Bangkok or Da Nang?

This is where the two cities differ most. Bangkok's stretch of coast is mudflat, mangrove and fish farms, so swimming there means a hotel pool, often on a rooftop. The sand at Bang Saen or Pattaya is a long day there and back.

Da Nang has My Khe and Non Nuoc along the city's edge: wide, pale sand a short ride from the centre, with seafood restaurants behind it and quieter An Bang further south. The catch is the autumn monsoon, when strong surf and red flags often stop swimming.

Both cities eat well at plastic tables, but Bangkok gives you far more range. There is Yaowarat Road after dark, the produce halls of Or Tor Kor, mall food halls and a deep layer of ambitious restaurants reworking regional Thai cooking. Strong Japanese and Chinese food and a serious cocktail culture add to it.

Da Nang's strength is narrower and very local: mi quang, banh xeo and clams or crab picked from tanks behind the beach, with strong iced coffee alongside. Beyond central Vietnamese cooking the choice soon runs thin.

Bangkok's old city on Rattanakosin Island is worth the trip on its own. It holds the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew, the Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho, and Wat Arun across the river, with the National Museum and the stilt houses along the Thonburi canals as well. It fills several days, and the main temples ask you to cover shoulders and knees.

Da Nang's own list is short. The Museum of Cham Sculpture and the cave shrines of the Marble Mountains lead it, and two days cover the lot. The region's richer heritage lies outside the city, in Hoi An, My Son and Hue.

A night out in Bangkok can take several forms: polished cocktail bars and clubs in Thonglor and Ekkamai, the loud backpacker strip of Khao San Road, Silom's gay scene and hotel rooftop bars above the river. Most of it runs until around two.

Da Nang is gentler and finishes earlier. The local evening is a walk along the Han River, then draught beer and grilled shellfish in an open-air beer hall. An Thuong behind the beach adds craft beer and late pubs, and a few clubs come alive at weekends, but much of the city is asleep by midnight.

Da Nang has real landscape on its doorstep. The forested Son Tra peninsula is home to red-shanked douc langurs, the Hai Van Pass is one of Vietnam's best-known rides, the Ba Na Hills are reached by cable car and Bach Ma has rainforest trails. The Cham Islands offer snorkelling, and My Khe has surf in the cooler months.

Bangkok's outdoors comes down to its parks, such as the lizard-lined lake at Lumphini, and a bike ride through the orchards of Bang Krachao. Khao Yai and the limestone country around Kanchanaburi are better done with an overnight stay.

Each city has one outstanding outing: the ruined temples of Ayutthaya from Bangkok, and lantern-lit Hoi An from Da Nang. Da Nang comes out ahead because Hoi An is so close that many visitors go more than once, and the Cham temples at My Son and the imperial citadel at Hue are also within a day.

Bangkok's other trips lean towards markets and wartime history. You can visit the floating and railway markets of the canal country, the great stupa at Nakhon Pathom, or the Death Railway bridge at Kanchanaburi, which makes a long day.

Children are fussed over in both cities, so the difference is the kind of trip. Da Nang makes the easier family beach vacation: room to spread out on the sand, resort pools with children's clubs, and a big day out on the Ba Na Hills cable car to the Golden Bridge. The rainy autumn is the time to avoid.

Bangkok has plenty built for children, from the aquarium under Siam Paragon to Safari World and KidZania. But the heat, crowded pavements and slow traffic tire small children quickly, so days need to be short, with the hotel pool in the afternoon.

Bangkok has what Da Nang lacks entirely: a rail network. The air-conditioned Skytrain and MRT link the main districts, a rail link serves the airport, and express boats run along the river to the Grand Palace. The old city and the gaps between stations are the hard part, so plan each day around one station or pier.

Da Nang has no metro, so visitors use cheap app-booked cars, motorbike taxis or a hired scooter. Distances are short and the coastal road to Hoi An is simple to follow, but crossing streets through the motorbikes on foot takes nerve.

Bangkok is a shopping trip in its own right. The malls around Siam and Ratchaprasong run from luxury floors to MBK's electronics, Pratunam is the wholesale clothing quarter, and Chatuchak Weekend Market can fill a whole morning. Thai silk, celadon and benjarong porcelain make good things to take home.

Da Nang's Han and Con markets sell dried seafood, coffee and fabric, mostly to locals, and its malls are ordinary. The distinctive buy is carved stone from Non Nuoc village. Most visitors save tailoring and lanterns for Hoi An.

Both are very easy on a budget, with cheap street meals, massages, taxis and comfortable mid-range rooms. The difference is where costs rise. In Bangkok they climb at rooftop bars, international restaurants, imported drinks and the Grand Palace entry, and in a Sukhumvit or riverside hotel. Da Nang turns a beach stay into a cheap vacation, with prices going up only at the large beachfront and Son Tra resorts and at Ba Na Hills.

Neither city is a destination for the stage, but Bangkok gives you more to build an evening around. There is masked khon drama at the Sala Chalermkrung and the National Theatre, the symphony orchestra at the Thailand Cultural Centre, small jazz bars, and the ritual music that comes with Muay Thai at Rajadamnern and Lumpinee.

In Da Nang, tuong theatre is staged irregularly and mostly for locals, and live music means cover bands near the beach. The summer fireworks festival over the Han River and the staged river shows near Hoi An are the main spectacles.

Massage is part of daily life in both cities, but Bangkok has the deeper tradition and the better top end. Wat Pho still teaches and gives Thai massage in the temple grounds, and the grand hotel spas are among Asia's most refined. What Bangkok lacks is quiet, so rest comes in short breaks from the heat and traffic.

Da Nang has the calmer pace: early swims, long coffees, and treatment villas over the sea on Son Tra. A hot springs park with mud baths lies about 30km out, though the spas in town are simpler than Bangkok's best.