Bariloche or Buenos Aires?

Neither city gives a true beach vacation, but Bariloche at least has places to sit by clean water. Its pebble and sand strips at Playa Bonita, Villa Tacul and Lago Gutiérrez make good summer picnic spots, and a short, cold dip in glacial water is possible.

Buenos Aires has no swimming at all, since the brown, silty Rio de la Plata is not for going in. The Costanera is for strolling and lying on the grass, and a real beach means travelling several hours to Mar del Plata.

Buenos Aires eats far better and with more variety. Neighbourhood parrillas grilling every cut, Italian-rooted pizza, pasta and ice cream, old coffee houses on Avenida de Mayo and ambitious kitchens in Palermo give a visitor something new at every meal, as long as beef and pastry appeal.

Bariloche has a short but distinctive list: lamb roasted on the iron cross, lake trout, venison and smoked meats, plus the chocolate shops of Calle Mitre and craft breweries with lake-view gardens. Beyond those, the centre leans on tourist menus.

This is a capital against a mountain town. Buenos Aires repays days of walking, from the Casa Rosada and Palacio Barolo to the marble mausoleums of Recoleta, San Telmo's old streets and La Boca's painted houses, with MALBA and the Bellas Artes for art.

Bariloche's interest is its 1930s alpine stone-and-timber Centro Cívico, the Museo de la Patagonia and Bustillo's Llao Llao hotel and chapel. It is handsome, but a morning sees it.

Buenos Aires has one of the great late-night scenes anywhere, running from cocktail bars behind unmarked doors in Palermo Soho to warehouse clubs that close after sunrise and tango milongas in San Telmo. Weeknights hold up too.

Bariloche's big clubs mostly serve school-leavers on graduation trips, which adults tend to avoid. For grown-up visitors a night out means a long dinner and a beer by the fire around Calle Mitre.

Here Bariloche is in another league. It lies within Nahuel Huapi National Park, with Cerro Catedral half an hour away for skiing or summer trails to the Frey and Jakob refuges, cable cars up Cerro Campanario and Otto, and Tronador's glaciers for a long day.

Buenos Aires sits on flat pampas with no hills in sight. The Bosques de Palermo, the Costanera Sur wetland and launches through the Tigre delta are pleasant breaks from the streets, but they are not wild landscape.

Buenos Aires has the stronger range of outings, and they are to places rather than views. A fast ferry reaches the UNESCO-listed old town of Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay, and Tigre, gaucho San Antonio de Areco, Luján's basilica and La Plata are all easy return trips.

From Bariloche the excursions lead mostly into scenery, with Villa La Angostura, Colonia Suiza's craft fair and El Bolsón as the town stops. There is nothing historic or wine-growing within a day's reach.

Both work for families about equally, but in different ways. Bariloche is for active children: ski schools and sledging on Cerro Otto in winter, lake paddling, boat trips to Isla Victoria and chocolate workshops in summer, though a rainy day can drag.

Buenos Aires has the purpose-built attractions Bariloche lacks, such as the planetarium, the Museo de los Niños, Temaikèn biopark and Tigre's amusement park. The trade-off is long distances, heavy traffic and broken pavements.

Buenos Aires is easier without a car. The flat grid is pleasant to walk within each neighbourhood, and the Subte, round-the-clock colectivo buses and plentiful taxis link the long distances between them.

Bariloche has a small, steep centre, but the town stretches about 25km along Avenida Bustillo. Buses reach Llao Llao and Cerro Catedral, yet trailheads, viewpoints and Villa La Angostura usually mean renting a car or joining a tour, and winter ice makes driving harder.

Buenos Aires gives a proper shopping trip: leather workshops around Villa Crespo, independent designers in Palermo Soho, Avenida Alvear's boutiques, the domed Galerías Pacífico and the Sunday antiques fair along Calle Defensa.

Bariloche keeps to Calle Mitre, where the buys are chocolate, Patagonian wool knitwear, smoked trout and outdoor gear, plus woodwork and textiles at the craft fairs. It is good for souvenirs, not for browsing fashion.

Buenos Aires generally stretches a budget further. Public transport is very cheap, neighbourhood parrillas and pizzerias are generous and wine costs little, though Palermo and Puerto Madero charge European prices and currency swings make costs unpredictable.

Bariloche is a resort with resort prices, steepest in the July school break and January, and ski passes and tours add up. Hostels, self-catering, buses and free hiking in the national park keep it moderate, especially in spring and autumn.

Buenos Aires is one of the great performance cities of the Spanish-speaking world. The Teatro Colón stages opera, ballet and symphony, Avenida Corrientes and a large independent scene fill the theatres, and live orchestras play at neighbourhood milongas.

Bariloche's claim is mainly classical and occasional: the Camerata Bariloche carries its name, and the Semana Musical Llao Llao brings a week of chamber concerts. On most nights there is little to see beyond some folk music in a bar.

Neither has thermal springs or a bathing tradition, but Bariloche is clearly the more restful base. Hotel spas such as the Llao Llao's pair pools and saunas with lake views, and a stay out towards Colonia Suiza settles into quiet days of fires and long dinners.

Buenos Aires is loud and runs until dawn, and its day spas in Palermo and Recoleta are pleasant without being a draw. Its form of rest is social: lingering over coffee, the long sobremesa after lunch, and the empty streets of a Sunday morning.