Buzios or Rio de Janeiro?

Both are serious beach destinations, but Rio has the edge. Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon are within walking distance of the hotels, the sea is warm through much of the year, and further west Prainha and Grumari offer wilder surf under forested hills. The trade-offs are strong currents on the open beaches, polluted water inside Guanabara Bay and the need to keep an eye on your belongings.

Buzios offers something different: more than twenty smaller beaches on two contrasting sides of the peninsula. Sheltered coves such as Ferradura and Tartaruga are better for snorkelling and calm floating than anything on Rio's ocean front, while Geriba gives you surf and beach bars. The water there can be noticeably cooler, though.

Rio gives you more to eat. Its boteco culture of draught chopp and shared pastéis, Saturday feijoada, rodízio grills, cheap kilo lunches and juice bars on every corner add up to an everyday food life that goes well beyond the tourist trade.

Buzios eats well for a small resort, mostly grilled fish, moqueca and shrimp at tables along the Orla Bardot and Rua das Pedras, and the sunset views add a lot. However, it is cooking for visitors, with no markets or street food to explore.

The gap here is wide. In Buzios an hour's stroll covers the sights: the whitewashed lanes of the old fishing village, the chapel of Sant'Ana and the Brigitte Bardot statue.

In Rio there are several full days of sightseeing, from Corcovado and Sugarloaf to the churches and Paço Imperial of the old centre, the museums around Praça Mauá, Santa Teresa's mansions and the Selarón steps.

Rio's nights are bigger, louder and less tied to the season. Crowds fill Lapa under the aqueduct arches, the pavement bars of Botafogo and Humaitá spill from one corner to the next, and in the weeks before Carnival the street blocos take over whole neighbourhoods.

In Buzios, nights out come down to Rua das Pedras, with lounge bars and small clubs full of a smart crowd in summer. Outside that season, a night out may mean little more than a drink by the water.

Rio is in another league for the outdoors. The Tijuca forest covers the mountains in the middle of the city, short steep climbs up Dois Irmãos and Pedra da Gávea look down on the beaches, and hang-gliders land on the sand at São Conrado. The Serra dos Órgãos, with its multi-day hikes, is within about two hours.

Buzios is best seen from the water. Boat trips take you round headlands and islands, snorkellers find turtles in the bays, and the steady wind at Rasa and Manguinhos is good for kitesurfing. Inland the land is low and dry, with no forest trails.

Rio has more within reach. Petrópolis offers imperial history and cooler mountain air, Niterói is a short ferry ride away for the Niemeyer museum, and Teresópolis and the old coffee towns make quieter outings.

From Buzios, the options are Cabo Frio's seventeenth-century fort and the boat trips at Arraial do Cabo, and then the list runs out. The three-hour road between the two works against both: neither makes a sensible day trip from the other.

Both work about equally well for families, in different ways. Buzios is mostly about the water: shallow, calm coves at Ferradura and Joao Fernandes, pousadas with pools and snorkelling stops on boat trips, but nothing else built for children.

Rio adds the Sugarloaf cable car, the Corcovado railway, AquaRio and the BioParque zoo. The cost is summer heat, heavy traffic and constant watchfulness in the streets.

Rio is easier to get around, as long as you stay along the coast. The metro links the centre with Botafogo, Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon, and the beachfront promenades are flat and pleasant to walk. For the forest, Santa Teresa and the western beaches you'll need taxis or ride-hailing.

In Buzios you can walk the compact centre, but the rest of the hilly peninsula means taxis, hired buggies or water taxis, as buses are infrequent and some roads lack pavements. You also have about three hours by road from Rio's airport.

Both are good for Brazilian swimwear, linen and resort fashion, but Rio has much more range. Alongside the Ipanema and Leblon boutiques it has large malls, the Sunday hippie fair, the crowded Saara streets for Carnival gear and the Feira de São Cristóvão for northeastern crafts.

In Buzios, shopping is an after-dinner stroll along Rua das Pedras, past galleries, jewellery shops and an evening craft fair, and that is about all there is.

Rio is the cheaper of the two day to day. Kilo lunches, boteco snacks, the metro and ride-hailing cost little, and the beaches and forest trails are free. Accommodation near the sand is where the money goes.

Buzios charges resort prices for nearly everything, and getting around by taxi and boat adds up quickly on a spread-out peninsula. Going between April and November and eating at beach kiosks makes it more manageable. Both cities raise prices sharply around New Year and Carnival.

Rio has a real music scene. Samba and choro bands play in Lapa's old houses, rodas de samba gather in squares, and samba school rehearsals in the months before Carnival are well worth seeing. The Theatro Municipal adds opera and ballet.

In Buzios, live music means bossa nova or samba playing in the background at a waterfront dinner, and there is no venue to plan an evening around.

Buzios is the easier place to unwind. Neither has a bathing tradition, but the hillside pousadas offer small spas and pools looking out to sea, and away from Rua das Pedras the days pass quietly, especially once the summer crowds leave.

Rio has good hotel spas and yoga on the sand, and an evening walk around the lagoon is restful. Outside those moments, though, the city is hot and noisy, and for real calm people head for the hills.