Eilat or Luxor?

Eilat exists for its beaches, and Luxor has nothing to match them. Eilat has a few kilometres of calm, clear Red Sea shore, from the sociable North Beach by the lagoon to the reserve beaches, where you swim straight out over coral. The sand is coarse, though, and the central beaches get crowded at weekends.

In Luxor, swimming means a hotel pool, because the Nile is not for bathing. Egypt's own Red Sea coast at Hurghada is about four hours away by road, so if you want both, plan the coast as a separate leg of the trip rather than an outing.

Neither town is a food destination, and both rely heavily on hotel buffets. Eilat has a little more variety: Red Sea fish, grills, sushi and steakhouses around the marina. The best meals and best value are at the hummus counters and falafel stands in the older neighbourhoods.

Luxor offers honest Egyptian staples rather than choice: ful and taameya for breakfast, koshari, grilled pigeon, and home cooking in the West Bank guesthouses. The rooftop restaurants are more about the temple views than the cooking, and alcohol is mostly limited to hotels.

This is where the two differ most. Luxor stands on ancient Thebes. On the East Bank are Karnak with its Great Hypostyle Hall and Luxor Temple, which is lit up after dark. Across the river are the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut's temple at Deir el-Bahari and Medinet Habu, enough for several full days.

Eilat is a young resort of hotel towers and malls with nothing comparable in town. Its history lies outside it, in the ancient copper workings at Timna or across the border at Petra.

Of the two, only Eilat has a real night out. On summer weekends and during school breaks, the promenade and the lagoon fill with bars, beach parties and a few clubs that stay open late. Midweek in the quieter months it thins out, though, and the music is mainstream.

Luxor goes to bed early, because most visitors are up at dawn for the tombs or a balloon flight. An evening there means a hotel bar, tea and shisha in a street café, or a stroll along the corniche.

Eilat has much more to offer outdoors, on land and underwater. Along the coast is one of the most easily reached coral reefs anywhere, with dive centres along the coast road and the Dolphin Reef. Inland are the red granite and sandstone canyons of the Eilat Mountains and Timna, and a major bird migration passes through in spring and autumn.

Luxor's nature is gentler and more limited: a green strip along the Nile against bare desert cliffs. You can take a felucca at sunset, watch herons and kingfishers on the river islands, cycle through the West Bank fields or walk the path over the Theban hills to Deir el-Bahari.

Luxor has more within reach for day trips, though it is all of the same kind. Dendera's painted Temple of Hathor is about an hour north and Esna's vivid reliefs an hour south. Edfu is under two hours away, and Abydos makes a long day out.

Eilat has one outstanding excursion, Petra, across the Jordanian border, and Aqaba is an easy shorter outing. On the Israeli side, the Negev cuts the town off, leaving Timna and the Arava kibbutzim, and the Dead Sea is too far for a comfortable day.

Eilat is set up for family vacations. It has calm water with no surf, hotel pools and kids' clubs, the Coral World underwater observatory, glass-bottom boats and the Dolphin Reef. Even so, the summer heat keeps young children indoors except in the mornings and evenings.

Luxor works for older children who are already gripped by pharaohs and mummies. They will love crawling into the tombs, the Mummification Museum and a balloon flight at dawn. Younger children will struggle with long walks over shadeless ground and with the persistent touts.

Eilat is the easier town to get around. The lagoon hotels, North Beach, the promenade and the malls are all within a short walk of each other, and taxis cover the few kilometres south to the reef beaches. For Timna and the mountains you need a car or a tour.

Luxor is divided by the river. The East Bank centre is walkable but tiring, with touts and rough pavements, and Karnak is a short ride away by calèche or taxi. The West Bank sites are spread along the desert edge, so most people cross by ferry and hire a driver for the day, agreeing every fare before setting off.

This comes down to modern malls against a souvenir market. Eilat's tax-free status draws Israeli shoppers to the big malls around the lagoon, though most foreign visitors will recognise the clothing chains, gadgets and beauty brands from home. Eilat is still the better place to pick up something practical or to browse out of the afternoon heat. The one thing you won't find elsewhere is jewellery set with Eilat stone, a mineral from the area.

Luxor has nothing of that kind. Shopping there means trading for souvenirs in the souk near the centre and at the stalls by the temple gates, where the same stock turns up again and again and the sellers are pushy. The alabaster carvers on the West Bank are worth a stop to watch the work. Otherwise, most people go home with a gift or two rather than a bag of shopping.

Luxor is far cheaper. Guesthouses, comfortable mid-range hotels and local food cost little, and even the grand riverside hotels are good value. Most of the money goes on temple and tomb entry fees, drivers and balloon flights.

Eilat costs more than a typical European beach resort. Hotel rates are high during festivals and at weekends, and eating out, diving and tours are all expensive. The VAT exemption and cheaper rooms midweek or out of season help, but Eilat never gets close to Luxor's prices.

Neither town is the place for an evening at the theatre or a proper concert. Eilat is a little ahead thanks to its long-running jazz festival by the Red Sea and concerts by Israeli performers during the summer and the Jewish festivals. For the rest of the year there are hotel shows and musicians in the bars.

Luxor's one regular performance is the sound-and-light show, for which you walk through the floodlit temple at Karnak. Beyond that, hotels and cruise boats stage belly dance and tanoura whirling shows for their guests.

Eilat is the more restful base if you want to lie in the sun. It has hotel spas offering Dead Sea mineral treatments, resorts built around pools and gardens, and reliable winter warmth. It is at its calmest midweek, away from the festivals and school vacations.

Luxor is restful because of the rhythm of the day rather than its facilities: early sightseeing, a long afternoon by the pool and sunset on the river. The mud-brick guesthouses on the West Bank are peaceful, but the traffic and touts on the East Bank are not.