Montjuïc. In both cities most theatre is not in English.

Neither city is made for rest, and neither has a bathing tradition of its own. Barcelona has a few Arab-style bath houses in the old town, while Paris has the tiled hammam of the Grande Mosquée and smaller ones in the neighbourhoods.

The quiet moments differ more than the spas do. In Barcelona it is a long lunch, a terrace in Gràcia or an evening walk in the Collserola, and calmer seaside towns are close by. In Paris it is a chair in the Luxembourg gardens or a slow walk along the Seine.