Chiang Rai or Hanoi?

Neither city is a beach destination, and both send you elsewhere for the sea. Chiang Rai's swimming is more natural, with cool forest pools under waterfalls and reservoirs in the hills. Hanoi offers big water parks on the edge of West Lake. Its coast at Ha Long Bay or Cat Ba is the more famous one, but it needs a separate stay.

Chiang Rai eats well within a narrow range: khao soi, nam ngiao, sai ua sausage and chilli dips with sticky rice, best tried at the night bazaar and walking-street markets. Its garden cafés roasting hill-grown coffee are a real pleasure, but international and refined cooking are scarce.

Hanoi is in another league. Single-dish stalls that have perfected pho, bun cha, banh cuon or cha ca over decades sit on every Old Quarter corner, Dong Xuan market shows the raw ingredients, and drip coffee and egg coffee are rituals in themselves. A food lover will run out of things to try in Chiang Rai well before Hanoi.

Chiang Rai's highlights are modern and visual. The mirrored white fantasy of Wat Rong Khun, the sapphire Blue Temple and the dark teak halls of Baan Dam make striking stops, while Wat Phra Kaew and a few Lanna temples supply the older history.

Hanoi has deeper layers. You get the guild streets of the Old Quarter, the Temple of Literature, the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long, the colonial French Quarter and strong museums such as Ethnology and Hoa Lo prison. That adds up to a fuller three or four days of history, against Chiang Rai's two or three days of eye-catching art.

Neither city goes on much past midnight, but Hanoi has far more life before then. Pavement beer corners fill from late afternoon, the lanes around Ta Hien get loud and crowded, the streets by Hoan Kiem close to traffic for weekend promenades, and West Lake adds rooftops and craft beer. Chiang Rai's evenings come down to one short street of small bars near the clock tower and the beer tables at the night bazaar, which suits a quiet drink after dinner.

Chiang Rai sits right in the scenery. The Kok River valley is ringed by forested hills, with waterfalls, tea terraces on Doi Mae Salong, hill-tribe trekking and cycling on rural roads all close at hand, and the cloud-sea views from Phu Chi Fa further out. The one caveat is the late-winter smoke, which spoils the views for weeks.

Hanoi is flat and dense, and its outdoor life comes down to the West Lake shoreline path and the dawn tai chi around Hoan Kiem. The great northern landscapes, Ha Long Bay and the mountains around Sapa, are long journeys best done with nights away.

Hanoi has the better choice of outings. Ninh Binh pairs the old capital at Hoa Lu and the vast Bai Dinh pagoda with boat rides through limestone caves, the Perfume Pagoda is reached by rowing boat, and craft villages such as Bat Trang and Van Phuc, along with old Duong Lam, are close in.

Chiang Rai's loop north is pleasant but less weighty: the ruined chedis of Chiang Saen, the opium museum at the Golden Triangle, the border market at Mae Sai and the Yunnanese tea houses of Doi Mae Salong. They fill two or three days, but none is worth the journey on its own.

Both cities welcome children warmly, and neither has much built for them, so the difference is in the setting. Chiang Rai is calmer, with open space and cycling at Singha Park and elephant sanctuaries, though reaching the sights means long stretches in vehicles. Hanoi has more on hand, including water puppets, the zoo and the village houses at the Ethnology museum, but its motorbike-filled streets and blocked pavements make outings with a pushchair hard work.

Getting about is equally awkward in both, for opposite reasons. In Chiang Rai the small, flat centre is easy to walk, but the temples and hills lie outside it, so you rely on tuk-tuks, songthaews, a hired driver or your own scooter.

In Hanoi the main sights sit close together on foot, but walking means stepping round parked scooters and crossing through streams of motorbikes. Cheap ride-hailing and motorbike taxis take the strain, since the rail lines and buses are of little use to visitors.

Hanoi offers more to browse. Old Quarter streets are still grouped by trade, Hang Gai is good for silk and made-to-measure clothes ready within a day or two, Dong Xuan is a huge covered market, and a weekend night market runs up from the lake. Chiang Rai's shopping is limited to its nightly bazaar and the Saturday walking street on Thanalai Road, where hill-tribe textiles and silver sit beside the town's best buys, Doi Mae Salong oolong and local coffee.

Both are among the cheapest places you can travel, and money stretches a long way in either. Hanoi edges ahead day to day because ride-hailing makes city transport almost free and its sights are close together. In Chiang Rai the big expense is the driver, car or tour you need to reach the temples and hills outside town. In Hanoi the costs that add up are optional extras such as Ha Long Bay cruises and upscale dining.

Hanoi gives you a couple of good evenings out. Water puppetry with live music plays daily by Hoan Kiem Lake, the colonial Opera House stages symphony, ballet and opera on an irregular programme, and ca tru sung poetry and a small jazz scene add variety. Chiang Rai has no stage season at all, only Lanna dance at the night bazaar, khantoke dinners and acoustic sets in bars.

Chiang Rai is the more restful place to stay. The town itself is unhurried, there are riverside and hillside spas, and the Pong Phrabat and Mae Kachan hot springs let you soak in simple pools, though the smoky season breaks the calm.

Hanoi offers inexpensive foot and body massage on almost every Old Quarter street, welcome after long days walking, but the noise rarely lets up. Calm there means staying near West Lake or getting out to the lakes at dawn.