Cartagena or Trinidad, Cuba?

The beaches are equally strong but work in different ways. In Cartagena, the city's own sand at Bocagrande is dark, crowded with vendors and faces cloudy water. The clear turquoise water is at Playa Blanca and the Rosario Islands, an hour or so away by boat, so a good beach day takes some planning and can include a night on an island.

Trinidad has an easier routine. Playa Ancon's pale sand and calm, clear water are about 15 minutes away by bike or taxi, with snorkelling off the reef. The trade-off is that you only have Ancon and the small local shore at La Boca to choose from.

Cartagena is far better for eating. It has a real street-food culture, with ceviche carts, arepas de huevo, Palenquera fruit sellers and the sweet stalls at the Portal de los Dulces. On top of that come polished modern Colombian restaurants inside the walls and cheaper spots in Getsemaní.

Trinidad's best meals are often the home-cooked dinners in your casa particular: roast pork, ropa vieja and lobster, with a canchanchara in a clay cup. Pleasant as it is, Cuban supply shortages keep menus short and repetitive, and there is no market or street food to explore.

Both are UNESCO colonial towns made for wandering, with small museums and enough to fill two or three days, and Cartagena has a slight edge. Its 11km of walkable ramparts and the huge Castillo San Felipe add a military grandeur that Trinidad lacks, and the Palace of the Inquisition gives the visit some weight.

Trinidad is quieter and more intimate: single-storey pastel houses, the Plaza Mayor framed by planters' mansions, and views from the Palacio Cantero tower to the mountains. Its UNESCO listing also covers the sugar valley next to the town, which links the town to the plantation history around it.

Cartagena has much more range after dark. You can move from the street party on Plaza de la Trinidad to salsa bars in Getsemaní, rooftop cocktails over the domes, reggaetón clubs near the Torre del Reloj and chivas with a band on board. Expect touts and a crowd that is mostly tourists.

Trinidad's nights are friendlier but repeat themselves: rum and salsa on the steps by the Plaza Mayor, a few courtyard bars and a club in a cave on the hill. After a few evenings you will have seen it all.

Trinidad is much the better base for time outdoors. The Escambray mountains rise just behind it, with trails in Topes de Collantes down to the Salto del Caburni and the cascades of El Nicho. There are horse rides across the Valle de los Ingenios and reef snorkelling off Ancon as well.

In Cartagena almost everything happens on the water: the coral of Corales del Rosario, though boat traffic has worn it, mangrove canoe trips at La Boquilla and kitesurfing in the dry months. Inland the country is flat and farmed, and the Totumo mud volcano is about the only outing.

Trinidad is far easier to explore from. The sugar mills and the Manaca Iznaga tower start at the edge of town, and grand neoclassical Cienfuegos, old Sancti Spiritus and Santa Clara with its Che memorial are all close enough for a day out. You will need a shared taxi, a hired car or a tour to reach them.

From Cartagena the good choices run out quickly. San Basilio de Palenque makes a rewarding half day, but Barranquilla has few sights, and Mompox and Santa Marta need an overnight stay. Most outings here are really boat trips to the islands.

Neither is set up for children, and Cartagena is slightly easier. Hotel pools, horse carriages and the shaded plazas help, the calm island beaches are a treat, and the National Aviary on the Baru road gives a day out a focus.

Trinidad's shallow water at Ancon is lovely, and older children enjoy the horse rides and waterfall pools. The large cobbles defeat pushchairs, though, and power cuts and gaps in familiar food and medicine add real strain with small children.

In both places the historic centre is compact and best seen on foot. Cartagena's advantage is everything beyond it: taxis are plentiful and cheap, Bocagrande is a short ride away and island boats leave from a central terminal. The heat and narrow pavements are the main nuisance.

In Trinidad the cobbles are rough and the streets slope. Beyond the old town you depend on taxis, shuttles or hired bikes, with no public transport a visitor can rely on, and the coaches to other cities are slow and infrequent.

Cartagena gives you more to browse. Las Bóvedas, the vaulted chambers in the walls, sell Wayuu mochilas and sombreros vueltiaos, jewellers around Plaza de Bolívar sell emeralds, and boutiques in the walled city stock Colombian linen and swimwear. For anything bigger there are the malls in Bocagrande.

Trinidad has a narrower but distinctive craft offer: hand embroidery and crochet hanging in the market lanes, family pottery workshops and small galleries. The stalls soon start to repeat, and there are no shops beyond them.

Trinidad comes out a little cheaper, mainly because a room in a casa particular, often with breakfast, keeps the basic cost low and the music in the squares is nearly free. Paladar meals, tours and beach taxis are priced for visitors, and you will need cash.

Cartagena depends more on how you travel. Boutique mansions and smart restaurants inside the walls approach European levels, especially at Christmas and Easter. Getsemaní hostels, set lunches and cheap taxis, on the other hand, make a modest budget work. In both places, agree prices before boat trips and taxis.

Music is more central in Trinidad. Every night bands play son and bolero at the Casa de la Trova and the Casa de la Musica, and the Palenque de los Congos Reales stages Afro-Cuban drumming and rumba, all at a high standard with locals dancing too.

Cartagena does have a formal stage, the ornate Teatro Adolfo Mejía, and a classical festival in January, which Trinidad lacks. Most of the year, though, live music there means salsa bands, champeta sound systems and cumbia dancers in the plazas.

Neither is a spa destination, but Cartagena gives you more ways to switch off. Its colonial-house hotels have plunge pools, quiet courtyards and small spas, massages are easy to find and cheap, and a few nights on the Rosario Islands slow everything right down.

In Trinidad, rest means rocking chairs and family courtyards, with massages limited to a few beach resorts. Roosters at dawn, horse carts, late music and power cuts that stop the fans make it harder to relax.