Cebu or Ubud?

Neither has a beach in town, but Cebu puts you much closer to good water. Mactan's resort shores are under an hour from the city, and outrigger boats run out to the sandbars of Nalusuan, Hilutungan and Pandanon for snorkelling over the reef. Moalboal, Malapascua and Bantayan are worth the longer journey.

From Ubud, the nearest easy swim is Sanur, the best part of an hour away, and the black-sand Gianyar coast is better for watching surfers than for swimming. In Ubud your daily swim is in the pool, often with a rice-field view, and real beach time means moving to the coast for part of the stay.

The two kitchens are closer than they look, since both islands are devoted to roast pig: Cebu's lechon and Ubud's babi guling. Cebu's strength is meat, rice and seafood eaten casually, with skewers from street grills, puso in coconut-leaf pouches and the sutukil places on Mactan that cook the fish you choose.

Ubud has more range for its size. Spiced duck and warung nasi campur sit alongside plant-based cafés, Kintamani coffee and a few ambitious tasting menus. In Cebu you eat where the locals eat, while Ubud gives you more variety, though the better cooking is a lane or two off the main street.

Cebu's history goes back further in colonial terms. Magellan's Cross, the Basilica del Santo Niño and Fort San Pedro mark Spain's first foothold in the Philippines, but they stand in a mostly modern city and fit into a single day downtown.

Ubud gives a curious visitor more. Offerings and processions are part of everyday life, the royal palace and the lotus-pond temple stand in the centre, the Neka and ARMA museums trace Balinese painting, and Goa Gajah is on the edge of town. It repays two or three unhurried days.

Cebu offers a proper night out, if a casual one: open-air bar strips in IT Park that run into the early hours, older clubs on Mango Avenue, karaoke among friends and the Sinulog street party in January. Ubud's evenings end with a long dinner and perhaps a band in a garden bar, and the town is quiet before midnight. For clubs you have to drive down to Seminyak or Canggu.

In Ubud the scenery starts at your door. You can walk the rice terraces at Campuhan Ridge and Tegallalang from town, raft the Ayung gorge, reach jungle waterfalls in a short drive and climb Mount Batur in the dark for sunrise.

Cebu's nature is more about the sea and more spread out. The Busay hills give quick views behind the city and Mactan has reef diving, but the best-known trips, Kawasan Falls, Osmeña Peak, Oslob's whale sharks and Moalboal's sardines, are around three hours south and best done with a night away.

From Ubud, Bali's temple heritage lies all around you. Tirta Empul and Gunung Kawi are close, Besakih and Klungkung are further east, Tanah Lot and Ulun Danu Bratan are to the west, and the Jatiluwih terraces lie between. With a hired driver you can fit two or three into a full day.

Cebu has fewer obvious outings. The fast ferry to Bohol is the standout, and the road south links Carcar with the coral-stone churches of Argao and Boljoon. Traffic, though, often doubles how long a journey looks on the map.

Children get a warm welcome in both places, and both are hard going with toddlers because of traffic and missing pavements. In Cebu the easy approach is a Mactan resort with calm water, a boat day around the islets and the Ocean Park aquarium, with the malls as cool indoor refuges.

Ubud suits older, outdoorsy children better. It offers villa pools, gentle rafting, rice-field walks and evening dance shows, though the Monkey Forest macaques need watching.

Neither is easy, but Cebu is less of a struggle. Metered taxis and ride-hailing cars are plentiful and cheap, and the downtown sights, IT Park and Ayala can each be walked, even if the bridges to Mactan clog up.

Ubud has no public transport worth using, and its valley roads are steep and its pavements narrow, so you plan each day around a driver or a hotel shuttle. Stay near the centre if you want to walk to dinner.

Ubud is the better place to buy something made by hand. There is the Art Market opposite the palace, the woodcarving, silver and painting villages of Mas, Celuk and Batuan on the road in, and small linen and yoga-wear boutiques on Jalan Hanoman.

In Cebu, shopping mostly means very large malls such as Ayala Center and SM Seaside. Its local finds are Carbon Market, dried mangoes and otap, and the guitars and ukuleles built in family workshops on Mactan.

Both are cheap places to visit, and both have a costly side if you want it. In Cebu the city itself is where money goes furthest, and the spending comes with Mactan's beachfront resorts, private boats and diving.

In Ubud, homestays, warungs, massages and day drivers cost little, while the jungle resorts above the gorges and the restaurants aimed at visitors charge close to European prices. Imported wine and spirits feel expensive in both.

Ubud has a performance worth planning an evening around on any night of your stay. Village troupes dance the Legong, Barong and Kecak to live gamelan in the palace courtyard, at Pura Taman Saraswati and in temple grounds. Cebu's great show is the Sinulog prayer dance in January. For the rest of the year it offers cover bands and acoustic sets, often with fine singers, and very little formal theatre.

This is where the two differ most. Ubud is built around wellbeing, with dawn yoga in open pavilions, retreats lasting days or weeks, riverside spas, flower baths, traditional healers and the purification ritual at Tirta Empul.

Cebu offers good, inexpensive massage, including the warm-oil hilot, and restful spa days at the Mactan resorts. The city itself is loud and hot, though, and there is no wider culture of retreat behind it.