Darjeeling or Thimphu?

Neither city has anywhere to swim. Both sit high in the Himalaya beside cold, fast rivers, so any beach time has to go in a separate part of the trip. Thimphu at least has the odd hotel pool, while in Darjeeling you should not count on any water at all.

Darjeeling eats a little better, and tea is the reason. Tasting first and second flush muscatel leaves in the tea rooms around the Mall or on an estate is a real experience. Long breakfasts in the old bakeries, and cheap momos and thukpa around Chowk Bazaar, round out the days.

Thimphu's cooking is more unusual, with ema datshi, red rice and dried pork with radish, but tourist meals tend to arrive as mild buffets. Its best food stop is the weekend farmers' market by the river.

Thimphu's heritage is still in daily use. Tashichho Dzong houses both the government and the monk body, residents walk around the Memorial Chorten from dawn, and even ordinary buildings follow traditional design. Add the Buddha Dordenma, the Textile Museum and the thirteen-arts school, and the city feels like a whole culture on show.

Darjeeling's sights mix the Raj with Buddhism: the UNESCO-listed hill railway looping to Ghoom monastery, Gothic St Andrew's Church, and the mountaineering museum tied to Tenzing Norgay. It is good for two days, but it does not have the same depth.

Thimphu has more going on after dark, though not much. There are karaoke rooms that locals take seriously, drayangs where singers take requests, and a couple of small clubs that fill up at weekends. Darjeeling offers little beyond a drink by the fire in an old hotel bar, and the streets are cold and empty by ten.

Both are superb mountain bases, and they differ in kind. Darjeeling is about the great view: Kangchenjunga above the town, sunrise from Tiger Hill, and the Singalila Ridge walk to Sandakphu with four of the five highest peaks in sight. Tea terraces start right at the edge of town.

Thimphu is more about forest and trails. Hikes go from the end of the streets up to Tango, Cheri and Phajoding, and the Druk Path and Dagala treks start nearby, though a guide is compulsory. The peaks show best from the Dochula pass.

Thimphu has the one outstanding excursion. Paro offers Rinpung Dzong, the National Museum and above all the cliffside Tiger's Nest, which is worth a whole day, and the chortens of Dochula fit easily into a half day.

Darjeeling's outings are pleasant but similar to the town itself: Kurseong's schools and tea gardens, the lake at Mirik and the market at Kalimpong. They feel like more hill towns rather than a change of scene.

Darjeeling has more for children. The toy train puffing through the streets, the ropeway, pony rides on Chowrasta and a zoo with red pandas and Himalayan wolves give a family several easy outings.

Thimphu is safe and warm towards children, but beyond the takin preserve and the prayer wheels most of the day goes on temples and winding drives. Both cities involve hard, sick-making roads and suit older children far better than toddlers.

Thimphu is easier to manage. Its compact centre on Norzin Lam, with a policeman directing traffic instead of lights, is easy to walk, and a car with a driver handles everything further out, although that leaves little room for wandering on your own.

Darjeeling's car-free ridge at Chowrasta is lovely, but everything else means steep steps, crowded shared jeeps and traffic jams in peak season. Just getting there takes three hours or more of mountain road from the plains.

Darjeeling makes the better shopping stop, mainly for its tea. The shops on the Mall and Nehru Road let you compare estates and flushes before buying loose leaf, and the Tibetan Refugee Self Help Centre sells carpets and thangkas made on site.

Thimphu's strength is narrower but finer: handwoven kira fabric, yak-wool pieces and wooden masks from the government emporium and the craft bazaar. Outside crafts there is very little in either city.

This is the biggest gap between the two. Darjeeling is cheap for almost everything a visitor does, and only the heritage hotels, private taxis and rooms in peak season push the cost up.

Thimphu's everyday prices are low too, but Bhutan charges most foreign visitors a large fee for every night they stay, and trips usually include a guide, a car and tourist-standard hotels. A week in Bhutan costs many times what the same week costs in Darjeeling.

Thimphu has a festival worth planning a trip around. At the autumn Tshechu, masked cham dancers fill the courtyard of Tashichho Dzong for several days, and the Royal Academy of Performing Arts keeps folk dance alive the rest of the year.

Darjeeling's cham dances happen only at monastery festivals such as Losar. Its hill rock bands have no regular stage a visitor could plan around.

Thimphu is the more restful place. The whole trip moves slowly, the dotsho hot-stone bath soothes tired legs after a hike, meditation at a monastery is easy to arrange, and upscale lodges add massage based on traditional medicine.

In Darjeeling, rest comes from staying in a tea-estate bungalow with mountain mornings and pots of tea. Spas are scarce, and the honking jeeps and crowds on the Mall mean you should stay outside the centre.