Guadalajara or Guanajuato?

Neither city works for a beach vacation. Both are inland and far from the coast, and swimming means a hotel pool or a spring-fed balneario. The small difference is that Guadalajara has Lake Chapala an hour away to look at, though not to swim in, and the beaches of Puerto Vallarta are a short flight away. Guanajuato is a long day's drive from either coast.

Guadalajara is one of Mexico's great regional kitchens. Birria, torta ahogada, carne en su jugo and pozole are cooked here in their home form, cantaritos and agave spirits fill the evenings, and Colonia Americana and Providencia add chefs and coffee bars working with local produce.

Guanajuato eats well but simply. Enchiladas mineras, the upstairs counters at Mercado Hidalgo and sweets such as cajeta are worth seeking out. Beyond the small family places a few alleys from the plazas, though, the choice runs out after a few days.

Guanajuato has the edge, because the whole town is the attraction. The coloured ravine, the old silver mines and the Valenciana church make one UNESCO-listed ensemble, and the Alhóndiga de Granaditas, Diego Rivera's birthplace and the Quijote museum add depth for a town of its size.

Guadalajara's heritage centres on one outstanding sight, Orozco's murals in the Hospicio Cabañas, set along a cross of plazas around the cathedral. Beyond that, Colonia Americana's mansions and Tlaquepaque's colonial streets are pleasant, and the museums are modest.

Guadalajara offers far more after dark. Mezcal and craft-beer bars and dance spots line the streets around Avenida Chapultepec, one of Mexico's best-known LGBTQ+ scenes centres on Americana and the historic centre, and dressy clubs in Providencia and Zapopan run past 3am.

Guanajuato's evenings are friendly but small. Terraces on the Jardín de la Unión and Plaza San Fernando lead on to student bars in the alleys, with a few clubs and not much happening before Thursday.

Guadalajara has more real green space within reach. Bosque La Primavera's oak and pine forest has trails and warm streams on the city's edge, the Huentitán canyon makes a hard hike down to the river, and Lake Chapala adds birdwatching and lakeside walks.

Guanajuato's outdoors is drier and smaller in scale. Its walks climb out of the ravine to the Pípila or La Bufa for the view, with oak forest in the Sierra de Santa Rosa further out.

Guanajuato makes the stronger base. San Miguel de Allende, Querétaro's aqueduct and historic centre, Dolores Hidalgo and the half-empty mining town of Mineral de Pozos give a run of distinct colonial outings, with wineries thrown in.

Guadalajara's excursions are fewer but strong. Tequila and its agave landscape are the highlight, followed by a gentle lakeside day in Ajijic and the round pyramids of Guachimontones. The mountain villages of Tapalpa and Mazamitla are a longer drive away.

Guadalajara is much easier with children. The zoo above the Huentitán canyon, the rides next door, the Acuario Michin, the Trompo Mágico museum and Parque Agua Azul give plenty of choice, although reaching them takes taxis.

Guanajuato suits older children who enjoy the funicular, the tunnels and the singing callejoneadas. It has little built for young ones, and its stairways defeat pushchairs.

Guanajuato is far simpler to get around. Almost everything lies within a walk of the Jardín de la Unión, with cheap buses through the tunnels to the outlying sights. The cost is effort, as the lanes are steep and you are at about 2000m.

Guadalajara's centre and Americana are walkable, but the rest of the city spreads along broad avenues. Light rail and the bus corridors help on some routes, and most visitors rely on ride-hailing to link the neighbourhoods.

Guadalajara is the better place to shop. Tlaquepaque's galleries of glass and ceramics, Tonalá's pottery market, the three floors of Mercado San Juan de Dios and the malls of Andares cover everything from crafts to luxury brands.

Guanajuato offers souvenirs rather than a shopping trip: majolica-style pottery, silver, sweets and leather at Mercado Hidalgo. Serious leather and shoe buyers head to León instead.

Both are cheap places to visit, with low-cost street food, inexpensive taxis and small museum fees. In Guadalajara, prices rise mainly in Providencia and Andares. In Guanajuato, the extra cost lies in boutique hotels and plaza-front terraces, and rooms become scarce during the Cervantino each October.

The two are broadly level, but they offer different kinds of performance. Guadalajara has mariachi as everyday music in the Plaza de los Mariachis and El Parián, and the Teatro Degollado hosts the Jalisco Philharmonic and the Ballet Folclórico all year.

Guanajuato's strength is the Cervantino, which fills the town with international theatre, dance and orchestras every October. For the rest of the year, the estudiantinas' singing walks through the alleys are the main show.

Neither is a retreat, and in both wellness means hotel spas plus thermal balnearios about an hour out. Guadalajara has the better escape in the slow lakeside pace of Ajijic and the temazcal at some retreats. Guanajuato is calm on a weekday morning but noisy with students and music late into the night.