Galle or Pondicherry?

This is where the two differ most. Galle has proper swimming beaches within a short tuk-tuk ride: the calm curve of Unawatuna, Jungle Beach below Rumassala, and the snorkelling pools at Dalawella and Thalpe. Mirissa and Weligama are an hour away. The one big caveat is the monsoon, when the surf makes many of these beaches unsafe.

In Pondicherry you look at the sea more than you swim in it. The Promenade runs along a wall of boulders, and Serenity Beach and Paradise Beach are places for wading, sunsets and fried fish rather than long swims.

Pondicherry offers more to eat. Banana-leaf meals and dosas in the Tamil Quarter, French bakeries, and the Creole cooking that blends French technique with tamarind and coconut give it two cuisines to explore. Alcohol is also easier to find here than elsewhere in Tamil Nadu.

Galle has good Sri Lankan cooking: hoppers, kottu, and fish curries soured with goraka. But the fort's cafés lean towards visitors, and the best curries are in simple places outside the walls. In both towns a few days covers the food.

These two are much alike: both are colonial townscapes you enjoy on foot rather than towns of big museums. Galle's appeal is a single walled fort, with ramparts, a lighthouse, the Dutch Reformed Church and the Maritime Museum inside one UNESCO-listed headland.

Pondicherry's appeal is the contrast between two quarters, the French villas on one side of the canal and the Tamil houses on the other. It adds a spiritual layer with the Aurobindo Ashram, a temple elephant and Auroville's Matrimandir.

Neither town is for late nights, but Pondicherry has a little more going on. Cheaper alcohol supports rooftop lounges, hotel bars and beach shacks, and weekend crowds drive in from Chennai and Bangalore. In Galle the fort goes quiet early, and the only real bar life is the beach strip at Unawatuna in high season.

Galle has much more to do outdoors. It has reefs for diving, surf breaks for beginners and experienced surfers, blue whales off Mirissa in season, and jungle paths on Rumassala. The Kanneliya and Sinharaja rainforests are inland.

Pondicherry sits on a flat, hot plain with no hills. Its outdoor life is quieter: surf lessons at Serenity Beach, birdwatching at Ousteri Lake in winter, cycling in Auroville's forest, and rowing in the Pichavaram mangroves.

Pondicherry has the better day trips, because it sits among some of South India's great temples. The Pallava carvings at Mahabalipuram, the Nataraja temple at Chidambaram, Gingee's hilltop fort and the pilgrimage town of Tiruvannamalai each make a full day out by car.

Galle's outings are mostly more of the same coast, such as Hikkaduwa, Matara and Dondra Head. The mask workshops at Ambalangoda, the Mulkirigala cave temple and a train ride to Colombo add some variety, but the ancient cities are too far for a day.

Neither town has zoos, aquariums or theme parks, and both are hot, so they come out about level for families. What differs is how children spend the day. Galle is a beach-and-villa stay with paddling at Unawatuna, turtle hatcheries and whale-watching boats. Pondicherry is better for older children who enjoy evenings on the car-free Promenade, a boat to Paradise Beach and the little toy train in the Botanical Garden.

In Galle, walking is mostly limited to the fort, where the flat, quiet lanes put everything a short stroll apart. Beyond the walls you take a tuk-tuk, or hire a private driver for longer outings. The narrow coast road leaves no room to walk between beaches, and the crowded trains and buses along the coast are cheap but not comfortable.

Pondicherry is a little easier to get around. The French Quarter is one of South India's most pleasant places to walk, and hired bicycles make easy work of the old town and the Promenade, which gives you more freedom than Galle's fort alone. For the beaches, Auroville and Ousteri Lake you will need an auto-rickshaw, a taxi booked by app or a hired scooter, and day trips mean a car with a driver.

Pondicherry is better for shopping. French Quarter boutiques sell block-printed cotton and leather sandals, the Ashram workshops make handmade paper and incense, and Auroville's outlets add pottery and soaps. Goubert Market covers everyday local goods.

Galle's shopping is limited to a few fort lanes with linen, beeralu lace, tea and gems. The gem trade calls for care before you buy anything valuable.

Both towns are cheap once you step outside their colonial quarters, but Pondicherry is cheaper overall. Canteen meals, auto-rickshaws, sight entries and drinks all cost little, and staying in the Tamil Quarter keeps a trip inexpensive.

Galle can be very good value at local rice-and-curry places and Unawatuna guesthouses. However, the fort's boutique hotels and the coastal villas cost far more, and imported alcohol is dear.

Neither town has a regular stage, but Pondicherry offers occasional performances: Bharatanatyam recitals, Carnatic concerts, events at the French cultural centre, Auroville's halls, and pipes and drums at temple festivals. In Galle you will see little beyond dance and drumming shows put on for hotel guests, and the mask-dance tradition is in Ambalangoda.

Both towns are good places to slow down, with Galle slightly ahead for structured treatment. Along its coast you can book residential Ayurveda retreats with doctors' consultations and set diets, as well as yoga around Unawatuna and Thalpe and treatment rooms in the villa hotels.

Pondicherry's calm is more spiritual: meditation in the Ashram courtyard, plus Auroville's breathwork, bodywork and longer yoga courses. Its spas tend to be small.