Byron Bay or Ubud?

Byron Bay is built around its beaches. Main Beach and Clarkes are patrolled and close to the centre, The Pass has a sheltered point break, Wategos is a small cove that catches the morning sun, and Tallow and Belongil are long and empty enough for an hour's walk. The open surf brings strong rips, so swim between the flags.

Ubud has no beach at all. The calm water inside the reef at Sanur is the nearest proper swim, and the black sand of the Gianyar coast is better for watching surfers. Both are about an hour's drive away. In Ubud a pool facing the rice fields takes the place of the sea, so anyone who wants beach days should choose Byron or split an Ubud stay with time on the coast.

Ubud has a cuisine of its own, and that gives it the edge. You can have babi guling at the lunchtime counters, slow-cooked bebek betutu and crispy duck, and nasi campur with sambal in family warungs. On top of that there are cafés, Kintamani coffee and a few tasting menus built on local produce. The better cooking is a lane or two off the main street.

Byron Bay eats well in a different way. It is a town of good coffee and long brunches built on hinterland produce such as macadamias, avocados and grass-fed beef, with seafood from the coast and a few ambitious restaurants on farms or in Bangalow. Both towns are full of smoothie bowls and plant-based cafés, but Byron has little street food and almost nothing to eat late.

The gap here is wide. Ubud's culture is part of daily life: offerings on doorsteps, processions on feast days, the royal palace at Puri Saren and the lotus pond of Pura Taman Saraswati. Add the Puri Lukisan, Neka and ARMA collections of Balinese painting, and the rock-cut Elephant Cave at Goa Gajah, and you have several unhurried days.

Byron Bay has the lighthouse at the most easterly point of mainland Australia, with its small maritime display. The Arakwal Bumberlin people's long connection to the cape is best understood on a guided walk. A morning covers it.

Neither is a party town, but Byron Bay stays up later. Its big pubs and beer gardens near Main Beach, a few cocktail bars and a couple of late venues fill with backpackers on summer weekends, and most nights finish soon after midnight.

Ubud keeps early hours, because so many visitors are up at dawn for yoga or the Batur climb. An evening there means a long dinner, a drink in a garden bar and maybe a band, and anyone who wants a club has to make the long drive to Seminyak or Canggu.

The two are equally strong outdoors, and the difference is the setting. Byron's nature is mostly the ocean: dolphins in the bay, humpbacks passing from June to November, and turtles, rays and grey nurse sharks at Julian Rocks. Inland, the rainforest of the old caldera has Minyon Falls and Nightcap National Park, both within an hour's drive.

Ubud's nature is rice and volcano. There are terraces along the Campuhan Ridge and at Tegallalang, rafting on the Ayung, the falls at Tegenungan and Tibumana, macaques in the Monkey Forest, and a climb up Batur in the dark for sunrise over the crater lake. Divers and surfers should choose Byron, and walkers who love terraced landscapes should choose Ubud.

Ubud is the better base for exploring. Within reach are the holy spring of Tirta Empul, the cliff tombs of Gunung Kawi, the mother temple of Besakih, the painted pavilions of Klungkung, Tanah Lot, the lake temple at Bratan and the UNESCO-listed Jatiluwih terraces. A hired driver and slow roads limit how many fit into a day.

Byron Bay's outings are gentler. You can visit Bangalow's heritage main street, easygoing Mullumbimby, counterculture Nimbin and the regional gallery at Murwillumbah, or spend a day at the Gold Coast theme parks. They are pleasant, but none of them matches the coast at home.

Byron Bay is the easier choice with children. It has patrolled beaches, calmer water at The Pass and Wategos, rock pools, the lighthouse walk and a good chance of seeing dolphins, all in a small, safe town where vacation houses and caravan parks are easy to find. The catches are the rips, the summer crowds and the noisy centre at weekends.

Ubud welcomes children warmly, and pool villas, dance shows, gentle rafting and the safari park keep them busy. But narrow pavements, scooter traffic, the bag-grabbing macaques and long car rides make it a better fit for older children than for toddlers.

Both towns need wheels beyond the centre, but Byron Bay is far easier day to day. The centre is small and flat, and the nearest beaches are a short walk or bike ride away, so you only need the hire car you picked up at Ballina or the Gold Coast for the hinterland.

Ubud has no public transport to rely on, the pavements are broken and the main streets are full of scooters, and the roads climb steeply out of the river valleys. Most days are planned around a driver or ride-hailing, so stay near the centre if you want to walk to dinner.

Ubud is better for things to take home. Start at the Art Market opposite the palace, then work through the craft villages on the road from the south: Mas for woodcarving, Celuk for silver, Batuan for painting. The workshops towards Tegallalang sell furniture and homeware, and Jalan Hanoman has linen and yoga-wear boutiques.

Byron Bay sells a look rather than a craft: surfwear, swimwear, loose linen and crystals, with makers in the Arts and Industry Estate and handmade goods at the markets. An afternoon is enough, and neither town has luxury shops or a department store.

This is one of the sharpest differences between the two. In Ubud, homestay rooms with breakfast, warung meals, massages and drivers for the day cost a fraction of Western prices. Only the jungle resorts above the gorges, the tasting menus and imported wine push the bill up.

Byron Bay is among the most expensive beach towns in Australia, and it costs even more in summer, during school vacations and on festival weekends, when long minimum stays apply. You also have to pay for a hire car. The beaches, the cape walk and the waterfalls are free, and hostels and campsites help backpackers.

Ubud has a living stage tradition. Every night there is Legong, Barong or Kecak with a gamelan orchestra in the palace courtyard, at the Saraswati lotus pond or in village temples. The performers come from local troupes, and you may also see the same dances at a temple festival. There is no theatre or concert hall.

Byron Bay's offer is informal: roots and surf-rock bands in the beer gardens, buskers in summer, a small community theatre and the long-running writers' festival. It is good fun, but for an orchestra or a ballet you have to go to Brisbane.

Both are wellness towns, but Ubud goes deeper. It has yoga in open pavilions from dawn, retreats lasting anywhere from a weekend to several weeks, cheap massage on every street and riverside spas above the Ayung and Petanu gorges. Flower baths and traditional healers are part of ordinary life there, and the purification ritual at Tirta Empul is close by.

Byron Bay has busy yoga studios, day spas, breathwork and retreats in the hinterland hills, and the days begin with a swim. The best retreats there cost a lot, though, and peak season crowds the centre, so the quiet winter months are the time to go.