Amman or Yerevan?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Amman has the more memorable water outing. The Dead Sea is warm and lined with resort beaches, though you float rather than swim, and proper Red Sea swimming at Aqaba is a separate trip.

Yerevan's swimming means park pools in summer or a drive up to Lake Sevan, whose sandy and pebbly shores are pleasant but chilly and only usable for a few weeks at the height of summer.

Both cities eat well at the local level, and the difference is in style. Amman is a city of breakfasts and street snacks: falafel, hummus and fuul downtown, za'atar manakish, hot knafeh and mansaf at family tables, with drinking a quiet sideline.

Yerevan centres on the grill and on what goes with it. Khorovats with herbs and lavash, dolma and the stalls of the GUM market share the stage with brandy tastings and wine bars pouring Areni reds, so an evening meal there runs longer and involves more of a glass.

The two are fairly evenly matched, and both take two or three days. Amman's sights are classical and early Islamic: the Temple of Hercules and Umayyad Palace on the Citadel, the Roman Theatre cut into the hillside, and the Jordan Museum with its Dead Sea Scrolls and 'Ain Ghazal statues.

Yerevan offers manuscripts and memory rather than ruins. The Matenadaran, the Genocide Memorial at Tsitsernakaberd and the galleries on Republic Square are the core, set in a coherent Soviet-era townscape of pink tuff that is more pleasant to walk through than Amman's modern sprawl.

Yerevan has more of an evening. Wine and cocktail bars cluster around Saryan Street, Northern Avenue and the Cascade, terraces stay full past midnight in summer, and there are a few clubs and late electronic nights.

Amman's nights revolve around shisha and tea in cafés on Rainbow Street and in Jabal Amman, with a small, discreet bar scene in Weibdeh, Abdoun and the hotels, and alcohol largely gone during Ramadan.

Yerevan has much better outdoor country close at hand. Within an hour or so you can hike on Mount Aragats, see the basalt columns of the Garni gorge, or walk the forests of Khosrov and Dilijan, with Ararat filling the horizon on clear days.

Amman's best scenery is the plunge down to the Dead Sea, with the wade-and-scramble canyon of Wadi Mujib in the warmer months and Ajloun's oak woods in spring. Beyond those, its finest landscapes are too far for a day.

Both are excellent bases, and Amman has the edge in range. Jerash is one of the finest Roman cities anywhere, and around it lie Ajloun castle, Umm Qais, Ottoman Salt, Madaba's mosaics, Mount Nebo, the Baptism Site, Kerak and the frescoed desert castles, spanning Roman, Byzantine, Crusader-era and Umayyad history.

Yerevan's outings are superb but more alike: Echmiadzin, Geghard, Garni, Khor Virap, Noravank and Sevanavank are mostly churches and monasteries, though Gyumri by train and the Dilijan forests vary the theme.

Children are welcomed warmly in both, and neither has much built for them. Yerevan is slightly easier, because its centre is compact and on summer evenings the singing fountains, the Cascade's steps and park rides give children somewhere to run.

Amman offers the children's museum in King Hussein Park and the novelty of floating in the Dead Sea, but its steep, broken streets defeat pushchairs and most outings mean time in a car.

Yerevan is far easier to move around. Republic Square, the Opera, the Cascade and the market sit within a short stroll along flat, tree-lined avenues, and a single metro line plus cheap ride-hailing fills the gaps.

Amman is spread over steep hills with no metro and patchy pavements. Only downtown and the stairways up to Jabal Amman and Weibdeh are walkable, so taxis do the real work, and day trips mean a driver or a hire car.

Shopping is about equal, and in both cities crafts and food are the best buys. Amman has more depth in the souks: spices and gold downtown, with embroidered Palestinian textiles, Hebron glass and cooperative crafts around Rainbow Street.

Yerevan puts most of it into one place, the open-air Vernissage near Republic Square, which is at its fullest at weekends. It sells obsidian jewellery, carved backgammon boards and carpets, and the brandy and dried fruit are the things to carry home.

Yerevan is noticeably cheaper day to day. Local wine and brandy cost little, museum tickets are low, and shared tours to the monasteries are reasonable, with central accommodation the one real expense.

Amman can be very cheap if you live on falafel and taxis, but alcohol, mid-range dining in the western districts, private drivers and the entry charges at Jordan's big sites push a comfortable trip closer to Southern European costs.

Yerevan offers far more to see on stage. The round Opera and Ballet Theatre stages Khachaturian alongside the standard repertoire, the Philharmonic and the Komitas Chamber Music Hall add concerts, and small jazz clubs and duduk ensembles fill other evenings.

In Amman, programming at the Royal Cultural Centre and small Weibdeh venues is irregular and mostly in Arabic. The summer Jerash Festival in the Roman theatres is the main reason to plan around a performance.

Amman is clearly better for rest and pampering, though the best of it is outside the city. The Dead Sea resorts offer salt-water floating and mud treatments as an easy half-day, the Ma'in hot springs fall through a canyon nearby, and the city has a few Turkish-style hammams.

Yerevan has no bathing culture to speak of, and its spa town of Jermuk is a three-hour journey. Rest there means slow coffees on shaded terraces and walks through the ring of parks.