Durban or Stellenbosch?

Durban is a beach city in the full sense. The Golden Mile runs through the city itself, with lifeguards and shark nets, and Umhlanga and Ballito carry the sand on up the coast. The Indian Ocean is warm enough to swim in any month, though strong rip currents mean you should stay between the flags.

In Stellenbosch the beach is a half-hour drive to False Bay. Gordon's Bay has calm, sheltered water and Muizenberg has surf and striped bathing huts, but the sea there is several degrees cooler than Durban's. Day to day, a swim means the guesthouse pool.

Both have a strong local food identity, but Stellenbosch has the wider and more polished choice. Its estates around Helshoogte, Jonkershoek and the Simonsberg serve long tasting menus and farm lunches, with wine poured from the cellar next door. In town, Cape Malay dishes such as bobotie fill the gaps.

Durban's strength is narrower and hotter: red curry and bunny chow from takeaway counters, masalas from the Victoria Street Market, and prawns from Mozambique. Come for one sharply defined cuisine rather than a range of dining.

Neither has sights of international rank, and each can be seen in a day or two, but they tell very different stories. Durban's interest lies in its communities and its political history: the Juma Masjid, the Hindu temples of Chatsworth, the KwaMuhle Museum on the pass laws and Gandhi's Phoenix Settlement. These are best seen with a guide, since the old centre is gritty.

Stellenbosch is about the look of the place: oak-lined Dorp Street, gabled Cape Dutch houses, the Village Museum and the Moederkerk. It is an old streetscape that rewards an unhurried walk on your own.

Neither is a place for clubbing, and the evenings differ more in who is out than in how much there is to do. Durban has the weekend terraces of Florida Road and the hotel lounges of Umhlanga. If you go with a local, there are also the Sunday shisanyama afternoons. You get between them by ride-hailing rather than on foot.

Stellenbosch runs on the university calendar. In term time the student pubs around Bird Street and Plein Street are loud, and in the vacations the town falls quiet, so an evening means dinner and wine on a terrace.

Stellenbosch has the stronger landscape on its doorstep. The trails of Jonkershoek start at the edge of town, sandstone peaks frame the vineyards, and the valley is a mountain-biking centre. Table Mountain and the fynbos of Kogelberg are within about an hour.

Durban's outdoors is mostly in the water, with year-round surf, diving at Aliwal Shoal and the winter sardine run. Inland it has Krantzkloof and the Valley of a Thousand Hills, while the Drakensberg and iSimangaliso are overnight trips rather than outings.

Stellenbosch is by far the better base for days out. Cape Town is under an hour away and Franschhoek and Paarl are closer still. Hermanus and Tulbagh make longer but rewarding drives, so you can fill a week without changing hotel.

From Durban the choice is thinner. Pietermaritzburg, the Midlands Meander and the Mandela Capture Site make a pleasant day, but the battlefields, the region's real heritage, need an overnight stay. Both places need a car.

Durban has long been made for family beach vacations. uShaka Marine World puts an aquarium and a water park right on the sand, the Golden Mile has tidal pools, and the Sharks Board in Umhlanga thrills older children. Umhlanga is also the calmer base for families.

Stellenbosch is gentler but aimed at adults who taste wine. Estates with lawns and play areas, and a small wildlife park, help. Even so, summer heat and long drives wear on small children, and most families rely on Cape Town for the bigger outings.

Both are car places: ride-hailing is easy in each, and public transport is of little use to visitors. The real difference is the centre. Stellenbosch's historic core is small, flat and shaded, and easy to explore on foot. In Durban the pleasant walk is the beachfront promenade, and the old centre is not one to wander alone.

In the Winelands, hop-on hop-off wine tours take away the problem of drinking and driving. Durban's airport is around 30km north, nearer Umhlanga than the city.

Durban has more to buy. The huge mall complex at Umhlanga Ridge covers the brands, the Victoria Street Market sells spices and Indian goods, and Zulu beadwork and telephone-wire bowls are sold along the beachfront.

Stellenbosch is smaller and focused on its region. The main buy is wine straight from the cellar door, which estates will often ship home. Around Dorp Street there are also galleries, ceramics and the old general store. Neither is a destination for fashion.

Both are good value for visitors from Europe or North America, and in both the hire car or daily ride-hailing is the cost that adds up. Durban stretches money a little further, with moderately priced beachfront rooms and curry counters that serve some of the cheapest good meals on the coast. Umhlanga is its dearer corner.

In Stellenbosch the bargain is the wine. Tastings and estate lunches cost far less than in other famous wine regions, though the celebrated estate hotels and tasting menus charge international rates.

Durban has the fuller stage calendar. There is the Playhouse, the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic in the City Hall, the Jomba dance festival and the film festival. It also has a sound of its own in gqom and maskandi, though hearing them live usually takes a local guide.

Stellenbosch has the conservatorium's term-time concerts, summer evenings in a wine-estate amphitheatre and its autumn Afrikaans arts festival. For anything more, people drive to Cape Town.

Neither has thermal springs or a bathing tradition, so the difference is how easily each lets you slow down. Durban is a busy, noisy city, and its calm comes in pockets: a slow morning by the warm sea, or a good-value treatment at a resort spa in Umhlanga or further up towards Ballito. For real quiet, people usually leave the coast for the country spa hotels of the Midlands.

In Stellenbosch the town itself does most of the work. The valleys are very quiet, and the days pass slowly between long lunches, mountain views and shaded verandas. A spa at one of the larger estates, or a massage at a guesthouse, adds to that calm, but you do not need one to find it.