Bogota or Cali?

Neither city is a beach destination, and in both the sea means a separate leg of the journey: a flight to the Caribbean from Bogota, or from Cali a drive to Buenaventura and a boat to Juanchaco or Ladrilleros. The real difference is how you cool off day to day. Cali's river pools along the Pance are on the edge of the city and welcome in its constant warmth, while from cool Bogota warm water means a long, winding drive down to the hotel pools and water parks of the lowland towns.

Bogota has the wider choice of food. Besides highland dishes such as ajiaco and hot chocolate with cheese, chefs in Zona G, Chapinero and Usaquén cook modern menus from ingredients gathered across the country, and specialty coffee and craft beer are easy to find.

Cali's strength is narrower but entirely its own: Valle and Pacific cooking, from lulada and cholado on street carts to coconut seafood stews and aborrajados, best tried at the counters of the Galería Alameda. Fine dining there is thin, so anyone who wants range will eat better in the capital.

This is where the two cities differ most. Bogota has a colonial quarter worth several days, with La Candelaria climbing to the Plaza de Bolívar. It also has the Museo del Oro, one of the great archaeological collections of the Americas, the Botero Museum, and the National Museum in a former prison.

Cali's old centre is small. It amounts to a few churches, such as La Merced and the Mudéjar tower of San Francisco, the single-storey houses of San Antonio, and La Tertulia for modern art. A day or two covers it, and the city's culture is found more on the dance floor than in its buildings.

Both cities go out hard, but in different ways. Bogota's nights are more varied: polished clubs in Zona T and Zona Rosa, a large alternative and LGBTQ scene in Chapinero, and underground electronic music alongside the salsa bars, although most venues close earlier.

In Cali nearly everything comes back to salsa, danced with startling skill by people of every age. It ranges from small salsotecas playing vinyl to the Juanchito clubs that run until near dawn. In both cities you take a taxi home rather than walk.

Cali's wild country is closer and warmer. The Farallones national park rises behind the southern suburbs, with cloud-forest trails starting in the Pance valley. Birders head to the forests at Kilometre 18 for tanagers and hummingbirds, and Lake Calima adds windsurfing and kitesurfing.

Bogota's outdoors is high and cool: the climb to Monserrate, guided visits to the páramo at Chingaza and Sumapaz, and rock climbing on the Suesca cliffs. The landscape is striking, but reaching it takes more effort, and the weather there changes quickly.

Bogota has the stronger choice of outings. The salt cathedral at Zipaquirá is a real highlight, the lake at Guatavita carries the El Dorado legend, and Villa de Leyva rewards an overnight stay, although traffic leaving the city eats into the day.

Cali's day trips are gentler: the pilgrimage town of Buga, old sugar estates such as the Hacienda El Paraíso, and lunch in Ginebra. Its biggest regional draws, Popayán and the coffee country, need a night away.

For children, the two cities offer different kinds of day. Bogota has more places built for them: the Maloka science museum, two amusement parks, the zoo and rides at Parque Jaime Duque, and the car-free Sunday Ciclovía for bikes and scooters. The catch is the altitude, which can tire small children for the first day or two, and the long rides between districts.

Cali's family days are simpler and warmer, built around the riverside zoo and weekend swims and picnics in the Pance pools. In both cities, heavy traffic and uneven pavements mean families get around by taxi and choose their areas with care.

In both cities most visitors use cheap taxis and ride-hailing rather than the crowded bus rapid transit, TransMilenio in Bogota and the MIO in Cali. Bogota's problem is distance: La Candelaria and the northern districts are far apart, with half an hour or more of heavy traffic between them, although the bike lanes help confident cyclists.

Cali is flat, and San Antonio, Granada and the riverside are close enough to walk between in daylight. The heat, and the streets best avoided at night, limit how much you can do on foot.

Bogota gives a shopper more to look for: emeralds from the dealers on Avenida Jiménez, crafts from across the country at the Sunday flea market in Usaquén, and Colombian designers in the boutiques of Zona G and Chapinero.

Cali's shopping is mostly in its malls, where Colombian swimwear and leather sit alongside the chains. Its one find you won't get elsewhere is salsa shoes and dancewear, which suits anyone who came to dance.

Both cities are inexpensive. Comfortable hotels, set lunches and taxis cost little by Western standards, and Cali comes out a little cheaper day to day. Where the money goes differs: in Bogota, costs climb in the smart restaurants and cocktail bars of Zona G and Usaquén. In Cali, dance classes and nights out stay cheap, and spending rises mainly in the upscale restaurants of the north and during the December feria.

Bogota leads on the formal stage, with opera and ballet in the gilded Teatro Colón, visiting international orchestras at the Teatro Mayor, and the large Ibero-American Theatre Festival. Jazz and independent theatre in Chapinero fill the rest of the year.

In Cali, live performance mostly means salsa: big cabaret shows on set nights, dance-school showcases, and the Petronio Álvarez festival of Pacific music in August. Its theatres host concerts and touring shows, but classical seasons are limited.

Neither city is a place to unwind, but Bogota offers a little more: hotel and day spas in the north, and real thermal springs at Choachí and Tabio, each about an hour away. Cali has no springs to compare. Rest there means a garden café in San Antonio or, as the locals do, a weekend at a country house with a pool near Pance.