Bagan or Luang Prabang?

Neither town has a beach, but Luang Prabang does give you somewhere natural to swim. The turquoise pools below Kuang Si, about 45 minutes away, and the smaller falls at Tad Sae turn a swim into a half day out in the forest. In Bagan the silty Irrawaddy is for boats and sunsets, so the only way to cool off is a hotel pool.

Luang Prabang eats better. The town has its own dishes, such as peppery or lam, smoky jeow bong and crisp kaipen river weed. A morning market sells herbs and river fish, and the French years left good bakeries and strong coffee. Variety is still narrow, and set menus repeat after a few days.

In Bagan, the best meals are Burmese curry spreads with their crowd of side dishes, tea-leaf salad and mohinga at breakfast, plus sweet tea in the tea shops. Beyond that, many restaurants serve the same tourist mix of Burmese, Chinese and pasta.

Bagan is the bigger sight by some distance. More than two thousand temples, stupas and monasteries survive across the plain, from the white Ananda with its four standing Buddhas to the huge brick bulk of Dhammayangyi. Much of the joy is finding small shrines at the end of dirt tracks. It is almost all from one era, though, and some restoration after the 2016 earthquake is heavy-handed.

Luang Prabang offers a living townscape rather than a field of ruins. Wat Xieng Thong, the Royal Palace museum and Mount Phousi are all a short walk apart, among colonial shophouses, with novices in the streets and the dawn alms procession of monks.

Both go to bed early, and neither is a place for a night out. In Bagan, evenings end with a beer on Nyaung U's restaurant strip or in a hotel bar, and the town is dark by ten. Luang Prabang lasts a little longer, with garden bars and riverside terraces serving cocktails until a curfew closes them around midnight.

Luang Prabang has far more to offer outdoors. Green, steep hills ring the town, Kuang Si has a bear sanctuary at its foot, and kayaking, mountain biking and village treks are easy to arrange. The sunset climb up Mount Phousi looks out over two rivers.

The land around Bagan is a flat, dry plain of scrub and peanut fields. Its beauty comes from the temples scattered across it, seen from a dawn balloon or a sunset boat. For forested slopes you have to go to Mount Popa.

Neither has a long list of outings, and the ones they do have differ in kind. From Bagan you go by road to pilgrim sites and small towns. These include the climb up hundreds of barefoot steps to Taung Kalat on Mount Popa, Salay's carved teak monastery, and the market town of Pakokku across the river.

From Luang Prabang, the classic trip is by boat to the Buddha-filled Pak Ou caves, with weaving villages close by. The railway also brings karst-ringed Vang Vieng and the capital, Vientiane, within reach, something Bagan cannot match with Mandalay.

Luang Prabang is easier with children. Kuang Si combines bears and swimming, the long-tail boats are fun, and the quiet streets are safe to walk and cycle together. Bagan has horse carts, cycling and balloon flights, but beyond those it is one brick temple after another across long, hot distances. It suits older children with a taste for history, and medical care is basic in both towns.

Luang Prabang is far simpler to get around, because almost the whole old town lies within walking distance on a flat peninsula, and a rented bicycle covers the rest. You only need a tuk-tuk or minivan for the falls and the station.

Bagan's three settlements lie kilometres apart, with temples scattered between them. In practice that means hiring an e-scooter and steering along sandy tracks, or taking a horse cart or a driver for the day.

Both are craft-only places to shop, but each specialises in something different. Bagan is the home of Burmese lacquerware, and the workshops in Myinkaba and New Bagan let you watch bowls being built up layer by layer, though sellers of sand paintings at the temples can be persistent. Luang Prabang is about textiles, with hand-woven silk and Hmong embroidery at the evening market on the main street, and better pieces in the weaving studios and villages.

At the simple end the two cost much the same. A plain room, local meals and a bicycle or e-bike leave little mark on the budget in either town. Bagan stays a shade cheaper, because a day among the temples needs almost nothing beyond transport, and Nyaung U, where most budget travellers base themselves, keeps rooms and curry spreads at their lowest. The one cost you cannot avoid is the foreigners' fee for the archaeological zone, and the big indulgence is a dawn balloon ride.

In Luang Prabang, spending creeps up more easily. Prices run higher here than anywhere else in Laos, and the town has a large comfortable tier, from converted colonial houses to Mekong terraces pouring wine. Hiring a driver for the falls adds up, and anything brought in from abroad costs more than you would expect. Stick to the morning market, the buffet lane by the night market and a bike, though, and it is nearly as cheap as Bagan.

Neither town has a concert or theatre scene, and the little each offers works differently. In Bagan the show comes with dinner: Burmese marionettes and traditional dancers in restaurants that put on a performance during the meal. The more memorable chance depends on your dates. If a pagoda festival such as Ananda's falls during your stay, a zat pwe of music, dance and comedy can run all night for a local crowd.

Luang Prabang gives you something you can plan around: the Phralak Phralam, the Lao telling of the Ramayana, performed as a masked dance drama at the palace theatre on a set programme. For most visitors that makes it the easier evening to arrange, because it is a proper staged performance rather than entertainment over dinner. Bagan's festival nights are livelier and more local, but only if you happen to be there for one.

Luang Prabang is the more restful place. Little traffic, no high-rise buildings and a habit of sleeping early set the pace. Gentle Lao massage is everywhere, and the wooden herbal saunas scented with lemongrass are a real local tradition, with yoga and garden spas at riverside hotels.

Bagan has no bathing culture of its own. You rest through the hot middle of the day at a resort pool or with a Burmese massage and a thanaka treatment, but the dust and the touts at the busiest temples make it harder to relax.