Santiago de Compostela or Valencia?

Santiago has no beach of its own. The nearest sand is about 35km away in the Ría de Muros e Noia and the Ría de Arousa, white and sheltered but chilly, and worth a day out in July or August at best.

Valencia has the beach on its doorstep. Las Arenas, Malvarrosa and Patacona form one broad strip of golden sand reached by tram, and the wilder dune beaches of El Saler and La Devesa lie further south. Here you can plan a whole summer trip around swimming in a way you never could from Santiago.

Both cities centre on one regional cuisine and a landmark market, but the focus differs. Santiago is about the sea: pulpo á feira, scallops, razor clams and percebes, bought at the Mercado de Abastos or eaten in the taverns of Rúa do Franco with Albariño. It is generous and traditional, with little beyond Galician cooking.

Valencia edges ahead on range. Rice dishes from paella valenciana to arroz negro anchor it, the Mercado Central is grander, and horchata in Alboraya adds a ritual of its own. Ruzafa's creative restaurants and vermouth bars also give it a modern layer that Santiago largely lacks.

The two are evenly matched, but the experience is different. Santiago is a single concentrated monument: the Romanesque cathedral with the Pórtico da Gloria, the Praza do Obradoiro and a granite old town of monasteries and arcades, all one UNESCO whole and steeped in pilgrimage.

Valencia spreads its interest wider, from the Gothic Lonja de la Seda and the medieval gates to the futuristic City of Arts and Sciences, with stronger painting collections at the Museo de Bellas Artes and IVAM. Choose Santiago for atmosphere and one overwhelming sight, Valencia for variety across the centuries.

Santiago's nights are small and sociable: tapas along Rúa do Franco, pub-like bars around the Praza de Cervantes, folk sessions and a student Thursday. In summer, with the university out and pilgrims turning in early, things go quiet.

Valencia offers far more choice. Ruzafa's cocktail and wine bars, El Carmen's older haunts and the student streets of Benimaclet keep going well past midnight. In summer open-air clubs near the port and Malvarrosa run until dawn, just when Santiago is at its quietest.

There is little to choose between them on the outdoors, but the landscapes could hardly be more different. Santiago's is Atlantic country, damp and green, where you can set off on foot along the pilgrim paths from the edge of town. The bigger rewards are a drive away: storm-beaten headlands on the Costa da Morte, the old riverside woods of the Fragas do Eume, and calm rías for paddling. It suits walkers who like wild coast and woodland and will happily pack rain gear.

Valencia's outdoors is flat, dry and under open sky. The rice fields and reed beds of the Albufera begin just south of the city, with wading birds and pine-backed dunes along the shore. The Turia riverbed carries a green ride right across town, so this is country for cycling and birdwatching rather than hiking. For a real climb or rock face you have to drive inland to Chulilla.

From Santiago the outings are mostly to other Galician cities, and the train gets you there quickly: A Coruña with the Tower of Hercules, Pontevedra's old town, the port of Vigo, Ourense's thermal springs and the Roman walls of Lugo. With a car you can add Albariño country and the end-of-the-Camino villages of Fisterra and Muxía.

Valencia's day trips lean towards castles and old towns. Sagunto and Xàtiva are half an hour away by train, and the hanging houses of Cuenca are an hour by high-speed rail. The castle of Peñíscola on its rock in the sea and the palm grove at Elche make longer days.

Santiago is safe and relaxed, but it was built for pilgrims, not children. Steep cobbles, churches and museums, and long spells of rain mean most families exhaust it in a day or two and rely on A Coruña's aquarium or the coast.

Valencia is one of Spain's easiest cities with children. The Oceanogràfic, the hands-on science museum and Bioparc could fill several days, the Turia gardens offer bike paths and the giant Gulliver to climb, and the shallow city beaches suit toddlers.

Santiago is the simpler city on foot, since almost everything lies within a twenty-minute walk, though the granite streets climb and turn slippery in the rain. Beyond Galicia's coastal and inland rail lines, the beaches and villages really need a car or a tour.

Valencia gives you more ways to move. Its centre is flat, the Turia gardens make a car-free cycle route across town, and metro and tram reach the airport and beaches. The sights are more spread out, but you rarely need a car.

In Santiago shopping means souvenirs with a story: jet amulets in the Azabachería, silver around the Praterías, Sargadelos ceramics and tinned seafood or tetilla cheese from the delicatessens. Beyond that, it is mostly scallop-shell trinkets and ordinary chains.

Valencia has proper fashion shopping, with chains, labels, luxury boutiques and a department store around Calle Colón. Ruzafa and El Carmen add independent and vintage shops, and Manises ceramics, fans and silk give it crafts as well.

Santiago comes out cheaper, and the gap shows most in the cost of sightseeing. A visit here is mostly churches, squares and arcades, with only modest fees for the cathedral rooftops and museum. An evening of Albariño or Ribeiro in the old-town taverns also costs less than the same wine in Spain's big cities. Prices hold steady for most of the year, and summer is the one season that pushes rooms up.

Valencia is still reasonable for a large Western European city, with set lunch menus, cheap transport and bike hire, and old-town museums that are cheap or free. The extra spending comes from the things that draw people here: a rice lunch at a beach restaurant, tickets for the Oceanogràfic and the rest of the City of Arts and Sciences, and rooms in high summer and above all during Fallas.

Santiago's most memorable performances are informal: bagpipe and folk sessions in old-town bars and student tunas singing in their capes. The Real Filharmonía de Galicia and two theatres cover the formal side, but there is no opera.

Valencia has more to book. The Palau de les Arts stages a full opera and ballet season with a highly regarded orchestra, the Palau de la Música hosts the city orchestra, and jazz clubs and Fallas wind bands fill out the picture.

Neither city is a spa destination, but they offer rest in different ways. Santiago's advantage is what lies nearby, the hot springs of Caldas de Reis and Cuntis and Ourense's riverside thermal pools, ideal for tired walking legs.

Valencia relies on its pace and climate instead: seafront strolls, shady Turia paths, Arab-style bath houses and hotel spas, with the historic Baños del Almirante as a reminder of an older bathing culture.