Arusha or Kigali?

Neither city has a beach, and both are a long way from the sea. The difference is in the substitutes. From Arusha, the spring-fed pool at Chemka makes a pleasant swimming outing among fig trees, and most sand-seekers fly on to Zanzibar after their safari. From Kigali, Lake Muhazi is good for a lakeside lunch, and the proper lake beaches on Kivu at Rubavu need an overnight stay.

Kigali eats a little better, mostly because of its coffee culture and the variety its diplomatic community has brought. Highland beans are brewed with care in the cafés of Kiyovu and Kacyiru, and there are good Ethiopian, Indian and Italian kitchens beside the brochette-and-Primus bars on the hills.

Arusha's food is narrower and earthier: nyama choma, chipsi mayai from roadside stalls and evening mishkaki. Its best food experience is drinking coffee on a farm on Meru's slopes. Most safari visitors end up eating buffet dinners at their lodge.

Kigali gives a visitor much more to think about. The Genocide Memorial at Gisozi and the shell-marked parliament museum make a moving and important day, and the contemporary galleries around Kacyiru and Kimihurura add a lighter afternoon.

Arusha's colonial boma museum, the Arusha Declaration Museum and the clock tower take half a day at most. Its real cultural interest is outside town, in Maasai and Meru village visits.

Kigali is the better place for a night out. Evenings start at open-air brochette bars or rooftop lounges looking over the lit hills. On Fridays and Saturdays the clubs of Kimihurura, Kiyovu and Nyarutarama play Congolese rumba and Afrobeats until late, in an orderly rather than rowdy mood.

Arusha has its lager bars and a few weekend clubs playing Bongo Flava, filled mostly with residents and volunteers. With safaris leaving at dawn, though, most visitors are in bed early.

This is where Arusha is far ahead. Arusha National Park, under an hour away, combines giraffe, colobus and flamingo-lined Momella Lakes with walking and canoe safaris. Meru can be climbed from town and Kilimanjaro's gates are about two hours east. Tarangire, Manyara, Ngorongoro and the Serengeti put Arusha at the start of East Africa's classic safari circuit.

Kigali's nature is gentler and closer to hand: the views from Mount Kigali, birdlife along the Nyandungu boardwalks, and green ridges to cycle. Akagera and the gorilla volcanoes are both a long drive away, and the gorillas usually need an overnight stay.

Kigali has the more rewarding short excursions. The memorial churches at Nyamata and Ntarama are about an hour south and are deeply affecting. The reconstructed King's Palace at Nyanza, with its long-horned Inyambo cattle, makes a second full day.

Once the parks are set aside, Arusha's list is shorter. It includes Moshi under Kilimanjaro, the market village of Mto wa Mbu and community visits to Maasai bomas. Olduvai Gorge is normally a stop on the way to the Serengeti, not a separate outing.

Families will find the two about equally manageable, but in different ways. Arusha is built around the thrill of seeing elephants and giraffes, with lodge gardens and pools as a backup. It suits school-age children who can cope with long, bumpy drives, and parents need to plan for malaria precautions, broken pavements and traffic.

Kigali is the calmer and tidier base, with safe streets, a mild climate and Nyandungu's open spaces. Nothing in the city is built for children, though, and its main sight is not for young ones.

Kigali is clearly easier to get around. The central pavements are good and traffic is light. The licensed moto-taxis have numbered vests and spare helmets, and app-booked cars are easy to find. The only catch is the steep valleys between ridges, which make walking from one district to another hard work.

In Arusha, walking beyond the clock tower area means broken pavements and heavy traffic, and dala-dalas are hard going for newcomers. In practice visitors use taxis and lodge transfers, and outside town the driver-guide comes with the tour.

Crafts are the point in both, and neither has fashion streets or department stores worth the time. Arusha has the bigger and more varied choice, because it supplies visitors from the whole northern safari circuit. You can haggle in the curio markets near the centre or pay fixed prices in the large galleries on the outskirts, where the finer pieces are. The Central Market adds coffee, spices and fabric to take home.

Kigali's choice is smaller and more personal. Much of it is sold through craft cooperatives near the centre, and at Kimironko you can choose cloth and have clothes made to your measurements before you leave. A small group of Rwandan designers in Kiyovu and Kimihurura sells modern clothing, and highland coffee and tea make easy gifts. The malls are there for residents rather than visitors.

Kigali is the cheaper place to spend time. Buffet lunches, brochettes and moto-taxis cost little, the main memorial is free to enter, and mid-range guesthouses give fair comfort for the money. Gorilla permits are the exception and can swallow a budget whole.

Arusha's local life is just as cheap, but few visitors live that way. The reason for coming is the parks, and park fees, safari vehicles and garden lodges all charge international prices, so a typical trip from here costs more.

Kigali offers more to watch. Intore dancers in grass headdresses perform with drummers at cultural centres, the indoor arena hosts concerts by East African stars, and there are annual music and theatre festivals and occasional open-mic nights. Arusha's performances are mostly Maasai jumping dances and acrobats at lodges and cultural villages, plus weekend bands in a few bars, with no season to plan around.

Neither city is a place to come for pampering, and both rely on hotel spas. Arusha's calm is on its edges, in coffee-estate and garden lodges towards Usa River with Meru on the horizon, where people rest before or after a climb. In Kigali the whole city is the restful part: quiet clean streets, yoga in Kiyovu and slow coffee on a terrace.