Almaty or Samarkand?

Neither city is anywhere near the sea, but Almaty at least has somewhere to swim. The Kapchagay reservoir, about an hour and a half away across the steppe, has sandy shores and warm summer water that locals crowd at weekends.

Samarkand has only the shallow Zarafshan river and irrigation channels, which are not worth planning around. In both cities, swimming on a summer trip really means a hotel pool.

The two eat about equally well, but in different ways. Almaty gives you a wider spread: Uyghur lagman and manty, Kazakh beshbarmak, Korean salads, good coffee and a fair choice of modern restaurants, with the Green Bazaar as the place for tastings.

Samarkand goes deeper on a few things. Its own layered plov, eaten at lunchtime, and its glazed Samarkand non at Siab Bazaar are reasons to come, but menus repeat from one place to the next. Neither city has much fine dining.

Samarkand is far ahead here. The Registan's three madrasas, the mausoleums of Shah-i-Zinda, the gold interior of Gur-e-Amir and Ulugh Beg's observatory make it one of the great architectural cities of Asia, worth three or four days on their own.

Almaty lost most of its older fabric to earthquakes and Soviet planning. Its best sights are the painted wooden Zenkov Cathedral, the Central State Museum's Scythian gold and the city's Soviet modernist façades, which are rewarding but cover easily in two days.

Almaty is the city in the region where people go out. Cocktail bars, craft beer pubs and a few clubs around Panfilov and Abylai Khan stay open until morning at weekends, although weeknights are quiet.

In Samarkand, an evening means a long dinner, perhaps next to a wedding party dancing to a live band, then a walk past the lit-up Registan. There is no club scene, and the town goes to bed early.

Almaty's mountains are its main draw. Peaks of 4,000m stand at the end of the streets, Medeu and the Shymbulak gondola are under half an hour away, and gorges, Big Almaty Lake and glacier trails lie a short drive beyond. Winter brings proper skiing, and with an overnight stay you can reach Charyn Canyon and the Kolsai lakes.

Samarkand's countryside is gentler. The Aman-Kutan valley and the hills above Urgut offer juniper woods, walnut groves and village walks about an hour away, best in spring and autumn, but the high peaks are across the border.

Samarkand makes much the better base for excursions. Bukhara's intact old town is about an hour and a half away by high-speed train, Shakhrisabz and Timur's White Palace sit over a mountain pass, and the Sunday bazaar at Urgut and the paper-making village of Konigil are close by.

Almaty's trips head into landscape rather than to other towns. The burial mounds at Esik and the Tamgaly petroglyphs are the only heritage outings, and Bishkek involves a border crossing and works better with an overnight stay.

Almaty gives children more to do. There is the cable car up Kok-Tobe with its petting zoo, rides and boats in Central Park, the zoo, winter skating at Medeu, beginners' slopes at Shymbulak and summer picnics in the gorges. Busy avenues and long distances are the downside.

Samarkand is safe and welcoming, with pedestrian streets around the Registan. But a day of mausoleums and madrasas in the heat suits older children with an interest in history far better than young ones.

Samarkand is easier to get around because its main sights line up along one pedestrian street, from the Registan past Bibi-Khanym to Shah-i-Zinda, with app taxis for the observatory and the station. The only real limit is the summer heat.

Almaty's shady grid is pleasant to walk in the centre, but the city spreads far beyond it, and the single metro line does little. Most visitors use ride-hailing apps, although buses and gondolas will take you up to Medeu and Shymbulak without a car.

Neither city is a shopping destination, and they offer quite different things. Almaty is about bazaars and malls: dried fruit and honey from the Green Bazaar, the huge Barakholka market, and international brands under one roof. Felt work and carpets are the souvenirs to look for.

Samarkand is the better place for crafts. Suzani embroidery, ikat silk, ceramics and miniatures are sold from old madrasa cells, carpets are knotted in the city, and Konigil still makes mulberry paper by hand.

Both are cheap places to travel, and Samarkand has a slight edge. Its family-run guesthouses are good value, and plov, taxis and monument entry all cost little.

In Almaty, food, transport and opera tickets are also inexpensive, but central hotels are priced closer to international norms, and drinks in smart bars add up quickly.

Almaty has a real repertory scene, inherited from its time as a Soviet capital. The Abai State Opera and Ballet Theatre stages classic ballet and opera through the season, and the Kazakh State Philharmonic mixes orchestral concerts with dombra performances, all at modest cost.

In Samarkand, performance is mostly staged for visitors: folk costume shows and sound-and-light displays on the Registan. The Sharq Taronalari music festival, held in some years, is the exception.

Almaty has a living bathing culture. Arasan, the huge Soviet-era complex by Panfilov Park, has banya steam rooms with birch-twig whisking, saunas and a domed hammam, and there are hot springs and old sanatoria in the Alma-Arasan gorge.

Samarkand has one old domed bathhouse near Bibi-Khanym and a few hotel spas. Rest there comes more from long afternoons on a shaded topchan with green tea than from any treatment.