Agra or Amritsar?

Neither city has a beach or any water you can bathe in for pleasure. Both sit far inland on the northern plains, and in either place swimming means a hotel pool. The only difference is what the water means. In Agra the Yamuna is a river you look at from the Taj gardens. In Amritsar the pool around the Golden Temple is sacred, and pilgrims enter it to pray, not to swim.

Amritsar is the better place to eat. People travel there for its Punjabi cooking, which means stuffed kulcha with chole and butter, batter-fried fish, slow-cooked dal and thick lassi from old dhabas that have made one dish every morning for generations. Eating at the langar, sitting in rows beside pilgrims, is an experience Agra cannot match.

Agra has its moments: bedai and jalebi for breakfast near the Jama Masjid, chaat in Sadar Bazaar and petha in endless flavours. Beyond the bazaars, though, you mostly eat in hotels and restaurants geared to tour groups. One or two days of curious eating will cover it.

Agra has more to see and more of it is world class. Beyond the Taj Mahal there is the red sandstone Agra Fort, the fine inlay of Itimad-ud-Daulah, Akbar's tomb at Sikandra and the sunset view from Mehtab Bagh. That is two full days of Mughal architecture.

Amritsar has fewer sights, but they grip you in a different way. The Golden Temple is a living shrine you can return to at any hour, and the bullet-marked walls of Jallianwala Bagh and the personal stories in the Partition Museum bring a much more recent past into view. Agra is about grand monuments, Amritsar about faith and modern history.

Both cities are quiet after dark, with no clubs and only a handful of hotel bars. Agra's evenings end early because everyone is up before dawn for the Taj, and a rooftop drink looking at the dome is about as far as it goes. Amritsar has the better reason to stay out: a late walk around the lit temple pool, which is calmer at night than in the day.

Agra has more outdoor options, almost all of them about birds and wildlife. Keoladeo at Bharatpur, about an hour away, is one of Asia's great wetlands for migrant birds, best explored by bicycle or rickshaw in winter. The Chambal sanctuary adds gharials and river dolphins.

Amritsar's surroundings are flat wheat and mustard fields. Apart from walks in Ram Bagh, the main outing is the Harike wetland, where waterbirds gather in winter. It is a good half-day, but there is far less choice. Neither city has hills or hiking trails nearby.

Agra is much the better base for day trips. Fatehpur Sikri, Akbar's abandoned capital about 40km away, pairs with Bharatpur or the water palaces of Deeg. Mathura and Vrindavan bring Krishna's temples and ghats within an hour, and Gwalior's hilltop fort is a fast train ride south.

From Amritsar, the one trip almost everyone makes is the evening flag ceremony at the Wagah border, which is loud, crowded and great fun. Beyond that, the outings are mostly Sikh shrines such as Tarn Taran, plus the French-style palace at Kapurthala. These suit pilgrims and history buffs more than general sightseers.

Neither city is easy with children, but Amritsar is a little kinder. Families are welcomed warmly at the Golden Temple, and older children usually love the busy langar kitchens and the stamping guards at Wagah.

Agra asks more of parents. Touts and crowds at the monument gates and long distances between sights add to the strain, though the Taj and the fort ramparts impress older children and the bear rescue centre is a real treat. In both cities, plan a short visit with an early start and an afternoon at the hotel pool.

Amritsar is the easier city to get around because its main sights are close together. The Golden Temple, Jallianwala Bagh and the Partition Museum all lie around a pedestrianised heritage street, so the heart of a visit can be done on foot.

Agra spreads its monuments along and away from the Yamuna, with broken pavements and heavy traffic in between, so every sight means an auto-rickshaw or taxi. Only the last stretch to the Taj is on foot or by electric cart. In both cities, a car and driver for the day is the simplest way to reach places outside town.

Amritsar is the better place to shop, because its bazaars sell what Punjab actually wears and uses, while Agra's offer rests largely on one craft. That craft is pietra dura, the same stone inlay you admire on the Taj, and a marble box or small tabletop is the classic thing to take home, along with leather shoes and carpets. Buying it well takes some resolve, since a guided tour tends to end in a large showroom where the price carries someone else's cut and the quality is uneven. Kinari and Sadar bazaars are cheaper and more relaxed, but beyond wedding finery, trinkets and petha they have less to tempt you.

In Amritsar the draw is textiles, and the lanes of the walled city around Hall Bazaar and Katra Jaimal Singh can easily fill a morning. Bright phulkari embroidery and embroidered jutti slippers are the souvenirs with the most local character. Closer to the temple the stalls turn devotional, with the steel bangles and turban cloth of Sikh dress, and the food shops pack dried warian for the journey home. Haggling is part of the fun, and neither city has designer or luxury shopping.

Both cities are very cheap for meals, rickshaws and mid-range rooms. The difference is where the costs come from. In Agra the big expense is the entry fees foreigners pay at the Taj and other Mughal monuments, which add up over two days. In Amritsar the Golden Temple and its langar cost nothing, and pilgrim rest houses offer basic beds, so the sightseeing itself is almost free.

Amritsar has more live performance, and most of it is sacred. Gurbani kirtan is sung to harmonium and tabla in the Golden Temple from before dawn until late at night, and anyone can sit by the pool and listen. Bhangra and folk shows round it out.

Agra's evenings are mostly staged for tourists: musicals about Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal, and dance evenings in hotels. The exception is the Taj Mahotsav each spring at Shilpgram, which is worth timing a trip around.

Neither city is a place to unwind, and both are noisy beyond their quiet corners. Agra's calm sits behind walls: Ayurvedic massages and pools in the better hotels, or a shaded bench in the gardens of Itimad-ud-Daulah or Sikandra in late afternoon. Amritsar has only a few hotel spas, but it has the Golden Temple, and sitting on the cool marble by the pool at dawn or late at night, with hymns playing, is more restful than anything Agra offers.