Chennai or Kolkata?

Chennai at least has a seafront. Marina Beach and Elliot's Beach are for evening strolls, snacks and sea breezes rather than swimming, and resorts towards Kovalam and Mahabalipuram offer somewhat safer water.

Kolkata sits on the Hooghly with no coast in sight, and Digha or Mandarmani mean a long drive and a night away. In both cities a swim usually means the hotel pool, but only Chennai lets you end the day by the sea.

Both are first-rate eating cities, and the difference lies in what ends up on the plate. Chennai is the place for vegetarian South Indian cooking at its source: idli and dosa breakfasts, banana-leaf meals in Mylapore and T. Nagar, filter coffee, and fiery Chettinad meat dishes for contrast.

Kolkata leans on river fish, mustard oil and an extraordinary sweet tradition, with hilsa, rosogolla and mishti doi. It also has a more layered mix of influences, from Awadhi biryani with potato to the Indo-Chinese food of Tangra and Park Street's Anglo-Indian grills.

Kolkata offers more to see. Its colonial core is the largest in Asia, with the Victoria Memorial, the weathered offices of BBD Bagh, the Indian Museum and the haunting Georgian tombs of South Park Street Cemetery. On top of that come Tagore's home at Jorasanko, Kalighat and the clay workshops of Kumartuli.

Chennai has fine pieces rather than a whole city of them. The Kapaleeshwarar Temple, Fort St George and the Chola bronzes in the Egmore museum are all outstanding, but they are spread out, while Kolkata's faded grandeur fills whole districts.

Neither city is built for late nights, but Kolkata has more going on after dark. Park Street has a real history of bars, pubs and supper clubs, and during Durga Puja the whole city stays out until the small hours touring pandals.

Chennai's strict licensing pushes drinking into hotels and a few pubs in Nungambakkam and Alwarpet, all closing early. Its evenings are about families on the beach and late dinners, not drinks.

Chennai has more to offer outdoors, mostly thanks to birds and the sea. Guindy's blackbuck, the Pallikaranai marsh, winter pelicans and flamingos at Vedanthangal and Pulicat, surf lessons at Kovalam and turtle-nest walks give it some variety.

Kolkata's green spaces are the Maidan, Rabindra Sarovar and the great banyan at the Botanic Garden, with sunset boat rides on the Hooghly. Its one big natural draw, the Sundarbans mangroves, needs a trip of several days rather than an afternoon.

Chennai has two excursions of real stature within easy reach. Mahabalipuram's Shore Temple and Arjuna's Penance are about an hour away, and Kanchipuram's temples and silk looms about two. DakshinaChitra adds a gentler half day.

Kolkata's best day out is the string of old Danish, French, Dutch and Portuguese river towns up the Hooghly, linked by local train. Beyond them, Shantiniketan, Bishnupur and Murshidabad are all three hours or more away and work better as overnight trips.

Both cities welcome children warmly and both make family sightseeing tiring, so this comes down to the attractions. Chennai's best outings are the big green zoo at Vandalur and the balloons and pony rides of Elliot's Beach in the evening.

Kolkata counters with the hands-on Science City and the open lawns of the Maidan and the Victoria Memorial gardens. Chennai's distances make a hired car almost essential with small children, while in Kolkata the crowded pavements and humidity are the bigger strain.

Getting around is similar work in both: long journeys, heavy traffic and few good pavements. Chennai's clean metro serves the airport and Central station, but for most trips you rely on cheap autos and app cabs, and day trips mean a car with a driver.

Kolkata's metro runs straight through the heart of the city to Park Street and Kalighat, and ferries across the Hooghly are a pleasant shortcut. In the cooler months the heritage area around BBD Bagh and the Maidan can be explored on foot.

Both cities are best for textiles, but the styles differ. Chennai is about silk and gold: the crowded sari halls of T. Nagar sell Kanchipuram weaves to wedding shoppers, and Mylapore has brass lamps, temple jewellery and bronzes.

Kolkata leans to Bengal handloom, kantha embroidery and Baluchari silk at Gariahat. It also has two shopping experiences of its own: the Victorian maze of New Market and the book stalls that run for blocks along College Street.

Both are very cheap to visit, with food, transport and entry fees costing little in either. The difference is in where you sleep. Kolkata's comfortable mid-range hotels are notably cheap, whereas Chennai's better hotels are aimed at business travellers and are the one real expense there, though simple guesthouses stay cheap. In both cities alcohol is what pushes the bill up.

Chennai is the stronger music city for a visitor. As the home of Carnatic music and Bharatanatyam, it hosts the Margazhi season each December and January, filling the Music Academy and the sabhas of Mylapore with concerts from morning to night, many of them free in the mornings. Kalakshetra keeps classical dance on stage the rest of the year.

Kolkata has the Dover Lane conference for Hindustani music each winter and a busy group-theatre scene. However, much of its drama is in Bengali, so it gives a visitor less on an ordinary evening.

Chennai has real substance for anyone who wants to slow down. Its yoga is a living tradition rather than a hotel extra: Krishnamacharya, the teacher behind much of modern hatha yoga, spent his later decades in the city, and classes in his line are easy to join. Kerala-style oil massage is cheap and never far away, and a few nights at a spa resort on the East Coast Road make a gentle break from the traffic of the centre.

Kolkata has far less on offer. Pampering means the spa of a large international hotel or one of a handful of Ayurvedic centres, and the river ghats are places of worship, not leisure. Its quiet is spiritual rather than restorative, found in places such as Belur Math, the riverside headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mission, so rest here mostly happens between days of sightseeing.