Goa or Kerala?

Both coasts face the same warm Arabian Sea, but Goa's is the better coast for swimming. The long, flat runs of Colva, Benaulim and Varca and the sheltered coves of Palolem and Agonda have gentle surf through the winter. You can also choose between the shack-lined strips of Baga and the calmer sands of Morjim and Mandrem.

Kerala's beaches are more about the setting than the swimming. Varkala, below its red cliffs, is the memorable one, and at Marari you get the backwaters as well as the sand. But rip currents and heavy surf on many stretches keep swimmers between the flags, and dress norms are more conservative away from the tourist beaches.

Goa's cooking is Konkan seafood shaped by four centuries of Portuguese rule, so pork, vinegar and spice run through it: vindaloo, xacuti, sorpotel and chouriço, with soft poi bread in the morning and cashew feni to drink. The best of it is in the family restaurants of Panjim, Margao and the inland villages. On the busiest beach strips the menus turn generic.

Kerala's flavours are coconut, curry leaf, tamarind and black pepper, and its cooking comes from several communities: Syrian Christian appam and stew around Kochi, Malabar biryani in Kozhikode and the vegetarian sadya served on a banana leaf. Everyday meals are cheap and excellent, but a cold beer or a cocktail is much harder to find than in Goa.

Both have a long European colonial layer over Indian tradition, and there is a similar amount to see, with Goa's heritage a little weightier. Its centrepiece is Old Goa, the UNESCO-listed former capital with the Basilica of Bom Jesus and the Sé Cathedral. Fontainhas in Panjim, the mansions of Chandor and the coastal forts add to it, though you need transport to get between them.

Kerala's best sights are gathered in one place. In Fort Kochi and Mattancherry, the Chinese fishing nets, the Dutch Palace and the Paradesi Synagogue are a short walk apart. Its great temples at Thrissur and Guruvayur are striking, but many admit only Hindus.

This is where the two differ most. Goa's north coast stays loud through the winter, from the clubs of Baga and Calangute to the clifftop electronic venues of Anjuna and Vagator, and peaks around New Year. The south keeps to sunset drinks.

Kerala has no club scene to speak of. Licensing laws push drinking into hotel bars and toddy shops, and a late evening on the Varkala clifftop is about as lively as it gets.

Kerala has the grander outdoors. The backwaters around Alappuzha and Kumarakom are best seen slowly from a houseboat. Inland, the Western Ghats climb to the tea estates of Munnar, the elephant forests of Periyar and the trekking country of Wayanad.

Goa lies against the same range but has less of it to offer: jungle trails in the Bhagwan Mahaveer and Cotigao sanctuaries, Dudhsagar Falls, kayaking among the mangroves of the Mandovi and good winter birdwatching. It is pleasant green country, worth a few days rather than a reason to come.

Neither works well as a base for day trips, and in both the long, slow distances shape the plan. Goa's outings mostly stay within the state: market day in Mapusa, the spice farms of Ponda or the ferry to Divar island, with the temples and beaches of Gokarna just over the border to the south.

Kerala is better toured as a circuit than from one base. From Kochi you can reach the Muziris heritage sites and the festival town of Thrissur, and from Thiruvananthapuram you can reach Kanyakumari at the southern tip of India.

For families the two come out much the same: warm towards children, short on attractions built for them, and easiest from a resort with a pool. What differs is how the days are filled. Goa is a straightforward beach vacation on the flat, shallow sands of Varca and Cavelossim, with chaotic roads and the northern crowds to manage.

Kerala gives children more to look at, from a night on a houseboat to the elephants and boat trips at Periyar. But its sea is often too rough for small swimmers, and the winding drives into the hills test young stomachs.

Kerala is the easier of the two to travel through. A railway along the coast links Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha, Kochi and Kozhikode, Kochi adds a metro line and harbour ferries, and a hired driver handles the slow climbs to Munnar and Thekkady.

Goa has no such backbone. Its buses barely serve the beaches, the Konkan trains are useful only for arriving, and driving from the north beaches to the south can take two hours. Most visitors rent a scooter or pay for taxis, which is why it makes sense to choose one stretch of coast and stay there.

Neither is a place to go shopping, and both offer markets and crafts rather than fashion. Goa's draw is its market scene: the Anjuna flea market and the Saturday night market near Arpora, with shawls and silver to bargain for. Mapusa sells cashews and chouriço, and there are a few linen boutiques around Assagao.

Kerala sells what it makes and grows: spices and antiques in Jew Town, tea and cardamom in Munnar, handwoven kasavu cloth from Balaramapuram and Kathakali masks.

Goa is cheap by international standards but not by Indian ones. Room rates in the popular villages follow the winter season, Christmas and New Year push them much higher, and taxis cost more than most visitors expect. On a tight budget, stay in huts in the far north or the quiet south and get around by rented scooter.

Kerala makes the same money go further. Homestays, local meals, trains and auto-rickshaws cost very little, so the everyday costs of a trip stay low. Spending only climbs when you add a private houseboat, a backwater resort or a long Ayurveda programme.

Goa's own stage forms, tiatr and the mando, are made for local audiences and visitors rarely see them. The Kala Academy on the Panjim riverfront, the December arts festival and the parades of Carnival offer occasional highlights, but for most visitors live music means a cover band in a beach bar.

Kerala has far more to watch, and most of it belongs only to Kerala. At the evening Kathakali shows in Fort Kochi and Thekkady you can see the actors being made up, and kalaripayattu is staged for audiences too. In north Malabar, Theyyam rituals of fire and drumming last all night from about December to April. The temple festivals bring huge chenda drum ensembles and elephants in full regalia, most famously at Thrissur Pooram.

Kerala is where Ayurveda is taken most seriously, and it goes deeper than a massage. Retreats around Kovalam, Varkala, Kumarakom and Wayanad run panchakarma programmes lasting weeks, supervised by a doctor. The calm of the backwaters and the hills adds to the effect.

Goa leans towards yoga. The shala platforms and teacher-training courses of Mandrem, Arambol, Agonda and Patnem are a real draw, and ayurvedic massage is easy to find. Treatments are lighter than in Kerala, though, and the party belt around Baga is anything but restful.