Amman or Paphos?

Paphos is a real beach destination and Amman is not. Amman's nearest water is the Dead Sea, an hour's drive down the valley, where resort beach clubs let you float in dense salt water and cover yourself in mud. That makes a good afternoon, but it is not swimming, and the Red Sea at Aqaba is four hours south.

Paphos has clear Mediterranean water that stays warm well into autumn. The beaches in town are short and rocky, but Coral Bay up the coast has shallow sand for whole days, and the Akamas shore at Lara Bay is wild and empty.

Amman is the better city for eating. Its everyday food is the highlight: falafel, hummus and fuul breakfasts downtown, hot knafeh from the sweet shops, shawarma late into the night and mansaf at family restaurants. Jabal Amman and Weibdeh add rooftop terraces and modern Arab cooking.

Paphos can feed you very well, but you have to go looking. The long Cypriot meze with halloumi and kleftiko is best in the tavernas of Ktima and the hill villages, with local Laona wines. Around the harbour much of the food is aimed at package tourists.

Paphos has the stronger ancient sites. Its UNESCO-listed archaeological park has Roman floor mosaics of Mediterranean importance, above all in the House of Dionysus, and the Tombs of the Kings are rock-cut chambers right on the shore.

Amman's ruins are more spread out: the Temple of Hercules on the Citadel and the Roman Theatre cut into the hillside below. Its strength is the Jordan Museum, with Dead Sea Scrolls and the 'Ain Ghazal statues. In both places two or three days is enough, and the modern town around the sites has little to see.

Neither is a party city, and Paphos only just has the livelier nights. They differ in kind. In summer, Bar Street in Kato Paphos fills with pubs, karaoke and a few late clubs for groups on a sun-and-drink week, but much of it closes between November and March.

Amman's evenings are about company more than drinking. People sit over shisha and tea in cafés along Rainbow Street until late, while a few rooftop bars in Jabal Amman and Abdoun serve alcohol. During Ramadan the nights turn to iftar gatherings instead.

Paphos has much more outdoors close at hand. The protected Akamas peninsula has coastal trails to sea caves and turtle nesting beaches, Avakas Gorge is a short walk between limestone walls, and the Troodos pine forests are within reach. There is also wreck diving and kayaking offshore.

Amman's best scenery is the steep drop to the Dead Sea, with wading canyon hikes in Wadi Mujib in the warmer months and oak woods at Ajloun in spring. Jordan's great landscapes, Wadi Rum and Dana, need nights away.

Amman is the stronger base for day trips, and that is a large part of its appeal. Jerash, one of the best-preserved Roman provincial cities, is under an hour away. Madaba's mosaic map, Mount Nebo, the Baptism Site, the frescoed desert castles and the crusader-era fortress at Kerak can all be done there and back.

From Paphos, a hired car reaches Kourion on its cliff, Aphrodite's sanctuary at Kouklia and the wine villages around Omodos. The painted Troodos churches and Nicosia, where you can walk across the line into the north, make longer outings.

Paphos is the easier choice with children. Coral Bay's shallow water, hotels with kids' clubs, a water park and a flat seafront promenade give a family plenty to fill a week.

Amman is safe and very fond of children, who are welcome in restaurants late into the evening. However, beyond a children's museum and the mall play areas there is little made for them. Steep streets also make pushchairs hard work, so a Dead Sea float or Jerash is the day to plan around.

Paphos is a little easier to get around, though both cities really call for wheels. Kato Paphos is flat along the promenade, and buses run up to Ktima and out to Coral Bay. Beyond that, most visitors hire a car and drive on the left on good roads.

Amman spreads over hills and valleys with patchy pavements and no metro. Only downtown and the stairways up to Jabal Amman link well on foot. Taxis and ride-hailing apps are cheap and simple, though, and a hired driver covers the day trips.

Amman has far more to buy. Downtown, the souks sell spices, coffee and dried fruit, and the gold souk lines several streets. Uphill, small shops and women's cooperatives sell Palestinian embroidery, Hebron glass, Bedouin rugs and Dead Sea cosmetics.

In Paphos the covered market in Ktima and seafront gift shops are about all there is. The better buys are lace, pottery, honey and wine from the villages inland.

The two cost broadly the same, with Amman a touch cheaper if you live locally. Street food, coffee and taxis there cost very little. Alcohol, international hotels, private drivers and the big heritage sites charge foreigners heavily.

Paphos is priced like a eurozone resort. Meze dinners give a lot of food, and buses and sites are inexpensive, but car hire is close to essential and seafront hotels cost much more in high summer than in winter.

Neither city has much of a stage, and both depend on one annual festival. Amman's is the summer Jerash Festival, with Arab singers and folk troupes in the Roman theatres, plus occasional shows at the Royal Cultural Centre. Paphos has the Aphrodite Festival, open-air opera in front of the harbour castle in early autumn, and otherwise folk dancing at taverna nights.

Amman offers more for unwinding, although most of it lies outside the city. An hour downhill, the Dead Sea resort spas use the salt water and mineral mud, and the Ma'in hot springs fall through a desert canyon. In town there are a few Turkish-style hammams, though the traffic and noise are not restful.

In Paphos, wellness means hotel spas and the slow pace of promenade walks and village lunches, which feel most restful outside the summer peak.