Granada, Nicaragua or Monteverde?

Neither place is a beach destination, but only Granada gives you good swimming. Laguna de Apoyo is half an hour away, a clear, warm crater lake with docks and lodges where you can spend a lazy day in and out of the water.

Monteverde, up on its misty ridge, has no swimming at all, and the Gulf of Nicoya is a two-hour winding drive. From either base, the Pacific sand is really a separate stop on your route.

Granada has more character on the plate. Vigorón on a banana leaf from the park kiosks, nacatamales and evening fritanga grills make a good street-eating trip, even if La Calzada's tourist restaurants are uneven.

Monteverde's food is plainer, mostly casados in the sodas of Santa Elena and a few lodge restaurants, with slim choice after dark. Its local highlights are coffee tasted on the farms where it grows and the cheese from the old Quaker dairy.

This is where the two differ most. Granada is a colonial townscape of painted courtyard houses, with the cathedral, La Merced, Xalteva and La Pólvora all within a short walk, and two days well spent seeing them.

Monteverde has no architecture or museums to speak of. Its interest is the story of the Quaker settlers who arrived in the 1950s and helped save the forest, and the butterfly and insect exhibits are really nature outings.

Granada at least has an evening scene. Tables fill Calle La Calzada with cheap rum and beer, hostel bars draw backpackers, and a few small clubs play salsa and reggaeton at weekends, though a couple of nights cover it. In Monteverde the evening is a guided night walk for tree frogs and tarantulas, a drink in Santa Elena and an early bed before dawn birding.

Both places sit amid fine scenery, but Monteverde is the deeper experience. Several reserves of moss-hung cloud forest have well-marked trails, canopy bridges and lookouts over the continental divide, with quetzals, bellbirds and dozens of hummingbird species. It is also where Costa Rica's zip lines began.

Granada's appeal is variety rather than depth. You can climb into Mombacho's own patch of cloud forest, kayak Las Isletas among herons, and stand at the rim of Masaya's active crater, which nothing near Monteverde can match. The lowland heat, though, pushes all of it into the early morning.

Granada makes a far better base for outings. The Masaya craft market and the Monimbó quarter, the pottery village of San Juan de Oriente, the Catarina lookout over Apoyo and Managua's cathedral ruins are each an easy half day or full day. San Juan del Sur works as a long one.

Monteverde is the excursion itself. Puntarenas is barely worth the round trip, and Arenal is three hours or more away, so it belongs on the route as your next base.

Monteverde works better with children, particularly those who love animals. Hanging bridges, butterfly and frog exhibits, torchlit night walks and, for older children, zip lines make a full programme in a small, relaxed town.

Granada has its moments: carriage rides, the monkey island on a lake boat trip, swimming at Apoyo and peering into Masaya's steaming crater. Constant heat, broken pavements and basic medical care make it harder going, though. Neither is easy with toddlers.

Granada is easier day to day. Its compact flat grid takes minutes to cross on foot, and cheap taxis and horse carriages are there for the midday heat. Chicken buses and shuttles reach the surrounding towns and volcanoes.

Monteverde spreads its lodges and reserves along steep, rough roads, with the main reserve about 6km uphill from Santa Elena. You'll rely on tour pick-ups, taxis or the infrequent bus, and the slow climb to get there at all is part of the trip.

Granada is a reasonable place for crafts. You'll find hammocks, Pueblos Blancos pottery, carvings, rocking chairs, cigars and rum, with even better choice at Masaya's old artisan market nearby. Monteverde offers souvenir and outdoor-gear shops, coffee and chocolate, and its one standout is embroidery from the women's artisan cooperative. Neither has anything in the way of fashion.

The gap here is wide. In Granada, courtyard guesthouses, street food, taxis and even volcano and island tours cost little, and the boutique mansion hotels still feel modest by North American or European standards.

Monteverde isn't a budget stop. The basics can be kept simple with hostels and sodas, but the things you come for all cost money: reserve entry, a guide to find wildlife, canopy tours, night walks and shuttles. Lodge and restaurant prices come close to North American levels.

Neither place has a stage worth planning around, but Granada offers a little more to stumble on. Marimba players and folkloric dancers perform for diners around the park, and the patron saint festivities bring out costumed dances. In Monteverde, the most you can expect is an occasional local musician in a restaurant or a small community concert.

Both are slow places with few spas, but the rest they offer is different. Granada's version is the hot-country siesta: a rocking chair in a shaded courtyard, a hotel pool, and yoga and massage at the lodges by Laguna de Apoyo. Monteverde's is cool and green, with misty mornings, birdsong, balconies over the trees and very early nights, though you'll need to look elsewhere for pools or hot springs.