Ayutthaya or Bagan?

Neither has a beach or anywhere to swim outdoors: Ayutthaya's rivers are working waterways and the Irrawaddy at Bagan is wide and silty. In both, a hotel pool is the only way into the water.

The difference is what comes after. From Ayutthaya the Gulf of Thailand and Thailand's beach islands are easy to add to the same trip, while Bagan sits deep inside Myanmar, far from any coast.

Ayutthaya eats noticeably better. Its boat noodles, grilled river prawns at the waterside restaurants and roti sai mai give it dishes of its own, and the night markets add plenty of variety for a small town.

Bagan's best meals are the Burmese curry spreads, tea-leaf salad and mohinga at breakfast, but beyond the tea shops many places serve the same tourist menu. Neither has fine dining, though Ayutthaya at least has Bangkok within reach for a serious meal.

Both are UNESCO-listed former capitals, but Bagan is the greater sight. More than two thousand temples spread across a plain of about 100 square kilometres, from the gilded Shwezigon to the bulk of Dhammayangyi, with murals in small shrines down dirt tracks.

Ayutthaya's prangs and chedis are fewer and set within a working town, yet they are impressive, and they come with a richer story of trade, from the gold of the Chao Sam Phraya museum to the old Portuguese and Japanese quarters. In both, variety is narrow: this is temple country, not a museum city.

Ayutthaya at least has a short strip of backpacker bars and riverside terraces looking at the lit temples, enough for a few drinks. Bagan is quieter still: dinner and a beer on Nyaung U's restaurant strip, then dark by ten, because everyone is up for sunrise.

Both are flat, hot plains, so the outdoors is gentle in both. What differs is the scenery. Ayutthaya is green rice paddies, canals and herons, seen by bicycle or long-tail boat, while Bagan is dry scrub and palms with temples on the horizon, best taken in from a dawn balloon or a sunset boat on the Irrawaddy.

For real terrain, Bagan has Mount Popa's forested volcanic slopes about an hour and a half away, and Ayutthaya has the forests of Khao Yai about two hours off.

Ayutthaya has much more within reach. Bangkok is about an hour and a half south, the Bang Pa-In summer palace is twenty minutes away, and Lopburi's Khmer temples and macaques are an easy train ride north.

Bagan's list is shorter: Mount Popa and the Taung Kalat shrine, the teak monastery at Salay and market life in Pakokku. All are worthwhile, but Mandalay is too far for a day, and after these the options run out.

Ayutthaya is the easier of the two with children, though neither is built for them. The ruins are close together, boat and tuk-tuk circuits are fun, and Bangkok is near if anything goes wrong.

Bagan suits older children who like adventure, with horse carts, cycling and balloon flights, but the distances across the plain are long, the heat is fiercer and medical care is basic. A hotel pool matters more for afternoons in either place.

Ayutthaya is far more manageable. The main ruins share an island a few kilometres across, flat enough to cycle, with tuk-tuks and river ferries to fill the gaps.

In Bagan, Nyaung U, Old Bagan and New Bagan sit several kilometres apart with temples scattered between them, so nearly everyone rides an e-scooter on sandy tracks or hires a driver for the day. Neither has public transport worth using.

Bagan has the better reason to shop: it is the home of Burmese lacquerware, and watching bowls built up layer by layer in the Myinkaba workshops before buying is a real draw. Nyaung U market adds longyi cloth and thanaka.

Ayutthaya offers mostly night-market stalls, amulets and souvenirs, with the Bang Sai crafts centre downstream as its one craft stop.

Both are very cheap, and Ayutthaya is a little cheaper still. Guesthouses, noodles and near-free bicycle hire there leave the separate ruin entrance fees as the main cost.

Bagan is also inexpensive for simple rooms, curry meals and e-bikes, but the foreigners' zone fee, the better Old Bagan hotels and especially a dawn balloon flight can push the bill up.

Neither has a real performance life. Ayutthaya's highlight is the annual World Heritage fair, with light-and-sound shows among the ruins. Bagan offers marionette shows and dance at dinner venues, and a pagoda festival such as Ananda's may bring an all-night zat pwe of music, dance and comedy.

Ayutthaya is the more restful place. Cheap Thai massage is easy to find near the guesthouses, and once the tour buses leave the town turns slow, with quiet evenings on the river.

Bagan has nicer resort spas with pools and thanaka treatments in Old and New Bagan, but the pre-dawn starts, heat, dust and touts at the big temples make it harder to switch off.