Agra or Jaisalmer?

Neither city has anywhere to swim in open water: the Yamuna past the Taj is for looking at, and Gadisar Lake in Jaisalmer is for boating. In both, a hotel pool is the only option, and it earns its place in the hot months, whether at one of Agra's better hotels or at a heritage resort on the edge of Jaisalmer.

Agra gives a curious eater a little more to work with. Its Mughlai cooking is rich and varied, from kormas, biryani and tandoor kebabs to the bazaar breakfast of bedai and hot jalebi near Kinari Bazaar, evening chaat in Sadar Bazaar and the candied petha sold on every corner.

Jaisalmer's desert cooking is plainer and more regional: ker sangri, dal baati churma and a vegetarian thali are the dishes to try, with kachori and mirchi bada at breakfast. Many rooftop restaurants facing the fort fill out the menu with pasta and pizza, so the truly local food takes more seeking out.

Agra has the greater monuments by some distance. The Taj Mahal, seen at dawn and again at sunset from Mehtab Bagh, the red sandstone palaces of Agra Fort, the fine inlay of Itimad-ud-Daulah and Akbar's deer-filled park at Sikandra make a group of Mughal buildings few places can match.

Jaisalmer offers something smaller and more intimate. Its twelfth-century fort is still home to thousands of people, with Jain temples carved inside and lace-like haveli façades in the lanes below. It is one coherent golden town, not a set of world landmarks, and both places take two or three days.

Both towns are quiet after dark, with no clubs or bar districts. In Agra the evening is short because the Taj means a pre-dawn start, and a drink in a hotel bar or on a rooftop facing the dome is about as far as it goes. In Jaisalmer it is a rooftop dinner opposite the lit fort, or a campfire and music at a dune camp that winds down soon after dinner.

The outdoors is roughly as limited in both, but the landscapes could hardly differ more. Agra's flat river plain has little green beyond its Mughal gardens, and its strength is wildlife: the Keoladeo wetlands at Bharatpur, explored by bicycle or rickshaw in winter, and boat trips for gharials and river dolphins on the Chambal.

Jaisalmer's whole offer is the Thar Desert. That means sunset at the busy Sam dunes or the quieter Khuri dunes, an overnight camel trek with a night under very dark skies, and great Indian bustards in the Desert National Park. Neither has hills or trails for walking.

Agra makes a far better base. Fatehpur Sikri, Akbar's abandoned capital about 40km west, pairs with the Bharatpur wetlands or the water palaces of Deeg. The Krishna towns of Mathura and Vrindavan are about an hour away, and Gwalior's hilltop fort is a train ride south.

Jaisalmer is remote, and its outings are short and modest: the old Jain temples of Lodurva and the roofless abandoned villages of Kuldhara and Khaba, usually combined with the dunes. Pokaran and Tanot are long drives for little reward, so most people treat the town as one stop on a Rajasthan route.

Jaisalmer is the easier sell to children. The sandcastle fort, camel rides, jeep runs over the dunes and a night in a tent camp with music and a fire are memorable for school-age children, and Indian families visiting in numbers make it a welcoming place.

Agra asks more of a family: fierce heat for much of the year, chaotic traffic, few pavements and touts at the monument gates. The scale of the Taj and the bear rescue centre towards Mathura do appeal to older children, but most families keep the visit short. Neither town has anything built for children, and Jaisalmer only works between October and March.

Once you are there, Jaisalmer is easier. The fort, the havelis and Gadisar Lake sit close together and can be walked, if slowly in the heat and on uneven lanes shared with cattle and motorbikes. You only need a hired car or jeep for the dunes and the villages beyond.

Agra's sights are spread along and away from the river, the roads are congested and walking between them is impractical, so it is auto-rickshaws, app taxis or a car and driver for the day. Its advantage is the journey in: Agra Cantt station puts it a short train ride from Delhi, while reaching Jaisalmer is a long trip.

Both are craft towns with no fashion or design shopping, but the crafts differ. Agra's speciality is pietra dura, marble inlaid with semi-precious stone as on the Taj, along with leather, carpets and petha. The risk there is the commission trade, where drivers steer you to showrooms with inflated prices.

Jaisalmer's fort lanes are packed with mirror-work and appliqué textiles, quilts, camel leather, silver jewellery, puppets and carved yellow sandstone. Much of it repeats from stall to stall, and you are expected to bargain hard.

Both are very cheap, with guesthouses, street food and rickshaws costing little. Where the money goes is different. In Agra the biggest outlay is the foreigners' entry fees at the Taj and the other Mughal monuments, plus the few luxury hotels with a view of the dome. In Jaisalmer it is the restored palace hotels and luxury tented camps, though camel treks and desert camps come at every level and haggling helps.

Jaisalmer offers real music. The Manganiyar and Langa, hereditary musicians of the Thar, play most evenings at desert camps, on rooftops and at small shows near the fort, often with Kalbelia dancers or puppets. The settings are staged, but the musicians are the real thing, and the winter Desert Festival brings more.

Agra's performances are mostly made for tourists: productions retelling the story of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal, and dance evenings in the larger hotels. The spring Taj Mahotsav at Shilpgram is its one real highlight.

Neither has a bathing tradition, and in both the spas are mostly in the larger hotels. Jaisalmer has slightly more calm to offer outside them: an unhurried afternoon in a haveli courtyard, simple ayurvedic massage in the old town, and above all a still night at a remote dune camp.

In Agra, traffic, horns and winter haze push rest indoors to hotel lawns and pools after the dawn start at the Taj. The walled gardens of Itimad-ud-Daulah and Sikandra are its quiet corners in the late afternoon.