Amman or Larnaca?

This is where the two part company most sharply. Amman sits in the desert hills with no shore of its own. The Dead Sea, about an hour below, is a novelty afternoon of floating and mud rather than a swim, and real sea and coral mean a separate trip to Aqaba.

Larnaca is built around its beaches. The shallow, palm-lined Finikoudes beach runs right along the old centre, Mackenzie has beach bars, and the quieter strips stretch east towards Dhekelia. The town sand is pleasant rather than striking, but the turquoise bays of Ayia Napa and Protaras are within an hour.

Amman is the better place to eat. Downtown serves falafel, hummus and fuul from early morning, there is hot knafeh and manakish from the bakeries, and you can try mansaf at a family table. Up in Jabal Amman and Weibdeh, cafés and modern Arab restaurants add a second layer.

Larnaca has one strong card, the long Cypriot meze. It also has good fish near the old harbour and village tavernas inland. Beyond those the range thins quickly, and the seafront menus are written for visitors.

Amman has more to see. The Temple of Hercules and the Umayyad Palace stand on the Citadel above the Roman Theatre and the Odeon. The Jordan Museum adds the Dead Sea Scrolls and the 'Ain Ghazal statues, enough for two or three full days.

Larnaca's sights are fewer and quieter: the Church of Saint Lazarus with its carved iconostasis, Hala Sultan Tekke beside the Salt Lake, and the foundations of Phoenician Kition. They fill a day or two at an easy pace.

Neither is a party town, but the evenings feel different. Amman's nights revolve around cafés, shisha and tea, with families out late on Rainbow Street, and drinking is a discreet affair in a few rooftop bars and hotels. Larnaca's evenings are seasonal and drink-led. Cocktail bars line the summer promenade and Mackenzie has DJ beach bars, then it goes quiet in winter, and serious clubbing means heading to Ayia Napa.

Larnaca has more outdoors within easy reach. You can watch flamingos on the Salt Lake in winter or dive the Zenobia wreck offshore. Cape Greco has sea caves for kayaking and snorkelling, and the pine-covered Troodos is about ninety minutes away.

Amman's best scenery is the steep drop to the Dead Sea. There are also the wade-through gorge of Wadi Mujib in the warmer months and the oak woods of Ajloun in spring. Jordan's great landscapes, Dana and Wadi Rum, are too far to return from the same day.

Both make good bases, but Amman's outings carry more weight. Jerash is one of the finest Roman provincial cities to survive, under an hour away. Madaba's mosaic map, Mount Nebo, the Baptism Site, Umm Qais and the frescoed desert castle of Qasr Amra are all in range.

From Larnaca you can reach divided Nicosia, Lefkara's lace village, Neolithic Choirokoitia and the clifftop ruins of Kourion. They make varied days, though Paphos and the Troodos churches stretch the drive.

Larnaca is the more practical choice with children. The sea at Finikoudes is shallow for a long way out, and the promenade gives them room to run. The town is small and calm, the airport is minutes away, and the Ayia Napa waterpark is close.

Amman is just as safe, and children are made very welcome in its cafés. But the children's museum and the malls are about all there is for them, and the hills and broken pavements are hard work with small ones.

Larnaca is easier to get around. Its centre is small and flat, so the seafront, Saint Lazarus and the fort are all a stroll apart. A rental car is still needed for villages and mountains.

Amman is spread across steep hills with patchy pavements and no metro. Only downtown and the stairways up to Weibdeh really work on foot, so visitors rely on cheap taxis and ride-hailing apps.

Amman gives shoppers more to explore. You can browse the spice stalls and the gold souk downtown. Around Rainbow Street, cooperative shops sell Palestinian embroidery, Hebron glass and Bedouin rugs, the kind of things worth carrying home.

Larnaca's high streets mostly offer chains and jewellers. The buys with character come from nearby Lefkara's lace and silver and the potters of Skala.

Overall costs are close, but they rise in different places. In Amman the street food, coffee and taxis are very cheap, while alcohol, private drivers and the entry fees foreigners pay at the big sites push the total up. In Larnaca a taverna meze is generous for its price, but a rental car is a real extra and summer beachfront rooms cost noticeably more than winter ones.

Neither city is a stage for the arts, though Amman has a little more. The Royal Cultural Centre and small venues in Weibdeh offer oud and Arab indie music, and the summer Jerash Festival fills the Roman theatres with singers and folk troupes. Larnaca has Greek-language plays at the municipal theatre, open-air shows at the fort in summer and bouzouki in the tavernas at weekends.

Amman offers more ways to unwind, but most of them are out of town. The Dead Sea resort spas offer mineral mud and floating an hour away, and the Ma'in hot springs pour down a canyon nearby. The city itself has hammams.

Larnaca has little spa culture beyond its resort hotels. Its strength is pace: slow coffees on the seafront and quiet winter strolls, a calm that hilly, traffic-heavy Amman lacks.