Amman or Tel Aviv?

This is the widest gap between the two. Amman has no shore of its own, only the Dead Sea an hour below, where resort beach clubs offer sunbeds and mud but the brine lets you float rather than swim. Proper sea swimming means a separate trip to Aqaba.

Tel Aviv is a beach city in the full sense, with fine sand running from the old port to the rocks below Jaffa, a walk from most hotels. Lifeguard posts, breakwaters and stretches with their own character, such as the dog beach at Hilton, make the shore part of daily life, from early runs to sunset swims.

Both cities eat from the same Levantine table of hummus, falafel and knafeh, so the gap is in range rather than roots. Amman does the basics simply and cheaply, with downtown breakfast counters, mansaf at family restaurants and café terraces in Weibdeh and Jabal Amman, but its upmarket dining is thin and drinking plays a minor part.

Tel Aviv layers Yemenite, Iraqi and Bukharan home cooking on top, adds a confident chef-led scene of open kitchens and shared plates, and pours good Galilee and Golan wine. Carmel Market and the old bakeries and fish restaurants of Jaffa make grazing easy, though many kitchens close for Shabbat.

Neither city is a major sightseeing destination, and both leave their country's great heritage to day trips, but the history they show differs in kind. Amman's sights are ancient: the Temple of Hercules and the Umayyad Palace on the Citadel, the Roman Theatre cut into the hillside below, and the Jordan Museum with its Dead Sea Scrolls and 'Ain Ghazal statues.

Tel Aviv's are mostly from the twentieth century. Its draw is the Bauhaus White City along Rothschild Boulevard, alongside Jaffa's old stone quarter, the modern collection at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and ANU's story of the diaspora. Choose Amman for Roman stones and Tel Aviv for architecture walks.

Amman's evenings are sociable but sober in tone: families and friends linger over shisha and tea on Rainbow Street, and a modest cluster of bars and rooftop lounges sits in Jabal Amman and Abdoun. During Ramadan, alcohol largely disappears.

Tel Aviv goes much further. Cocktail and wine bars around Lilienblum and Allenby spill onto the pavements past midnight, Thursday runs until dawn, and warehouse clubs in the south play house and techno. Its gay scene is among the most open in the region.

Tel Aviv has the more usable outdoor life from day to day, even though the city is flat and built up. The coastal cycle path, surfing, kitesurfing and the lawns and rowing of Yarkon Park are all on the doorstep, with the pine trails of the Carmel ridge an hour north.

Amman has almost no green space and bare summer hillsides, so nature means driving out of town. The rewards are dramatic: the steep drop to the Dead Sea, wading up the sandstone gorge of Wadi Mujib in the warmer months, and spring walks in the oak woods of Ajloun.

Both are excellent bases, and both reach the Dead Sea, but the outings feel different. From Amman you see Jordan's ancient past: the colonnaded Roman streets of Jerash, Madaba's mosaic map, Mount Nebo, the frescoed desert bathhouse of Qasr Amra and Kerak's castle, mostly with a hired driver.

From Tel Aviv, Jerusalem's Old City is half an hour away by fast train, and trains also run up the coast to Haifa's Baha'i Gardens and Acre, with Roman Caesarea under an hour away. Shabbat halts that transport on Saturdays, so a Saturday outing needs a car or a tour.

Children are warmly welcomed in both cities, and late dinners with toddlers are normal in each. The difference lies in what there is to do. Amman offers a hands-on children's museum in King Hussein Park, malls with play areas and the novelty of floating in the Dead Sea, but steep streets and broken pavements defeat pushchairs.

Tel Aviv has calm, lifeguarded beaches, Luna Park and boating in Yarkon Park, the Ramat Gan Safari and the children's museum in Holon. Its flat centre and seafront promenade are easy with a buggy.

Amman is spread over hills and deep valleys, and only the old downtown and the stone stairways up to Weibdeh are walkable. There is no metro, so visitors rely on cheap yellow taxis and ride-hailing apps, and on a driver for trips out of town.

Tel Aviv is flat and compact enough to walk from the old port to Jaffa, with bike-share, e-scooters, a light-rail line and fast intercity trains. Its catch is Shabbat, when most buses and trains stop from Friday afternoon until Saturday night.

Amman's best buying is craft: embroidered Palestinian textiles, Hebron glass and work from women's cooperatives around Rainbow Street, with downtown souks for spices, coffee and gold. Beyond that, its malls are well stocked but ordinary.

Tel Aviv offers a wider range, with independent Israeli designers on Dizengoff, Sheinkin and in Neve Tzedek, the Nahalat Binyamin crafts market, and Jaffa's flea market surrounded by vintage shops and design studios. Expect to pay considerably more for it.

Amman is far easier on the wallet. Street food, coffee and taxis cost little, although mid-range hotels in the western districts, alcohol and the high fees foreigners pay at Jordan's headline sites push costs up.

Tel Aviv is expensive at almost every level, from beach hotels to cocktails to supermarket groceries. Hummus counters, bakeries, fairly priced trains and free beaches help, but a tight budget needs careful planning.

Amman offers little: occasional concerts and Arabic theatre at the Royal Cultural Centre, small and irregular stages in Weibdeh, and the summer Jerash Festival in the ancient theatres. Many visitors leave without seeing a show.

Tel Aviv supports the Israel Philharmonic, the Israeli Opera and Habima, the national theatre, as well as the internationally known Batsheva dance company and the Suzanne Dellal Centre in Neve Tzedek. Most theatre is in Hebrew, but dance, orchestral concerts and the jazz and indie clubs need no translation.

Both cities rely on the Dead Sea for proper restorative bathing, and Amman is closer to it, about an hour away against an hour and a half from Tel Aviv. The Ma'in hot springs are nearby, and the city itself has Turkish-style hammams for a steam and scrub.

Tel Aviv has no bathing tradition, only hotel spas and day studios, and its week runs loud and fast. Its calm comes instead from the Shabbat quiet, yoga classes and slow mornings on the seafront promenade.