Da Nang or Ho Chi Minh City?

In Da Nang the beach is part of the city. My Khe and Non Nuoc form one wide stretch of pale sand from Son Tra towards Hoi An, and the sea is warm and mostly calm through spring and summer. The drawback is the autumn monsoon, when heavy surf and red flags often stop swimming.

Ho Chi Minh City lies inland, and its nearest coast at Can Gio is mangrove mud. Vung Tau, about two hours away, has a warm sea, but the water is often cloudy and the beaches fill with weekend crowds. In practice, swimming there means a long day out or a hotel pool.

People eat on plastic stools in both cities, but Ho Chi Minh City has the wider range. Its sweeter, herb-heavy southern cooking runs from broken-rice plates and banh mi carts to whole streets of snail stalls and the Chinese-Vietnamese kitchens of Cholon. Above street level there are modern Vietnamese restaurants, French bistros and the international tables of Thao Dien.

Da Nang's choice is narrower but has its own character. Central Vietnamese cooking is spicier, with mi Quang and fish-cake noodle soup, and along the beach road you pick seafood from the tanks and have it grilled. Smart dining is thin.

Ho Chi Minh City has more to see inside the city. The War Remnants Museum and the Reunification Palace tell the story of the war, the cathedral, Central Post Office and Opera House show the French period, and Cholon has temples thick with incense.

Da Nang's own sights are fewer: mainly the Museum of Cham Sculpture and the cave shrines of the Marble Mountains, which most visitors cover in two days. The region's real heritage lies outside the city, in the towns and ruins reached on day trips.

Ho Chi Minh City goes out harder and later. Bui Vien turns into a loud walking street of bars every night, while the Dong Khoi area has rooftop bars, cocktail rooms up the stairwells of old apartment blocks, and clubs with a young local crowd.

Evenings in Da Nang are gentler: a walk along the Han River, beer halls with grilled shellfish, and a few blocks of craft beer bars and pubs in An Thuong. Much of the city is quiet by midnight.

Da Nang has mountains and sea close at hand. There is the forested Son Tra peninsula with its douc langurs, the ride over the Hai Van Pass, the Ba Na Hills at nearly 1,500m and the rainforest trails of Bach Ma. Offshore you can snorkel at the Cham Islands, and My Khe has surf in the cooler months.

Ho Chi Minh City is flat and built up, with only a few parks. Its nature means the mangrove waterways of Can Gio, and the canals and paddies of the Mekong Delta explored by boat or bicycle. There are no hills anywhere nearby.

Da Nang makes the better base for excursions. Hoi An's lantern-lit old town is under an hour away and many visitors go more than once. The Cham temple ruins of My Son are within easy reach, and the citadel and royal tombs of Hue make a long but rewarding day over the Hai Van Pass.

From Ho Chi Minh City the classic trips are the Cu Chi tunnels, often combined with the Cao Dai Holy See at Tay Ninh, and the nearer Mekong Delta towns of My Tho and Ben Tre. Once you have done those and Vung Tau, the options thin out.

Da Nang is easier with children, mostly because the beach and resort pools keep them busy. For a change there is the cable car and Golden Bridge at the Ba Na Hills, and a riverside Ferris wheel. The drawbacks are the traffic, rough pavements and the rainy autumn.

Ho Chi Minh City is just as warm towards children, but its attractions are modest: the old zoo, Dam Sen and the eccentric Suoi Tien park. The heat and motorbike-filled streets make walking with small children tiring.

In both cities walking is hard beyond a few stretches, and most visitors use cheap app-booked cars or motorbike taxis. Where they differ is size and layout. Da Nang is smaller and flat, the river centre and the beach are a short ride apart, a straight coast road leads to Hoi An, and the river promenade and beachfront are pleasant to walk.

Ho Chi Minh City is far bigger but has a walkable colonial core around Dong Khoi and Ben Thanh. It also has one clean metro line heading east and a river bus. Keep your phone away from the kerb there, because snatching from passing motorbikes is a known risk.

Ho Chi Minh City is the better place to shop. Ben Thanh sells coffee, silk and souvenirs, Binh Tay in Cholon is the wholesale market, and tailors make suits and ao dai to measure. Lacquerware and ceramics are the crafts to bring home. The Dong Khoi malls carry luxury labels and Thao Dien has small boutiques, though counterfeits are common in the tourist markets.

Da Nang's Han and Con markets are aimed at locals, and its malls stock chain brands. Its own speciality is the stone carving of Non Nuoc village, and for tailoring and crafts most people go to Hoi An.

Both are among the cheapest places you can visit. Street food, coffee, massages and app-booked rides cost very little, and good mid-range hotels are easy to find. They differ in where the bigger bills come from: in Da Nang it is the beachfront and Son Tra resorts and the Ba Na Hills, while in Ho Chi Minh City it is the business-capital layer of international hotels, rooftop bars and imported wine.

Ho Chi Minh City has more on stage. The French-built Opera House hosts ballet, the symphony orchestra and acrobatic shows about village life, and there is also water puppetry, cai luong opera and a few small jazz rooms. Even so, it fills an evening or two rather than a whole trip.

Da Nang offers little in the city beyond occasional tuong theatre and cover bands in beach bars. Its highlight is the summer fireworks festival over the Han River, and near Hoi An there are staged river shows and bai choi singing games.

Massage is cheap and easy to find in both cities, so the difference lies in the setting. Da Nang adds resort spas with treatment villas over the sea on Son Tra and a hot springs park with mud baths about 30km out. Its pace is easier too, with dawn swims and quiet riverside evenings.

Ho Chi Minh City has its own ritual, the long reclining hair wash with scalp and face massage. The streets outside are hot and loud, though, so for calm you head to the parks early in the morning, temple courtyards or the slower lanes of Thao Dien.