Darwin or Ubud?

Neither city is a beach destination, though Ubud does a little better for actual swimming. Darwin has long stretches of sand at Mindil, Casuarina and East Point, but box jellyfish and saltwater crocodiles keep almost everyone out of the sea. People swim in the netted Waterfront lagoon or drive out to the waterholes of Litchfield instead.

Ubud has no beach at all. Still, the calm water inside the reef at Sanur is a day trip away, and most villas have a pool looking over the rice fields. If the sea matters to you, spending a few nights on the Bali coast is easy to arrange.

Darwin's best eating happens at its markets: Asian and Greek stalls on the sand at Mindil at sunset, and Saturday laksa at Parap, with barramundi and mud crab on most menus. Beyond that there's little choice, and a week can start to feel repetitive.

Ubud offers more variety for a longer stay. You'll find babi guling counters at lunchtime, slow-cooked bebek betutu and family warungs serving nasi campur. On top of that sit plant-based cafés, Kintamani coffee and a handful of tasting-menu kitchens. The better cooking is usually a lane or two away from the main street.

Darwin's story belongs to the twentieth century: the Japanese bombing raids of 1942 and Cyclone Tracy in 1974. It's told in the oil storage tunnels, at the East Point gun emplacements and in the museum at Fannie Bay, which also holds a fine Aboriginal collection. Very little old architecture survived either disaster.

In Ubud, culture is something you see every day. There are offerings on the doorsteps, processions on feast days, the royal palace with its lotus-pond temple, and the Puri Lukisan, Neka and ARMA museums tracing Balinese painting. The rock-cut Elephant Cave at Goa Gajah adds a thousand years of history.

Darwin is clearly the place for a night out. Mitchell Street's big open-air pubs and backpacker bars fill up at weekends and through the dry season, and stay loud past midnight. Quieter options include sunset drinks at the sailing club and the waterfront bars.

Ubud is quiet well before midnight. An evening there means a long dinner, a drink in a garden bar and perhaps a band. Anyone wanting clubs makes the long drive down to Seminyak or Canggu.

Both are strong, in different ways, and Ubud is slightly ahead because its landscape is right on the doorstep. Darwin's nature is about wildlife and wide distances: crocodiles leaping beside cruise boats, the Mary River wetlands, and the magnetic termite mounds and waterfall pools of Litchfield. Most of it is best seen in the dry season, and Kakadu is worth an overnight trip.

In Ubud you can walk straight from town onto the Campuhan Ridge and into the paddies. Tegallalang's terraces, rafting on the Ayung and the jungle waterfalls are all a short drive away. A pre-dawn climb of Mount Batur for sunrise over the crater lake is the big outing.

Ubud is much the better base for day trips. Darwin's excursions are nearly all into national parks. The main exceptions are a flight or ferry to the Tiwi Islands for their art centres and the war cemetery at Adelaide River. Katherine Gorge is a long day's drive.

From Ubud you can bathe at the holy springs of Tirta Empul, see the cliff-cut tombs of Gunung Kawi, and visit Besakih on the slopes of Mount Agung or the painted pavilions of Klungkung. The UNESCO-listed terraces of Jatiluwih are also within reach. Slow roads and a hired driver decide how much fits into one day.

Darwin is a little easier with small children, as long as you plan around the heat. It has a netted swimming lagoon and wave pool, a free water park, huge crocodiles to see up close, the Territory Wildlife Park and fish feeding at Doctors Gully.

Ubud gives children a warm welcome, and a villa pool makes the afternoons easy. Older children enjoy the dance shows, gentle rafting and walks through the rice fields. Toddlers struggle more, though, with the broken pavements, scooter traffic and snatching macaques.

Neither is easy, but Darwin is simpler. Its compact centre puts the CBD, the Esplanade and the Waterfront within a short walk of each other, and buses reach the coast. Beyond that you'll need a car or a tour.

Ubud has no public transport worth relying on. Pavements are narrow, scooters fill the roads and the river valleys make every route steep. Visitors use ride-hailing apps and hotel shuttles, and plan their days around a hired driver.

Darwin has one strong reason to shop: Aboriginal paintings, bark art and weavings, which are best bought from galleries linked to community art centres. Beyond that there are malls and market souvenirs.

Ubud offers far more handmade goods. There's the Art Market opposite the palace, silver at Celuk, woodcarving at Mas, paintings at Batuan, and furniture workshops on the road to Tegallalang. In town, small boutiques sell linen clothing and yoga wear.

Ubud costs much less. Homestay rooms with breakfast, warung meals, massages and a driver for the day all come at a fraction of Western prices. Luxury resorts above the gorges and imported wine are where costs climb.

Darwin is expensive by any measure. Dry-season rooms are pricey and drinks especially so, and the hire car or guided tours you need for the parks add a lot. The free museum, free outdoor sights and market food help, and rooms are cheaper in the wet season.

Darwin's highlight is its August festival of theatre, music and Aboriginal performance on outdoor stages. For the rest of the year you'll find touring shows at the Entertainment Centre, local theatre at Brown's Mart and cover bands on Mitchell Street.

Ubud has a show of some kind almost every night. Legong, Barong and the chanting Kecak are performed to live gamelan in the palace courtyard and at the lotus-pond temple, by village troupes with their own traditions. It has no theatre or concert hall, though.

This is where the two differ most. Darwin's offer is a few hotel spas and the shady spring-fed pools at Berry Springs, and the heat of the build-up and the wet season wears visitors down rather than restoring them.

Ubud is built around wellness. Yoga pavilions sit among the trees, retreats last anything from a weekend to several weeks, and spas look down into the Ayung and Petanu gorges. Traditional healers and the purification ritual at Tirta Empul round it out, and the rice fields stay quiet a few steps from the main road.