Granada, Nicaragua or Panama City?

You can't swim in the water by either city. Granada's lake promenade and Panama City's Cinta Costera are for walking. Granada's answer is Laguna de Apoyo, about half an hour away: a clear, warm crater lake with docks and lodges, good for a lazy day in and out of the water, though it isn't a sandy beach.

Panama City comes out slightly ahead because it has more real sea within reach. The Taboga ferry gets you to a small beach quickly, the Pacific sand around Coronado is about an hour away, and the clearer Caribbean water near Portobelo is about two hours away. Granada's nearest ocean is San Juan del Sur, a separate trip of its own.

In Granada you mostly eat on the street. Vigorón on a banana leaf from the kiosks in the central park, nacatamales and the evening fritanga grills are the best of it, while the restaurants on La Calzada are hit and miss.

Panama City has more range and more good meals. You can have ceviche and fried whole fish at the Mercado de Mariscos, home cooking in the fondas, chef-led dinners in Casco Viejo and an international spread in El Cangrejo. Its speciality cafés also serve the highland Geisha coffee properly, while Granada's coffee is better bought to take home.

Granada's appeal is the whole townscape. Its low ochre and blue houses with courtyards line a grid running to the yellow cathedral, and the bell tower of La Merced looks out to Mombacho. The San Francisco convent, with its basalt statues from Zapatera, is the nearest thing to a major collection.

Panama City has more to see. It has two layers of history, the rebuilt colonial streets of Casco Viejo and the ruins of Panamá Viejo, both UNESCO-listed. On top of that comes the Canal, with ships passing a few metres away at Miraflores, and Gehry's Biomuseo. Its museums are small, though, and neither city needs more than a few days.

A night out in Granada means one street. You drink cheap rum at tables out on La Calzada, then move on to a hostel bar, with salsa or reggaeton in a few small clubs at weekends. It's friendly, but you will have seen it all after a night or two.

Panama City goes much further. You can start with cocktails on a Casco Viejo rooftop looking across at the lit towers, then take a taxi to the clubs of Calle Uruguay and Marbella until the early hours. People dress up a little more for it, and the crowd mixes locals, expats and business travellers.

Both cities have outstanding wild country within easy reach, but of different kinds. Granada's is volcanic. There is cloud forest and misty craters on Mombacho, kayaking through Las Isletas, and at Masaya you can drive right up to the rim of an active crater.

Panama City's is lowland rainforest, and it starts inside the city at Parque Natural Metropolitano. Soberanía and the Pipeline Road attract serious birdwatchers, and on Gatún Lake you can see monkeys on the banks as cargo ships pass. Choose Granada if you want craters and lake islands, and Panama City for toucans and sloths.

The two are about level for day trips, but the outings are different in character. From Granada you visit small towns: the Masaya craft market and the Monimbó quarter, the pottery workshops of the Pueblos Blancos and the lookout at Catarina, with Managua's cathedral ruins about an hour away.

From Panama City the trips are more varied. You can see the Spanish forts at Portobelo and San Lorenzo, ride a dugout canoe to visit Emberá communities, or spend a day on a partial Canal transit. Its most rewarding islands, San Blas and the Pearl Islands, really need an overnight stay.

Panama City is easier with children. Watching the locks at Miraflores, the hands-on Biomuseo, bikes and quadricycles on the Amador Causeway and the rescued animals at Summit Nature Park give you a full few days. The malls offer air-conditioning when the heat gets too much.

Granada has good single outings, such as a carriage ride, the monkey island in Las Isletas and the steaming crater at Masaya. Beyond those there is little made for children, and medical care is basic outside Managua. It suits older children better than toddlers.

Getting around is about equally easy in both, but in different ways. All of Granada's centre is a walkable grid, so you go everywhere on foot, using a taxi or carriage in the midday heat. Getting out of town means crowded chicken buses or a hired driver.

In Panama City only Casco Viejo is easy on foot. The rest is a long strip of towers and highways, served by a metro that misses most sights, so in practice you rely on taxis and ride-hailing apps.

Panama City offers far more for shoppers. Its huge air-conditioned malls in Punta Pacífica and around Albrook draw buyers from across the region. For crafts it has Guna molas, Emberá baskets and tagua carvings.

Granada sells only crafts: hammocks, Pueblos Blancos pottery, rocking chairs, cigars and rum, and the better choice of these is at the Masaya market. Neither city has a shopping street worth strolling.

Your money goes much further in Granada. Courtyard guesthouses, street food, local buses and tours to the volcanoes all cost very little, and even the boutique hotels in old mansions look cheap to most visitors.

In Panama City everyday costs are low, but the places visitors tend to use are not. Rooms in Casco Viejo or the banking district, rooftop drinks and guided rainforest trips are priced like a mid-range Western city. Eating at fondas and staying outside the old town brings the cost down a good deal.

Neither city is a place to plan a trip around performances, but Panama City has more to offer. The ornate Teatro Nacional in Casco Viejo hosts the national symphony, and the Panama Jazz Festival brings well-known players every January.

Granada's music is informal: marimba players and folkloric dancers performing for diners on La Calzada, plus music and dancing at the saints' festivities. There is no stage season of any kind.

Neither city has a spa culture, but Granada is the easier place to rest. The town moves slowly, with siestas in shaded courtyards, a hotel pool and quiet streets once the evening cools. The lodges at Laguna de Apoyo add yoga and massage by the water.

Panama City is loud, humid and full of traffic. Its calm is limited to hotel pool decks in Punta Pacífica and early mornings in Casco Viejo, and most people who want a real rest leave for the highlands or the islands.