Cuenca, Ecuador or Quito?

Neither city is anywhere near the sea, so swimming means a pool in both. In Cuenca, the warm water closest to hand is the thermal pools at Baños on the edge of town. Quito's warm municipal pools lie in the lower valleys, though Quito is the more natural place to set off for the coast or the Galápagos as a separate leg of the trip.

The two share the same highland base: hornado carved in the market halls, locro de papa and canelazo on chilly nights. Cuenca keeps to that tradition, with mote pillo in the Mercado 10 de Agosto and spit-roast cuy on weekend outings to Ricaurte. Beyond its cafés and set lunches, it has little ambitious cooking.

Quito gives a food lover more to explore. Its market food courts at the Mercado Central and Santa Clara add juices from unfamiliar fruits. Cacao and coffee tastings are easy to find in the old town and La Floresta, and a modern restaurant scene builds on Andean produce. Neither is a great eating city, but Quito has the wider range.

Both centres are UNESCO-listed colonial grids, but they are on very different scales. Quito's is one of the largest in the Americas. It has the gold-leaf interior of La Compañía, the vast San Francisco monastery, altarpieces from the Quito school and the towers of the Basílica to climb. Museums such as Casa del Alabado and the Guayasamín chapel fill several more days.

Cuenca is smaller and more intimate. Its whitewashed streets lead to the blue domes of the New Cathedral, and Pumapungo, with the excavated Inca terraces of Tomebamba, is its standout museum. It rewards strolling along El Barranco more than a sightseeing list.

Quito has the more substantial night out. On weekends, La Mariscal around Plaza Foch fills with salsa clubs and bars, and La Floresta adds quieter cocktail and craft-beer places, though you take taxis between areas after dark. Cuenca's evenings centre on a handful of small bars and dance spots along Calle Larga, and the cool air sends most people home early.

Cuenca has one superb asset: Cajas National Park, less than an hour away, with its glacial lakes, granite ridges and polylepis woods full of hummingbirds. The leafy river paths through town are a pleasant extra.

Quito offers more variety. You can ride the TelefériQo to about 4,000m and hike to the top of Rucu Pichincha, then head south to Cotopaxi's glacier and high plains. Westwards, the road drops into the Mindo cloud forest, with some of the best birdwatching anywhere, plus zip-lines and waterfalls. Volcanoes, páramo and cloud forest all lie within easy reach of one base.

The two are broadly level here, but the outings differ in character. From Cuenca, the highlight is Ingapirca, Ecuador's largest Inca site, along with a craft loop through Gualaceo's market, the silver workshops of Chordeleg and the hat weavers of Sígsig.

From Quito, the classic trip is the Saturday market at Otavalo, combined with leather-making Cotacachi. The equator monument at Mitad del Mundo is close by, and Mindo and Papallacta suit a day in the forest or the hot springs. Cuenca leans towards archaeology and craft villages, Quito towards markets and mountains.

Quito actually has more attractions aimed at children: standing astride the equator, the cable-car ride, the hands-on Yaku museum and the pedal boats in Parque La Carolina. The difficulty is the city itself, with higher altitude, steep streets, heavy traffic and broken pavements.

Cuenca is the easier place to spend a few days with children. It is lower and calmer, families are out in the riverside parks at weekends, and Bioparque Amaru with its condors and spectacled bears makes a good outing. Only the cobbles slow a pushchair down.

Cuenca is far simpler to get around. Nearly everything worth seeing lies within the compact grid and along the river below it, so walking does most of the work, with the tram and cheap taxis for the rest.

Quito stretches about 40km along its valley. The metro and bus corridors run its length but are crowded, with pickpockets at rush hour. Visitors end up taking taxis or ride-hailing between neighbourhoods and at night, and only the steep old town is truly walkable.

Both are craft cities rather than fashion cities. Neither has a fashion scene beyond the malls on its outskirts. Cuenca is where Panama hats are finished and blocked, so you can buy them from the workshops in every grade, along with local ceramics and the flowers by the New Cathedral.

Quito gathers goods from across the country in its La Mariscal artisan market: alpaca, tagua carvings, silver and fine bean-to-bar chocolate. Serious buyers there save their money for Otavalo.

Both are cheap places to visit, and Cuenca goes a little further. Restored colonial hotels in its centre cost little, the market food is among the best-value eating anywhere, and many museums and churches are free or nearly so.

Quito's day-to-day costs are similarly low. The bills climb with international-style hotels in the north and with guided trips to the volcanoes or the cloud forest, and the Galápagos excursions sold there cost far more.

Both cities have modest scenes, and neither is a reason to choose a destination. Cuenca's highlights are free symphony concerts in its old churches and theatres, and the Pase del Niño Viajero procession on Christmas Eve.

Quito offers a little more variety. Opera and dance are staged at the nineteenth-century Teatro Nacional Sucre, folk ballet companies perform Andean dance in full costume, and bars in La Floresta host live bands.

Cuenca makes relaxing easy. The hot springs and spa complexes at Baños are a short taxi ride away, so a long afternoon soak takes no planning. The city's slow pace and quiet nights do the rest.

Quito's best thermal pools, at Papallacta, are lovely in the misty páramo but about ninety minutes away. In the city itself, unwinding comes down to hotel spas, and the traffic and noise work against rest.