Valencia or Granada?

Granada is inland, so the sea means a drive of about an hour over the mountains to the Costa Tropical, where Salobreña, Almuñécar and La Herradura have pebble and dark-sand coves. The coves at La Herradura have clear water that suits snorkelling, but it is a day out, not something you fit into an afternoon.

In Valencia the beach is part of the city. Las Arenas and Malvarrosa are long stretches of fine golden sand with a promenade, a tram ride from the centre, and further south El Saler lies behind pine woods and dunes. The water is shallower and warmer too, so this is the place for anyone who wants to swim every day.

Granada eats in rounds of tapas: a small plate arrives with each drink in the bars of Calle Navas, the Realejo and the lower Albaicín, with Alpujarras ham, aubergine with cane honey and remojón salad. The Moroccan tea houses of Calderería Nueva add a flavour Valencia does not have, but there is little at the top end.

Valencia offers more depth. This is the home of paella, with rice cooked many ways at the beach restaurants of Las Arenas and in the Albufera villages, and the Mercado Central is a far bigger food market than San Agustín. Add horchata in Alboraya and a creative restaurant scene in Ruzafa, and it is the better city for a trip built around eating.

Granada has the bigger draw. The Alhambra's Nasrid palaces and Generalife gardens are among the great monuments of Europe, and the Albaicín's whitewashed lanes, the Royal Chapel of Ferdinand and Isabella and the Sacromonte caves make a richer historic whole than Valencia can offer.

Valencia's old town is still rewarding, with the UNESCO-listed Lonja de la Seda, a cathedral that holds a chalice revered as the Holy Grail, and its two medieval gates. Where it does better is museums: the Bellas Artes and IVAM give it more for gallery-goers, and the City of Arts and Sciences adds a striking modern side that Granada lacks.

Both cities go out late, but Valencia has more choice. Ruzafa's grid of cocktail bars, wine bars and terraces sets the tone, El Carmen and Benimaclet cover the cheaper, younger end, and in summer the night moves to open-air clubs near the port and Malvarrosa. Fallas in March turns whole neighbourhoods into a street party.

Granada's nights grow out of the tapas round, moving on to Calle Elvira, Plaza Nueva and the student clubs around Pedro Antonio de Alarcón. It is friendly and informal but has few serious cocktail bars, and it goes quiet in summer when the students leave, just when Valencia's seafront is at its busiest.

Granada sits right under real mountains. The Sierra Nevada has a ski season less than an hour away, summer trails towards Mulhacén and the Veleta, and the chestnut woods and terraced valleys of the Alpujarras on its southern side.

Valencia's outdoors is flat and watery. The Albufera lagoon, about 10km south, has rice fields, reed beds, herons and sunset boat trips, the Devesa has pine and dune trails, and the Turia gardens make a long green corridor for running and cycling. For hills or the gorge at Chulilla you need a car, though the coast adds sailing and kitesurfing.

Granada has the stronger list of outings, led by Córdoba and its Mezquita, along with the Renaissance towns of Úbeda and Baeza, the dolmens of Antequera and the white villages of the Alpujarras. Málaga and the coast at Nerja are also close enough for a day.

Valencia's outings are closer and quick by train. Sagunto's Roman theatre and castle and Xàtiva's ridge-top fortress are about half an hour away, and fast trains reach the hanging houses of Cuenca in about an hour. Peñíscola and Elche take longer, so the list is good but has fewer famous names.

Valencia is much the easier choice with children. The Oceanogràfic, the hands-on science museum and Bioparc could fill several days, the Turia gardens have flat paths and the Gulliver playground, and the shallow, sandy beaches suit small swimmers.

Granada has one strong family attraction in the Parque de las Ciencias, and the Alhambra's fountains hold young children's attention. The steep, stepped lanes of the Albaicín are tiring with a pushchair, though a snow day in the Sierra Nevada is a winter treat Valencia cannot offer.

Valencia is easier to get around. Its centre is flat, the Turia gardens make a car-free cycle route across the city, and metro and tram lines reach the airport and the beaches.

Granada's centre is small enough to walk, but the Alhambra and Albaicín sit on steep cobbled hills, so the little red minibuses do much of the work and the light rail line barely touches the sights. In both cities a car only earns its keep for the mountains.

Valencia has more to shop for. Calle Colón and Poeta Querol have the chains, international labels and luxury boutiques, Ruzafa and El Carmen add independent fashion and vintage, and the Mercado Central is the place for saffron, rice and turrón to take home.

Granada's shopping is mostly about craft: taracea inlaid woodwork, blue and green Fajalauza pottery and handmade guitars, with the Alcaicería's old silk-market lanes the most atmospheric place to browse. Beyond Calle Recogidas there is little in the way of designer or independent shops.

Granada is a little kinder to the budget, chiefly because a free tapa with each drink can turn a bar crawl into dinner, and rooms in the lower town and the Realejo stay modest. Prices rise only close to the Alhambra, for Albaicín boutique stays and terraces with a palace view.

Valencia is good value for a large city, with its set lunch menu and cheap bike hire, but beach rice lunches and the City of Arts and Sciences add up, and rooms get much dearer during Fallas.

The two are evenly matched, but in very different ways. Granada is about flamenco: the zambra danced in the Sacromonte caves, rawer evenings in Albaicín peñas, and the summer music and dance festival staged in the Alhambra's palaces and the Generalife's open-air theatre. Lorca and Falla run through its cultural life.

Valencia's strength is opera. The Palau de les Arts has a full opera and ballet season with its own fine orchestra, the Palau de la Música handles concerts, and the region's wind bands fill the streets during Fallas.

Granada has a slight edge, because bathing is part of its heritage. Hammams in the lower Albaicín recreate the Moorish sequence of warm, tepid and cold pools, and the spa towns of Lanjarón and Alhama de Granada are within an hour.

Valencia has no springs, and its relaxation is more about place than treatments: evening walks along the seafront promenade, shady paths through the Turia gardens and a milder winter. For real pampering, visitors usually head to the resort hotels on the coast.