Cartagena or Granada, Nicaragua?

Cartagena has the real beaches, just not in town. Bocagrande has darkish sand and water clouded by river sediment, fine for a quick dip. Boats take an hour or less to reach the pale sand and turquoise coves of the Rosario Islands and Playa Blanca on Baru, so a proper Caribbean beach day fits easily into a stay.

Granada's lakefront is for strolling, not swimming. The place to swim is the clear, calm crater water of Laguna de Apoyo, which is lovely for a lazy day off a dock but is a lake, not a beach. The Pacific sand around San Juan del Sur is a separate trip.

Cartagena eats better and offers more range. There is fried fish with coconut rice, ceviche from street carts and the sweet stalls of the Portal de los Dulces. Inside the walls, a tier of modern Colombian restaurants occupies restored colonial houses, and Getsemaní covers the cheaper end.

Granada is street eating and not much more. Vigorón from the kiosks by the central park and the evening fritanga grills are worth seeking out. The tourist restaurants on La Calzada are uneven, though, and there is no fine dining worth planning a night around.

Both are colonial towns of painted houses, best enjoyed on foot, and neither is a museum city. Cartagena's is grander, with balconied streets, 11km of walkable ramparts and the vast Castillo San Felipe on its hill. There is more to see, and on a larger scale.

Granada is lower and quieter, with single-storey courtyard houses on streets leading to the yellow cathedral. The highlights are the view from La Merced's bell tower across to Mombacho and the pre-Columbian statues in the San Francisco convent, and two days covers the town comfortably.

This is where the two differ most. Cartagena's nights run late. They start on the steps of the Plaza de la Trinidad in Getsemaní and move on to salsa bars, champeta parties and the clubs near the Clock Tower, with party boats and chivas carrying a band on board. Touts come with all of it.

Granada's night out is a few blocks of La Calzada, with cheap rum at street tables, hostel bars and a couple of weekend clubs. It is sociable and easy, but on weeknights most of the town is quiet before midnight, and two nights out are enough to see it all.

Granada is far stronger outdoors. Mombacho's cloud-forest trails rise just south of town, and you can kayak among the Isletas past herons and fishing villages. At Masaya you can look into an active crater, and Laguna de Apoyo is made for paddling.

Cartagena's best nature is underwater, with snorkelling and diving on the worn reefs of Corales del Rosario. It also has canoe trips through the mangroves at La Boquilla and kitesurfing in the windy months. Inland the land is flat and farmed, and the Totumo mud volcano is the only real outing.

Granada has the better range of outings. Masaya's craft market and Monimbó quarter are half an hour away. Beyond them are the pottery workshops of San Juan de Oriente and the Catarina lookout over Apoyo, and Managua or the Pacific at San Juan del Sur make a longer day. None is a major heritage site, but there is variety.

From Cartagena there are few trips by land. San Basilio de Palenque, with its own language and music, makes a worthwhile half day. Mompox and Santa Marta need an overnight stay, and most outings are really boat trips to the islands.

Neither city is built for children: there are no theme parks, and both are hot all year. Cartagena comes out a little ahead thanks to its island beaches with calm, warm water, the National Aviary on the way to Playa Blanca and carriage rides beside the ramparts.

Granada has some good days out of its own: the monkey island among the Isletas, a swim at Apoyo and the steaming rim of Masaya. But medical care outside Managua is basic, so it suits older, adaptable children better than toddlers.

Both centres are compact and quick to cross on foot, with cheap taxis and horse carriages for the hot hours and narrow, uneven pavements. Cartagena is easier overall. The old town, San Diego and Getsemaní sit side by side, Bocagrande is a short taxi ride away, and the island boats leave from a set terminal.

Granada is harder to get out of. The buses to Masaya and Managua are crowded former school buses leaving from informal terminals, so most visitors book shuttles or drivers for the volcanoes and Apoyo.

Cartagena has more to buy. Wayuu mochilas and sombreros vueltiaos fill the vaulted shops of Las Bóvedas, and emerald jewellers trade around the Plaza de Bolívar. There are also designer boutiques for linen and swimwear, and malls in Bocagrande for anything else.

Granada sells regional crafts such as hammocks, Pueblos Blancos pottery, cigars and coffee, but the artisan market in Masaya has the better choice, and there are no fashion streets at all.

Granada is clearly cheaper. Guesthouses, local eateries, taxis and volcano tours all cost very little, and even its hotels in restored mansions feel inexpensive to European or North American visitors.

Cartagena is Colombia's most expensive city. Its boutique hotels inside the walls charge close to European rates, especially at Christmas, New Year and Easter. Staying in Getsemaní and eating street food makes it good value again, but agree prices with hawkers and boatmen before you go.

Neither city has much of a stage season, but Cartagena has more. The ornate Teatro Adolfo Mejía hosts concerts and dance, and a classical festival every January brings international performers to churches and courtyards. Salsa bands play in Getsemaní and cumbia dancers perform in the plazas each evening.

In Granada the music is mostly marimba players and folkloric dancers entertaining diners on La Calzada, plus religious processions and patron saint festivities. There is nothing to book ahead.

Neither town has a spa culture, and Cartagena's streets are the noisier of the two, but it gives you more ways to switch off. Day spas in Bocagrande and inside the walls, cheap massages on the sand and the plunge pools of the old-town courtyard hotels are all close at hand, and a night or two on the Rosario Islands, with nothing to do but swim and doze, is the calmest way to spend part of a stay.

Granada is the gentler town to be in, with quiet streets once the heat breaks, but its treatments come down to a few massage studios and hotel spas. Its answer to Cartagena's islands is Laguna de Apoyo, where lodges by the crater lake offer yoga and massage between swims, and you can go for a day or stay a few nights. The islands need a boat and give you the Caribbean, while Apoyo is a short drive away and gives you calm, clear fresh water.