Bangkok or Varanasi?

Neither city is a place to swim, though Bangkok at least has the sea within reach. Bang Saen and Pattaya are one and a half to two hours away by road, and many travellers add a few nights at Hua Hin or on the islands. In town, rooftop hotel pools fill the gap.

Varanasi is far from any coast, and the Ganges, sacred as it is, is polluted and fast-flowing, so the dawn ritual dips are something to watch, not join. Even a pool means staying at one of the few larger hotels outside the old city.

Bangkok is one of the great eating cities of the world, and what sets it apart is range. There are boat noodles, som tam and grilled pork at street stalls, Chinatown's evening feast along Yaowarat, the Or Tor Kor market halls and a deep tier of serious restaurants, with cocktails and speciality coffee alongside.

Varanasi has a short list of real pleasures: kachori and jalebi for breakfast, lassi in clay cups, malaiyo at dawn in winter and paan rolled to order. Beyond those it is vegetarian, largely dry and short of sit-down restaurants, so a week here eats far more narrowly than a week in Bangkok.

Both cities reward sightseeing richly, but in very different ways. Bangkok's culture is in its monuments: the gilded Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew, the Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho and Wat Arun's porcelain tiers, with the National Museum and the Jim Thompson House to fill in the history.

Varanasi's great sight is a scene rather than a building. The ghats along the Ganges, the cremation fires at Manikarnika and the lanes leading to Kashi Vishwanath show worship being lived on a scale that Bangkok's temples, for all their splendour, cannot match. Its museums are fewer, and some inner sanctums are closed to non-Hindus.

This is the widest gap between the two. Bangkok has several kinds of night out: polished cocktail bars and clubs in Thonglor and Ekkamai, the cheap street-front scene of Khao San Road, Silom's gay bars and rooftop bars high above the river, most of them running until around two.

Varanasi is a holy city that goes to bed early. Alcohol is scarce around the ghats, and an evening means the aarti, a rooftop dinner and perhaps chai and music at the Assi Ghat cafés before an early start.

Neither is an outdoors destination, and in both the open-air hours are the cool early mornings. Bangkok has a little more to work with: Lumphini Park and its monitor lizards, cycling on the raised paths of Bang Krachao, and Khao Yai's forests and elephants or the limestone country around Kanchanaburi as overnight trips.

In Varanasi the outdoors is the river itself, a dawn boat along the ghats or a walk on the sandbank opposite. The Vindhya hills and Chandraprabha's waterfalls lie about two hours south and are best after the monsoon.

Bangkok has far more choice. Ayutthaya's ruined capital makes a full and memorable day, and the canal country to the west adds the Amphawa and Damnoen Saduak floating markets, the railway market at Maeklong and the great stupa at Nakhon Pathom, with Kanchanaburi as a long day.

Varanasi has one essential outing, Sarnath, barely half an hour away, where the Buddha gave his first sermon. Chunar Fort and Jaunpur's mosques are worth the trip, but after those the distances grow quickly.

Bangkok is only middling with children, but far easier than Varanasi. Thai warmth towards children, attractions like Sea Life Ocean World, Dream World and KidZania, and air-conditioned malls and the Skytrain make up for the heat and the difficult pavements, as long as days are kept short.

Varanasi has nothing made for children and a lot that is hard on them: crowded lanes with cattle and open drains, cremations in plain sight, chaotic traffic and severe summer heat. Families who come generally keep the stay short.

Bangkok has the stronger system, though it has gaps. The Skytrain and MRT are clean, cool and quick between Siam, Sukhumvit, Silom and Chatuchak, the river boats reach the Grand Palace, and ride-hailing covers the rest. The weak points are the old city and the traffic.

Varanasi has no metro, and the best way around is on foot along the ghats or by boat on the river. Anything further means a cycle rickshaw, e-rickshaw or auto through heavy traffic, with the fare agreed in advance or booked by app.

Bangkok is the place for a proper shopping trip. There is the chain of malls around Siam and Ratchaprasong, Chatuchak's thousands of weekend stalls, Pratunam's wholesale clothing and the night markets, with Thai silk, celadon and benjarong porcelain to take home.

Varanasi has one outstanding buy, Banarasi silk brocade, best found in the weavers' workshops or the silk houses around Godowlia, along with brassware and painted wooden toys. Beyond that, expect devotional goods and touts steering you towards particular shops.

Both are easy on a budget, and Varanasi is the cheaper of the two. Its guesthouses, boat trips and street snacks cost very little, and the main spectacle, the ghats and the aarti, is free. Silk is the real temptation.

In Bangkok it is easier to spend more. Imported drink, rooftop bars, international restaurants and the Grand Palace entry fee push costs up, though street food, transport and good hotels stay modest by Western standards.

Both cities are at their best with their own traditions rather than Western stages, and Varanasi has a slight edge for music lovers. Banaras is a historic home of Hindustani classical music, with intimate evening recitals, the all-night Sankat Mochan festival in spring and the nightly aarti on the ghats as public ritual theatre.

Bangkok's highlight is khon masked dance drama at the Sala Chalermkrung and the National Theatre. Around it are jazz bars, the symphony orchestra at the Thailand Cultural Centre and the ritual music of Muay Thai at Rajadamnern and Lumpinee.

Bangkok is much better for unwinding, as long as you relax in short doses. Traditional massage is taught at Wat Pho and offered cheaply on every street, and the grand hotels run some of Asia's finest spas beside the river.

Varanasi suits seekers more than spa-goers. Yoga, meditation and Ayurvedic massage cluster around Assi Ghat, and a dawn boat can be deeply calming, but the rest of the city is intense and tiring, and spas are limited to a few hotels.