Chiang Mai or Pai?

Neither town has a beach. Both are in mountain valleys a long day's travel from the sea, so plan sand and sea for another part of the trip. Swimming is different in each. Chiang Mai has Huay Tung Tao reservoir and the old quarry lakes on the edge of town, while in Pai you swim in the river, float down it on an inner tube or bathe in the pools below Mo Paeng waterfall.

Chiang Mai is one of the best places in Thailand to eat northern food. Khao soi, herby sai ua sausage, nam prik noom and sticky rice are sold cheaply at Warorot market and the Chang Phueak Gate stalls. Coffee from the surrounding hills supports a café culture that few Asian cities can match.

Pai mainly feeds long-stay travellers. Its walking street has skewers and Shan dishes, and the cafés serve smoothie bowls, vegan plates and pizza. The noodles and tea in Santichon are the most distinctive meal in town. You will eat well, but northern cooking is thin and much of the food is adapted to foreign tastes.

The gap here is wide. Chiang Mai's moated old city holds the great ruined chedi of Wat Chedi Luang, the wooden halls and murals of Wat Phra Singh and the silver Wat Sri Suphan, with carved teak monasteries on nearly every lane. Wat Phra That Doi Suthep looks down from the mountain above. Two or three days of slow temple walks are easy to fill.

Pai is a market town, and people go for the landscape. Its sights are the climb to the white Buddha at Wat Phra That Mae Yen, a few modest Shan temples, the old iron bridge and the mud-brick houses of Santichon. Together they take about half a day.

Neither is a clubbing town, and in both most bars close around midnight, but Chiang Mai has more choice. It offers cocktail and craft-beer bars in Nimmanhaemin with a student crowd, rooftop terraces and backpacker bars around Tha Phae Gate, and the rougher beer bars of Loi Kroh Road. Pai has reggae bars, gardens strung with fairy lights after the night market and the odd party out of town. The crowd is almost all young travellers, so it feels like a gap-year night out, not a night of cocktails.

Both are excellent for the outdoors, but you use them differently. In Chiang Mai the forest starts at the edge of town, in Doi Suthep-Pui National Park with the monk's trail. Doi Inthanon's cloud forest is about an hour and a half away, and the Mae Taeng valley adds rafting, ziplines and treks, usually on organised trips.

In Pai the scenery surrounds the town, so you can ride out on a scooter yourself to the canyon ridges at sunset, the misty viewpoint at Yun Lai and the waterfalls nearby. The great river cave of Tham Lod is about an hour west. Both share the clear season from November to February and the smoky hills in spring.

From Chiang Mai you can make real day trips. Lamphun's gilded chedi is about half an hour away, and Lampang, about an hour and a half away, has horse-drawn carriages and teak mansions. Closer in are the craft villages of Bo Sang and San Kamphaeng and the hill village of Mae Kampong.

Pai is too remote for that. Apart from Soppong and the Lahu and Lisu villages about an hour west, the nearest towns are three hours of bends away, so excursions from Pai mostly mean heading into the landscape.

Chiang Mai has far more to keep children busy. Elephant sanctuaries where families feed the animals, the zoo on Doi Suthep, the Night Safari and the quarry swimming parks will fill several days, even though the broken pavements and traffic around the moat take patience.

Pai suits families with older children who like the outdoors, with farm visits, river tubing and hot springs. Younger children are harder work. The road up from Chiang Mai is known for making passengers sick, most sights need a scooter or driver, and the evenings are geared to backpackers.

Neither town has a metro or tram, but Chiang Mai is much easier to manage without your own wheels. The red songthaews can be flagged down anywhere, and tuk-tuks and ride-hailing apps reach Nimmanhaemin or the airport in a short hop, so a scooter is only needed for the hills.

In Pai the centre is a few streets you can walk in minutes, but there is no public transport out to the canyon, waterfalls or hot springs. Most people rent a scooter on hill roads where beginners often crash, or else hire a songthaew or join a tour.

For handmade goods, Chiang Mai is much stronger. The Sunday Walking Street on Ratchadamnoen, the Saturday market on Wualai Road with its silversmiths and the nightly Night Bazaar sell textiles, carved wood and hill-tribe embroidery. You can buy umbrellas at Bo Sang and silk at San Kamphaeng, and Nimmanhaemin has design studios.

Pai's evening walking street is fun to browse for cotton trousers, woven bags and small art prints, but the same goods repeat from stall to stall. Anything more ambitious is better bought in Chiang Mai.

Both are very cheap, and what differs is where the extra costs appear. In Chiang Mai, guesthouses in old teak buildings and market meals cost very little, and the bill rises with paid outings such as sanctuary visits, treks and cooking classes.

In Pai, bungalows and scooter hire cost little, which is why so many travellers stay for weeks, and most sights are free. Prices in the tourist centre are above those of ordinary northern towns, and the resorts with pools cost noticeably more.

Neither town is a place for the formal arts, but Chiang Mai has a little more to watch. There is no opera or classical season and theatre is rare, so an evening out means a khantoke dinner of northern food with Lanna dance, a Muay Thai fight night or the jazz and blues jams held every night near the old city's north gate. At Yi Peng, processions and performance fill the streets.

Pai has only its bar music, but it is a real part of the town's character, with acoustic, reggae and blues sets on informal open stages most nights. There is no theatre, concert hall or traditional performance there, and the quality varies a lot from one night to the next.

Chiang Mai is the place to learn Thai massage, not just to have one, at its long-established schools. You can also sit with monks at the meditation retreats of Wat Umong and Wat Suan Dok. Spas in converted teak houses and quiet resorts in the Mae Rim valley add comfort.

Pai's draw is its hot springs. The Tha Pai pools lie in a forest park south of town and are best on a cool morning. Massages are cheap, and yoga and detox retreats run on the outskirts. The spas are simple, and hammocks and rice-field views do most of the rest.