Porto or Segovia?

Porto at least has a coast to offer: sandy beaches run from Foz to the wide strand at Matosinhos, reached by metro, with quieter boardwalk beaches south along the Gaia shore. The cold Atlantic, fog and surf keep it a pleasant afternoon out rather than a beach vacation.

Segovia has no coast at all. Up on the Castilian plateau, a swim means a town pool or a chilly reservoir in the Guadarrama foothills.

Porto eats more widely and more cheaply. There are grilled sardines and octopus on the pavements of Matosinhos, tripe and bacalhau in the tascas, the city's own francesinha, and port and vinho verde poured at everyday prices.

Segovia is built around one great meal: wood-roasted cochinillo or lechazo, with La Granja's judiones beans and a slice of ponche to finish. It is a memorable lunch, but beyond the roasts the choice narrows quickly, and Porto keeps you better fed over several days.

Both have UNESCO-listed old towns and are broadly matched, but the experience differs. Segovia is ancient and concentrated: a Roman aqueduct, a cliff-top Alcázar, a late Gothic cathedral and a run of Romanesque churches, all seen in a full day on one ridge.

Porto is baroque and tiled, with the gilded interior of São Francisco, the azulejos of São Bento station and the Palácio da Bolsa. It also adds modern architecture at Serralves and Casa da Música, which fills two or three days.

Porto has a real night out. On weekends the bar streets around Rua da Galeria de Paris fill with students and visitors drinking in the street, and a few clubs carry on until dawn.

Segovia's evening is a tapas round on Plaza Mayor with a glass of Ribera, and the old town quietens early, especially in winter. For anything later, Madrid is half an hour away by high-speed train.

Segovia has the mountains on its doorstep. The Sierra de Guadarrama fills the view from the Alcázar, and Valsaín's pine forests and the passes leading up to Peñalara and its glacial lakes are about half an hour away, with snow in winter.

Porto's landscape is the Douro gorge and the Atlantic edge: a flat promenade and cycle path from the river past lighthouses to Matosinhos, and the large Parque da Cidade running to the sea. True hill walking in Peneda-Gerês means a long drive.

Both make excellent bases, so the difference is in what lies around them. From Porto, the train does most of the work: Guimarães, Braga, Coimbra and Aveiro are each about an hour away, and a scenic line climbs the Douro valley to the terraced quintas at Pinhão.

Segovia puts royal Spain within reach, with the palace gardens of La Granja, Madrid and walled Ávila. Its walled villages, El Escorial and Ribera del Duero wine country are much easier with a car.

Porto gives children more to do. The aquarium at Foz, the cable car over the Gaia waterfront, river cruises, the peacocks in the Crystal Palace gardens and zoos just outside town add up to several easy days.

Segovia has one big hit in the turreted Alcázar, and the aqueduct impresses, but there is little else made for children, so a day or two is enough. Both cities have steep cobbles that make a pushchair hard work.

Porto is a little easier to get around. The light-rail metro runs from the airport to the centre, Matosinhos and Gaia, and heritage trams and the Guindais funicular help on the river slopes, though the climbs back up from Ribeira are tiring.

Segovia is smaller: you can walk from the aqueduct to the Alcázar in a morning. Arriving by high-speed train means a bus in from a station outside town, though, and the villages and trailheads really need a car.

Porto is a genuinely pleasant place to browse. Independent shops around Rua das Flores and Miguel Bombarda sell Portuguese ceramics, cork, linen and design pieces, and the Bolhão market and Gaia lodges supply tinned fish and port to carry home.

Segovia's shopping runs to souvenirs on Calle Real, a little local embroidery and pottery, and boxed ponche or La Granja beans. Anything more serious means Madrid.

The two cost about the same, but the costs fall differently. In Porto the everyday spending is low, from tasca lunches to wine and metro rides, and the bill swells mainly with central rooms in summer and on festival weekends.

In Segovia, small family-run guesthouses keep rooms modest, and the splurge is the famous roast by the aqueduct. Weekends fill with visitors from Madrid, so a midweek stay is the cheapest way to do it.

Porto has a stage all year. Casa da Música hosts the city's symphony orchestra alongside jazz and electronic programmes, the Rivoli and Coliseu bring dance and touring shows, and São João fills the streets with music in June.

Segovia's live arts depend on its festivals: Titirimundi puppets in spring and concerts in churches and palace gardens in summer. Outside those, Teatro Juan Bravo is about all there is.

Neither city is a spa destination, and in both the restful part is the pace rather than any treatment. In Porto that means wine on a terrace above the Douro, the seafront at Foz and Serralves' gardens, with old thermal towns such as Caldas do Gerês a day trip away.

Segovia's calm comes later in the day, once the coach groups leave. Then the walk along the walls and the pine-scented air from the sierra have the old town largely to themselves.