AlUla or Dahab?

This is the biggest gap between the two. AlUla lies deep inland with no sea or lake within reach, and the Red Sea coast is too far away across the mountains for a beach day. Swimming means the pool at your resort or desert camp.

Dahab is built around the water, though it is not a sandy beach town. Along the promenade and at Eel Garden and the Blue Hole you step from rocks or a jetty straight onto coral, so a swim here is really a snorkel. For sand and calm shallows, the Lagoon is at the southern edge of town.

Neither is a place to travel to for the food, and both offer about as little. AlUla's best meals come from the resorts' chef-led kitchens and the Old Town terraces, and its local signature is oasis dates with cardamom-scented coffee.

Dahab is more casual and cheaper. You pick grilled fish from the ice at low tables on the bay, or eat foul, falafel and koshary in Assala. You can also get a beer in the tourist bars, while AlUla has no bars at all.

AlUla is far ahead for sights. The monumental Nabataean tombs of Hegra stand alone in open desert, and there are the lion tombs of Dadan, the inscribed walls of Jabal Ikmah and the mud-brick Old Town below its fort. It adds up to a few weighty visits, mostly guided.

Dahab has no monuments, museums or historic buildings of its own. The Bedouin roots that still show in Assala give the town its character, but there is nothing to tour, and the region's great heritage lies hours away inland.

Neither suits a big night out, but Dahab at least has bars. You can have a beer or a shisha on cushions by the water, and a few promenade spots play music and host the odd late party. AlUla has no bars or clubs, so evenings mean a late dinner, a walk through the lit Old Town and stargazing in the desert, with winter events adding a little life.

Both are excellent for the outdoors, but Dahab has the edge because it has the sea as well as the desert. You can dive the reef straight from the shore at the Canyon and the Blue Hole, freedive at one of the sport's main centres or kitesurf on the steady wind at the Lagoon. On land there are camel and jeep trips into the wadis, the walk to Ras Abu Galum and the night climb up Mount Sinai.

AlUla's appeal is all on land, and on a grand scale. Elephant Rock and other wind-carved formations, palm groves under sandstone cliffs, the lava plateau of Harrat Uwayrid and the Sharaan reserve are explored by hiking, via ferrata, balloon flights and stargazing. Its season is shorter, though, because summer heat limits time outside to dawn and dusk.

Neither offers many day trips, since you spend most of your time exploring each place itself. Dahab has the stronger single outing: St Catherine's Monastery, about two hours inland and easily paired with the overnight climb up Mount Sinai. Sharm el-Sheikh, an hour south, gives you a change of scene.

From AlUla the choice is the oasis town of Tayma, with its great stone well and old walls, or Khaybar, with its fortress on a basalt outcrop. Each is about two hours across the desert and best done as a full guided day.

Both suit older, outdoorsy children better than toddlers, and neither has a zoo, aquarium or play attractions. What they offer is different. AlUla has climbing among the rocks, ziplines, camel rides and the sheer size of Hegra, with resort pools for the afternoons, but every site means a car or bus and walking in the sun.

Dahab revolves around the water. The sheltered Lagoon suits younger swimmers and reef snorkelling suits confident ones, though reef shoes are a must and serious medical care is in Sharm el-Sheikh.

Getting around AlUla takes planning. Hotels, the Old Town and the archaeological sites are strung along a long valley, and Hegra lies more than 20km north of the Old Town. There is no ordinary public transport, so you rely on ticketed shuttles, a hire car, a driver or a tour, and each day is arranged around them.

Dahab has no public transport either, but it is far easier day to day. Its seafront promenade is about 2km long, mostly free of cars and lined with restaurants, dive centres and guesthouses, so many visitors go for days without a vehicle. You only need a taxi or pickup for the Lagoon, the Blue Hole or trips into the mountains.

What you can buy differs more than how much, since each has only a handful of small shops. In AlUla these are the craft and design shops of the Old Town, selling weaving, pottery, perfume and work from the local arts and crafts school, and oasis dates make the best souvenir. Dahab's promenade stalls sell Bedouin embroidery, scarves and spices, with some haggling expected, and the one thing really worth buying there is diving and freediving gear.

On cost the two sit at opposite ends. Dahab is one of the cheapest places for a sea and diving trip, with simple guesthouses, low-cost Egyptian meals in Assala, cheap taxis and dive courses that cost little by international standards. Only alcohol and the few smarter hotels push the bill up.

AlUla is expensive. Most of the rooms are in luxury resorts and tented camps, the archaeological sites are reached on costly guided tours, and you almost always need a hire car or driver. Moderate meals in the Old Town and cheap petrol barely dent the total.

AlUla has a real draw, though only in winter. Maraya, the mirror-clad concert hall in a desert canyon, hosts international singers and orchestras in the winter festival season, along with outdoor music and traditional Saudi dance among the rocks. Come outside that season and there is little to see.

Dahab has no theatre or concert hall. The most you will find is a band or DJ in a promenade bar, or Bedouin music around a fire at a desert camp.

For rest, Dahab has the edge, because its calm comes from the whole town rather than from a booking. AlUla is peaceful too, but only as peaceful as the resort you choose: the camps and lodges have spas, sunrise yoga and pools among the rocks, and nights are spent by a fire in the silent desert. Beyond the resorts there is little to seek out.

Dahab slows you down wherever you stay. A long-stay community has grown up around yoga, breathwork and freediving, classes and massage are cheap and easy to find, and evenings mean watching the sun set over the Sinai mountains from a cushioned café. Neither place has public baths or a hammam tradition.