Agra or Jaipur?

Neither city has a beach or any water you would swim in. Agra's Yamuna is for gazing at from the Taj gardens and Jaipur has no swimming lake, so in both cities a hotel pool is the only option, and a welcome one in the hot months.

Agra's cooking is Mughlai, with kormas, biryani and tandoor breads, plus bedai and jalebi for breakfast in the old bazaars and the candied petha sold everywhere. Away from those streets, most visitors end up in hotel dining rooms or restaurants for tour groups, and a day or two covers it.

Jaipur gives you a deeper and more distinctive table. Rajasthani dishes such as ker sangri, gatte ki sabzi and fiery laal maas, street breakfasts of pyaaz kachori and lassi in clay cups, and long-established vegetarian canteens around Johari Bazaar and MI Road keep a food lover busy for days. In both cities alcohol is mostly confined to hotels.

The two are equals in heritage but different in character. Agra rests on a single, unmatched masterpiece: the Taj Mahal, backed by Agra Fort, the fine inlay of Itimad-ud-Daulah and Akbar's tomb at Sikandra, all Mughal and all seen in about two days.

Jaipur is a whole planned city of 1727 rather than a set of tombs. The colour-washed grid of the Pink City, the City Palace, Hawa Mahal and the stone instruments of Jantar Mantar sit at its heart, with Amber, Jaigarh and Nahargarh forts on the ridges above and the Albert Hall Museum adding the museum depth Agra lacks.

Agra hardly has any nightlife. After a pre-dawn start at the Taj, evenings end with dinner and perhaps a drink in a hotel bar.

Jaipur offers a little more, though it's still not a place for big nights out. Rooftop lounges in the old city look out at the floodlit forts, and a few clubs in C-Scheme fill up at weekends and in the wedding season, but there is no bar street or late culture.

Agra's landscape is a flat, dusty river plain with no hills, so its outdoor appeal lies just outside the city: the bird wetlands of Keoladeo at Bharatpur in winter and the gharials and river dolphins of the Chambal sanctuary.

Jaipur has a little more on its doorstep. The rocky Aravalli hills give views from Nahargarh, and Jhalana, on the city edge, offers jeep safaris with a real chance of seeing leopards. Balloon flights over the fort country and Sambhar salt lake add variety, though in both cities outdoor time belongs to the cool months.

Agra is the stronger base for excursions. Fatehpur Sikri, Akbar's abandoned sandstone capital, is about 40km away and pairs easily with Bharatpur's wetlands or the water palaces at Deeg, while Mathura and Vrindavan are an hour north and Gwalior's hilltop fort is a short train ride south.

Jaipur has photogenic places close by, including the Chand Baori stepwell, Samode's painted palace, ruined Bhangarh and the block-printing villages of Sanganer and Bagru. Its better-known destinations, Pushkar, Ajmer and the Taj itself, are long days on the road rather than easy outings.

Neither city is easy with children, and both share heat, chaotic traffic, few pavements and persistent touts. In Agra the highlights are the scale of the Taj and the bear rescue centre on the Mathura road, and a short stay works best.

Jaipur gives children a few more things to enjoy, with fort ramparts and passages to explore, puppet shows and leopard safaris at Jhalana, so it can hold a family for a little longer in the cool season.

Getting around is much the same in both cities: neither is walkable, and auto-rickshaws, ride-hailing taxis or a car and driver do the work. In Agra the sights are strung along the river, and the vehicle-free zone around the Taj means finishing by foot, electric cart or cycle rickshaw.

Jaipur has a short metro line, though it misses most sights. Its bazaars can be walked within the Pink City, but Amber lies about 11km north, so a driver for the day is the easiest way to see it.

Agra's speciality is pietra dura, the marble inlay used on the Taj, sold alongside leather goods, carpets and sweets in Kinari and Sadar bazaars. The range is narrow, and the commission showrooms that drivers steer you to are hard to avoid.

Jaipur is one of the reasons people travel to Rajasthan at all. Each old city bazaar has its trade, gems and silver on Johari Bazaar, lac bangles in Maniharon ka Rasta, textiles in Bapu Bazaar, and blue pottery, miniature paintings and block prints are made nearby. The same commission trade applies, plus long-running gem scams, so choose sellers with care.

Both are very cheap for a visitor, with low-cost guesthouses, street food and rickshaws, and in both cities the higher foreigners' entry fees at the main monuments are the biggest outlay. The splurges differ: in Agra it's the luxury hotels with Taj views, and in Jaipur the palace hotels and heritage havelis, where alcohol also feels pricey.

Agra's performances are mostly staged for tourists: musicals telling the story of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal, hotel dance evenings and the spring Taj Mahotsav at Shilpgram.

Jaipur has living traditions of its own, Kathak dance, Kalbeliya dancing, Rajasthani folk music and string puppetry, and these are easy to catch in the evenings. Jawahar Kala Kendra and Ravindra Manch add theatre and classical concerts, though neither city runs a season you would plan a trip around.

In Agra, rest means hotel spas and pools, plus the walled gardens of Itimad-ud-Daulah and Sikandra, where the noise falls away late in the day. Outside those, the horns, haze and touts set the mood.

Jaipur offers more restful places to stay. Its heritage havelis and palace hotels are built around shaded courtyards and gardens, many with Ayurvedic massage and yoga, so the slow hours between early starts feel part of the trip rather than an escape from it.