Ayutthaya or Siem Reap?

Neither town has a beach, so beach days belong somewhere else on the trip. From Ayutthaya the upper Gulf of Thailand is a little over two hours away, which makes it easy to add the coast on the same trip. From Siem Reap the coast is most of a day by road.

In both towns the swimming happens in the hotel pool, since Ayutthaya's rivers are working waterways and the Tonle Sap is a shallow, muddy lake. In Siem Reap the pool is also part of the daily routine: most visitors spend the afternoon there after a dawn at the temples.

Both towns are good for cheap, tasty local food rather than wide choice, but the cooking itself is different. Ayutthaya serves central Thai food. It is known for small bowls of boat noodles eaten several at a time, grilled giant river prawns at restaurants by the water, and roti sai mai, pancakes rolled around spun sugar. In the evening the night markets fill in the rest, and there is almost nothing international.

Siem Reap is a place to get to know Khmer food: fish amok, num banh chok for breakfast, and sour lemongrass soups. It also has a few restaurants serving Khmer tasting menus and social-enterprise kitchens that train young cooks. Avoid the pizza and backpacker menus around Pub Street.

Both towns are built around ruins of a great former capital, and Siem Reap's are the bigger draw. Angkor is spread through the forest and covers far more ground. It includes Angkor Wat, the faces of the Bayon, trees growing through Ta Prohm and dozens of smaller temples, and you need at least three days to see the main circuits. The Angkor National Museum is a good place to start.

Ayutthaya's ruins are smaller and less varied, mostly brick prangs and chedis, but they fit into a day or two. The highlights are the three chedis of Wat Phra Si Sanphet, the Buddha head caught in tree roots at Wat Mahathat, and Wat Chaiwatthanaram at sunset. Traces of the old Portuguese and Japanese quarters show how international Siam's capital once was.

Siem Reap is the place for a night out. Pub Street and the lanes around it have neon-lit bars, cheap draught beer and cocktail buckets, and they stay busy until late every night. There are also quieter cocktail and wine bars by the river.

Ayutthaya's evenings are much quieter. There is a short row of backpacker bars and a few riverside terraces looking at the floodlit temples, and most people are in bed well before midnight. Neither town has any real club scene.

Outdoors in Ayutthaya means rice fields, canals and storks over the paddies, best seen from a bicycle or from a long-tail boat around the island at dusk. There are no hills, and the nearest forest and waterfalls are about two hours away at Khao Yai, so nature is a gentle setting for the ruins rather than a reason to come.

Siem Reap has more to do outside. Boats cross the Tonle Sap to the flooded forest and the Prek Toal bird sanctuary, where pelicans and cormorants nest. On the Phnom Kulen plateau there are a waterfall and forest walks, and at Kbal Spean a short jungle trail leads to carvings in the riverbed.

Ayutthaya has the more varied day trips. Bangkok, with the Grand Palace and its markets, is about an hour and a half away. The Bang Pa-In summer palace, a mix of Thai, Chinese and European styles, is twenty minutes away. Lopburi has Khmer temples and macaques living among the stones.

From Siem Reap most day trips mean more temples: the fine pink carving at Banteay Srei, the collapsed and overgrown Beng Mealea, and Koh Ker at the far edge of a day. The stilt villages on the Tonle Sap are a change of scene, but no other town is close enough for an easy return trip.

Neither town is really set up for children, but they suit different ages. Siem Reap is better for older children who like adventure: they can scramble through the ruins at Ta Prohm and Beng Mealea and take boats to the stilt villages. The steep temple steps and broken pavements wear out younger ones.

Ayutthaya is easier to manage but less exciting for children. Climbing is not allowed on many monuments, so the ruins are for looking at and the temple grounds for running around. There is little shade, so keep sightseeing to the mornings in either town.

Ayutthaya is easier to get around on your own. The main ruins are on one flat island a few kilometres across, and a bicycle on the quiet back lanes reaches most of them. Small ferries cross to the temples on the far banks, and a tuk-tuk can take you round the sites in half a day.

In Siem Reap you can walk around the small centre, but Angkor starts a ride away, so most visitors hire a tuk-tuk driver or a car each day. Some cycle or ride an e-bike around the main temple circuits instead. With broken pavements and the heat, expect to be driven most of the time.

Siem Reap is better for shopping. The Old Market sells silk, kramas and silver. In the social-enterprise workshops you can watch silk weaving, stone carving and lacquerware being made and buy much better pieces than at the stalls. A few boutiques sell clothing and homewares made in Cambodia.

Ayutthaya has little more than amulets and clothes at the night markets, souvenir stands at the temples and floating markets set up for visitors. Its one real craft centre is downriver at Bang Sai.

Both are very cheap. Pool hotels, market meals and transport cost very little in either town, and Ayutthaya is slightly cheaper overall. Bicycle hire there costs almost nothing.

The extra costs work differently. In Ayutthaya you pay a small entrance fee at each major ruin. In Siem Reap the Angkor pass is one big payment, which is a noticeable cost on a short stay, and places aimed at visitors charge well above local prices.

Siem Reap has the better evening shows. There is classical apsara dance, the court tradition carved on the temple walls, best seen at the smaller, more serious venues rather than the buffet halls. A circus under a big top, run by a school for young performers, tells Khmer stories through acrobatics and live music.

Ayutthaya has almost nothing on a normal night. The exception is its annual World Heritage fair, when light-and-sound shows and traditional dance are staged among the ruins.

Siem Reap is better for a stay built around rest. Massage rooms line the central streets, many resorts have proper spas using herbal compresses and local ingredients, and yoga classes and small retreats are easy to find. Choose a garden hotel across the river, away from the noise of Pub Street.

Ayutthaya offers simple Thai massage in shophouse parlours, which is very welcome after a day on the bicycle, but it has few upmarket spas. Its real draw is the quiet once the tour buses have left, with evenings spent watching the boats from a riverside terrace.