Rabat or Tangier?

Neither city is a beach destination, and they differ more in kind than in quality. Rabat's beach under the kasbah walls is a busy local stretch for football and surfing, with currents that keep swimmers close to shore. The calmer sand is a taxi ride south at Temara, Harhoura and Skhirat.

Tangier has a long sandy bay beach on its doorstep with a promenade behind it, but the water there is not its strong point. For swimming, go to the wide Atlantic beaches at Achakar and Cap Spartel, or south to Asilah. In both cities, Moroccan families fill the beaches in summer and beachwear is modest.

Both cook the same Moroccan staples: tagines, harira, couscous on Fridays and msemen from evening stalls. In both, the range is narrow. Rabat has more variety because it is the capital with the embassies, so Agdal and the Hassan district add French and Lebanese cooking and a little Moroccan wine.

Tangier relies more on the sea, with fish chosen at the port, bissara at breakfast and the markets around the Grand Socco. Its café terraces facing the Strait are the most memorable part of eating there.

Rabat has the weightier set of sights, spanning almost two thousand years and listed by UNESCO as a whole. They include the Kasbah of the Udayas, the Hassan Tower beside the Mausoleum of Mohammed V and the Roman and Marinid ruins of the Chellah, with a modern art museum on top.

Tangier offers more atmosphere than monuments. The kasbah museum, the American Legation and St Andrew's church tell the story of the international city where Europe met Africa, and Paul Bowles and the Beat writers add a literary layer. Each city fills two or three days, but Rabat's sights are the more substantial.

Both are quiet after dark, but Tangier has a little more going on. A few long-standing bars from the international era, hotel lounges and summer beach clubs on the bay make a small but real drinking scene. Rabat's evenings mostly mean cafés and walks along the Bou Regreg, with drinks confined to hotels and a few lounges in Agdal. Neither has a club district, and people in Rabat who want a big night head to Casablanca.

Tangier has the more dramatic setting. The Cap Spartel headland, where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean, has cliffs, a lighthouse and wooded paths. The Perdicaris park looks out over the Strait, storks and raptors cross it in spring and autumn, and boats go out to watch dolphins.

Rabat's outdoors is gentler. There is surfing and paddling around the Bou Regreg estuary, easy walking and cycling in the Maamora cork oak forest, and birdwatching at Sidi Boughaba. Neither city has mountains close enough for an easy day out.

Tangier is the better base. Asilah and Tetouan are each about an hour away and Chefchaouen makes a long day. The ferry to Tarifa takes about an hour, which adds a second continent that no other Moroccan base can offer.

Rabat's strength is the railway. Casablanca is an hour away by train and Meknes about two, and Salé across the river is a half day by tram. Because the fast train links the two cities, they also work well together on one trip.

With children, Rabat is the more manageable of the two. Hassle is rare, and the tram and flat streets make moving around simple. The national zoo with its open enclosures, the Jardin d'Essais and the gardens at Bouknadel give children room to run.

Tangier has some pleasant outings: the promenade, the Perdicaris park, the Caves of Hercules and a ferry day to Spain. But it has no zoo or aquarium, the medina stairs are hard with a pushchair and the touts can be tiring.

Rabat is much easier to get around. Broad, flat streets link the medina, the kasbah, the Hassan Tower and the Ville Nouvelle. The tram reaches the Chellah, Agdal and Salé, and the railway station is in the centre.

Tangier's core is walkable but steep, and the medina's stairways are confusing at first. There is no tram, so Cap Spartel and the Atlantic beaches mean a petit taxi or a driver. The one advantage Rabat cannot match is the ferry port in the city centre.

Neither is one of Morocco's great souk cities, and in both the medina is the place to shop. Rabat's Rue des Consuls is a long covered street of carpets, leather and brass, with the city's own deep-coloured pile carpets and gentler haggling.

Tangier's lanes around the Petit Socco sell slippers, lanterns and the red-and-white striped cloth of the Rif, and the sales pitch is harder. Its Saturday market, where farm women from the hills sell around the Grand Socco, is the more colourful scene.

Both are cheap day to day: medina meals, mint tea and petit taxis cost little, and in both alcohol is the expensive item. The real difference is where you sleep. Tangier has more good-value riads and guesthouses in its medina, while Rabat leans towards business hotels and its Agdal restaurants cost more.

Rabat has more on stage. As the capital, it has the Mohammed V National Theatre and the large Grand Theatre on the Bou Regreg. Its Mawazine festival brings international, Arab, African and Gnawa performers to open-air stages across the city.

Tangier's musical reputation rests more on its past, from the Jajouka musicians of the Rif hills to the international era. Today it has a long-running jazz festival, occasional Andalusian and gnawa concerts and the historic art-house cinema on the Grand Socco.

In both cities the hammam, with its steam, black soap and scrub, is part of everyday life. Each has simple neighbourhood bathhouses and more comfortable spas in hotels and riads. The difference is how calm the city feels around you. Rabat is restful throughout, with tidy boulevards and the Andalusian garden in the kasbah. In Tangier the quiet is up on the terraces and riad rooftops, above a noisier port and traffic.