Seville or Valencia?

This is where the two cities differ most. Seville is inland on the Guadalquivir, and a beach day means driving about an hour and a quarter to Matalascañas or Mazagón on the Huelva coast. In the city, a swim means a rooftop or municipal pool.

Valencia has the sea on its doorstep: Las Arenas, Malvarrosa and Patacona are broad stretches of fine sand reached by tram, with calm, shallow water. South of the port, El Saler and La Devesa add quieter beaches backed by pine and dunes.

Both cities eat very well, but in different ways. Seville is about tapas, eaten standing at tiled bars in Triana or Santa Cruz: salmorejo, spinach with chickpeas, pork cheek, fried fish, with manzanilla or fino to drink.

Valencia is built around rice, from paella valenciana at a long lunch by the beach to all i pebre in the Albufera villages, and its Mercado Central is a better market than anything in Seville. Avoid paella in Seville's cathedral streets and save it for Valencia.

Seville has the richer historic centre. The Real Alcázar's Mudéjar courtyards, the vast cathedral built over a mosque, and Casa de Pilatos and the Murillos in the Museo de Bellas Artes fill three or four days.

Valencia's Lonja de la Seda, its cathedral with the Holy Grail chalice and its medieval gates are well worth seeing, and the City of Arts and Sciences adds a modern landmark Seville lacks. But the old town needs two or three days, not more.

Seville's nights belong to its squares and terraces, while Valencia's head for the sea in summer. In Seville the evening drifts from tapas counters to the Alameda de Hércules, the streets around the Alfalfa and the bars of Triana, and on hot nights to open-air bars along the river. Dancing is a minor part of it, since the few clubs mostly serve local students.

Valencia offers more choice of setting. Ruzafa's cocktail and wine bars stay busy well past midnight, El Carmen has older bars and a student crowd, and in summer open-air clubs near the port and Malvarrosa run until dawn. Each city's peak is its own festival, the April Fair in Seville and Fallas in Valencia.

Valencia has more nature within easy reach. The Albufera lagoon, with its rice fields, herons and sunset boat trips, begins about 10km from the centre, and the 9km Turia gardens run straight through the city.

Seville is surrounded by flat farmland, so its outdoor highlight, the Doñana wetlands, is a guided outing about an hour and a half away, with the gentle Sierra de Aracena hills beyond. Its summers also rule out most outdoor activity for months.

Seville is the better base for exploring. Córdoba's Great Mosque is under an hour away by high-speed train, Carmona and the Roman ruins of Itálica are close by, and Jerez, Cádiz and the white villages make a varied southern circuit.

Valencia's outings are good but fewer: Roman Sagunto and castle-topped Xàtiva are half an hour away, and Cuenca's hanging houses are an hour away by fast train. Much of the rest, such as Alicante and Altea, takes nearer two hours.

Valencia is much easier with children. The Oceanogràfic, the science museum and the domed Hemisfèric sit together, Bioparc is nearby, and the Turia gardens offer safe paths and the giant Gulliver playground, plus shallow beaches for afternoons.

Seville has María Luisa Park's rowing boats, the Alcázar maze and a theme park on La Cartuja, but summer days over 40°C make it hard going with small children outside spring and autumn.

Seville is a city you cover almost entirely on foot. The cathedral, Santa Cruz, Triana and Plaza de España all lie within a half-hour walk along narrow, often pedestrianised streets, so its single metro line and short tram matter little. The catch is the summer midday heat, which makes even short walks tiring.

In Valencia the old town is just as easy to walk, but the beaches and the City of Arts and Sciences are a ride away. Metro and tram lines reach the airport, the port and the sand, and the car-free route through the Turia gardens makes the bike the most pleasant way to cross the city.

Seville is the place for traditional crafts and Valencia for fashion. In Seville that means hand-painted tiles and ceramics from Triana's old pottery workshops, and the flamenco dresses, mantillas, fans and guitars around Calle Sierpes, mostly made for locals getting ready for the Fair.

Valencia's Ensanche has the chains, international labels and luxury boutiques that Seville largely lacks, and El Carmen and Ruzafa add independent design and vintage shops. To take home, its Mercado Central sells saffron, rice and turrón.

The two cost about the same, and both are good value by Western European standards. Seville's savings come from cheap tapas evenings and a centre you can cover on foot. Valencia's come from the generous set lunch menu and cheap transport and bike hire. Costs rise sharply in each city's festival weeks: Holy Week and the April Fair in Seville, and Fallas in March in Valencia.

Seville has the stronger scene, because it is the home of flamenco. You can see it every night in tablaos around Santa Cruz and Triana and in local peñas, and the Teatro de la Maestranza stages the operas set in the city.

Valencia's strength is classical: the Palau de les Arts has a respected opera and ballet season, and the Palau de la Música is home to the city orchestra. Beyond those, plus some jazz in Ruzafa, there is less to discover.

Neither city is a place for a spa trip, and both rely on Arab-style bath houses and hotel spas. The difference is in how you unwind. In Seville it means cool tiled courtyards and the Alcázar gardens during the slow afternoon heat, while in Valencia it means evening walks along the seafront and the shady Turia paths, under a milder sky.