Cancun or Valladolid, Mexico?

This is where the two differ most. Cancun was built for its beaches. Its seven-shaped Hotel Zone has a long ribbon of fine pale sand, sheltered water on the bay side around Playa Langosta and Playa Tortugas, and open Caribbean surf further down the eastern shore, with Playa Norte on Isla Mujeres a ferry ride away. Sargassum can affect the eastern beaches in some summers, but there is always a fallback.

Valladolid has no beach of its own. Its swimming is in cenotes such as Zací in town, X'keken and Suytun, where the fresh water is cool and clear under limestone caves. They are wonderful for an hour between sights, but anyone who wants days by the sea should stay on the coast.

On food the two are broadly level, since both eat the Yucatecan way, with cochinita pibil, panuchos and sopa de lima. In Cancun the good eating is downtown, at the taco stands, Parque de las Palapas and Mercado 28, along with fresh ceviche near the lagoon. Hotel Zone meals tend towards buffets and international menus.

Valladolid is more uniformly local. It has its own dishes, longaniza sausage and lomitos de Valladolid, morning stalls at the municipal market and marquesitas in front of the cathedral. You get more regional character there, while Cancun has the hotel fine dining and the wider spread of cuisines.

Valladolid has the history that Cancun lacks. Its colonial core of painted houses runs from San Servacio on the main square along the Calzada de los Frailes to the sixteenth-century convent of San Bernardino de Siena, and the Casa de los Venados adds folk art. Two days covers it, but every street is part of the experience.

Cancun dates only from the 1970s and has little to walk through. The Maya Museum, with the San Miguelito ruins in its grounds, makes a good afternoon, and El Rey and El Meco are minor sites. Its culture lies on the road out of town.

If you want to go out, Cancun is the only real option. The Party Center at the bend of the Hotel Zone has huge clubs with acrobats, confetti and open-bar wristbands until four or five in the morning. It is loud and fairly uniform, with cheaper local bars downtown on Avenida Tulum.

Valladolid's evenings are a stroll around the lit-up square and perhaps a mezcal or craft beer in a courtyard bar. The town is quiet by late evening and has no clubs, which suits people setting an alarm for Chichén Itzá.

Both sit on flat limestone scrub where the real scenery is water, but Cancun has more of it. The Mesoamerican Reef offers snorkelling and diving off Puerto Morelos and Isla Mujeres, along with the underwater sculptures of MUSA. There are whale sharks in summer, kayaking in the Nichupte mangroves, kitesurfing and the bird island of Isla Contoy.

Valladolid is a place for land and fresh water. You cycle early along flat paths to cenotes and caves, take a boat among the flamingos and salt flats of Ría Lagartos, and look for birds in the forest. Neither offers proper hiking.

Both are bases for the Maya heartland, but Valladolid sits in the middle of it. Chichén Itzá is under an hour away, early enough to beat the coach crowds, while Ek Balam and Cobá are short drives. Yellow-painted Izamal and Río Lagartos are also within reach.

From Cancun, Chichén Itzá means a long early day, usually combined with Valladolid itself. Its strengths are coastal: Isla Mujeres by ferry, Playa del Carmen, the cliff-top ruins of Tulum and the ferry on to Cozumel.

Cancun is the easier choice with children. Resorts have kids' clubs, shallow pools and buffets for fussy eaters, the bay beaches are gentle for small swimmers, and an aquarium and the big eco-parks with underground rivers down the coast can fill whole days. The things to watch are the currents on the eastern shore and the summer heat.

Valladolid is calm and welcoming, and older children love the rope swings in the cenotes and clambering over the ruins. But nothing there is built for families, the pavements are narrow and the midday sun at the sites is punishing for young children.

Valladolid is simpler on the ground. Its compact, flat centre can be walked from the square to San Bernardino, and a cycle path leads to the nearer cenotes. For Ek Balam, Cobá or Río Lagartos, though, you will want a car, a driver or a tour.

Cancun spreads along one long boulevard, too hot and too far to walk. Frequent buses along Boulevard Kukulcan and the ADO coaches to Playa del Carmen, Tulum and Valladolid work well, but most of the inland trips still mean a tour or a hire car.

Cancun has more choice, though not much character. Air-conditioned malls in the Hotel Zone sell international fashion, luxury labels and duty-free goods, and Mercado 28 downtown sells souvenirs at bargaining prices.

Valladolid offers only crafts, but they are closer to their source. You will find huipiles, hammocks, leather sandals made in town, local honey and Xtabentún liqueur at the market by the Zací cenote and along the Calzada de los Frailes. There is nothing for anyone after fashion.

Valladolid is clearly the cheaper stay. Courtyard guesthouses, market food, colectivos and bike hire all cost little, and rooms are far cheaper than on the coast. The main costs are entry fees at Chichén Itzá and the cenotes, and the boutique hotels in restored colonial houses.

Cancun's Hotel Zone is priced for international visitors, and resort meals, Party Center drinks and organised tours add up. An all-inclusive package keeps the cost predictable. Staying downtown and travelling by local bus and ADO coach narrows the gap.

Neither has concert halls or a theatre scene worth planning around, so the difference is in tone. Cancun's shows are staged for visitors: folkloric dinner shows with mariachi, resort entertainment and big evening spectacles at the eco-parks.

Valladolid's performances feel more rooted in the town. Jarana dancers perform the vaquería on the square with trays balanced on their heads, light projections play on the San Bernardino facade, and trova is sung in restaurants.

Cancun has more to offer anyone who wants pampering. The large hotels have hydrotherapy circuits, ocean-view treatment rooms and massages on the sand, and temazcal ceremonies are widely available. The boulevard traffic and Party Center noise send those who want quiet to the southern end, to Isla Mujeres or to Puerto Morelos.

Valladolid relaxes you through its slow pace rather than its spas. It has shuttered afternoons, hammocks and small pools in courtyard hotels, the occasional massage and a temazcal nearby, but nothing to build a spa stay around.