Guadalajara or Los Cabos?

Guadalajara offers nothing here. Lake Chapala is shallow and murky, so swimming means a hotel pool or one of the spring-fed balnearios, and visitors who want sand fly or drive to Puerto Vallarta.

Los Cabos is built around its coast. Medano Beach and the coves at Chileno Bay and Santa Maria Bay give calm, clear water on the Sea of Cortez side. The Pacific-facing beaches near Land's End have dangerous surf and are for looking at, not swimming.

Guadalajara has the better food and a far more distinctive cuisine. Birria, torta ahogada, carne en su jugo and jericalla are local dishes you will not find cooked the same way elsewhere. You can eat them at street stands and upstairs in Mercado San Juan de Dios, and Americana and Providencia add chefs who rework local produce.

Los Cabos eats well when it sticks to the sea: fish tacos, aguachile and the catch brought in by the sportfishing fleet. The best of it is in San José del Cabo and the farm restaurants in the hills. Around the marina and in the resorts, the food is generic.

Guadalajara gives you several days of sightseeing. The cross-shaped chain of plazas around the cathedral leads to the Hospicio Cabañas, where Orozco's Man of Fire fills the chapel dome. The Colonia Americana mansions and the colonial streets of Tlaquepaque add more to see.

Los Cabos has very little to compare. San José del Cabo's small plaza, mission church and gallery district fill an evening, and the arch at Land's End is a natural landmark rather than a cultural one.

Both cities go out late, but the nights are very different. Guadalajara has the nightlife of a big university city. You can choose between mezcal and craft-beer bars around Avenida Chapultepec, old cantinas that serve snacks with your drink, one of Mexico's best-known LGBTQ+ scenes, and dressed-up clubs in Providencia and Zapopan.

Los Cabos is a party town with one main style. Big, loud bars and clubs behind the Cabo San Lucas marina run into the early hours, and the Medano beach bars start drinking in the daytime. San José del Cabo is much quieter.

Los Cabos has the stronger outdoors, and nearly all of it is at sea. Humpback and grey whales pass the cape in winter and spring, the deep water off the tip is famous for marlin fishing, and Cabo Pulmo protects a living coral reef for divers. On land, the Sierra de la Laguna rises above the cactus desert.

Guadalajara's nature is gentler and closer to town. You can walk the oak and pine trails of Bosque La Primavera, take the hard hike down the Huentitán canyon, or go birdwatching in the hills behind Lake Chapala.

Guadalajara has the richer choice of days out, and they are all within about two hours. Options include the distilleries and agave fields of Tequila, the painted lakeside village of Ajijic, the circular pyramids of the Guachimontones, and the cool mountain villages of Tapalpa and Mazamitla.

From Los Cabos, the obvious trips are the adobe streets and galleries of Todos Santos and a long day in La Paz. A loop by hire car takes in El Triunfo and Miraflores. Beyond those there is mostly open desert.

Both cities work for families, but in different ways. Guadalajara has proper children's attractions: a large zoo above the canyon, the rides at Selva Mágica, a freshwater aquarium and the hands-on Trompo Mágico museum. They are spread out, though, so you will spend a lot of time in taxis.

In Los Cabos, family time centres on resort pools and kids' clubs. Calm coves for snorkelling, glass-bottom boats and whale-watching trips add to it, but there is no zoo or theme park, and children need watching near the Pacific surf.

Neither city is easy without wheels, but Guadalajara is simpler. Its long pedestrian streets join the central plazas, and light rail and the Mi Macro bus lines reach Zapopan and Tlaquepaque. Ride-hailing between neighbourhoods works well and costs little.

Los Cabos is two towns joined by a resort corridor about 30km long, with the airport well to the north. Most hotels sit apart from either town centre. Visitors rely on costly taxis, shuttles or a hire car.

Guadalajara is a serious place to shop for crafts. Tlaquepaque has galleries of blown glass and ceramics, and Tonalá holds a street market of hand-painted pottery. The three floors of Mercado San Juan de Dios are good for leather and boots, which are a regional speciality.

Los Cabos has duty-free malls at the marina and a few good folk-art and design shops in San José del Cabo. Much of what is on sale is aimed at cruise passengers.

Guadalajara costs far less than Los Cabos. Market meals, rides across town, small entry fees and plenty of free plazas and murals keep a stay cheap. Even its smart Providencia restaurants charge less than you would pay in Europe or North America.

Los Cabos charges international luxury prices for its corridor resorts, marina dining and taxis. Eating at San José del Cabo's taco stands helps, but a typical stay still costs a great deal.

Guadalajara is the home of mariachi, and you hear it in the Plaza de los Mariachis and around the bandstand of El Parián in Tlaquepaque. Each year the Encuentro Internacional del Mariachi brings in players from around the world. At the Teatro Degollado you can see the Jalisco Philharmonic or the university's folk ballet.

Los Cabos has almost nothing comparable. Evenings out mean cover bands in the bars, mariachi played to diners and resort dinner shows, with no theatre or concert season.

Los Cabos is the better place to unwind, as long as you stay on the corridor or near San José. The luxury hotels compete on their spas, with seafront treatment rooms, temazcal ceremonies and yoga on the beach.

Guadalajara itself is a busy metropolis. What it has that Los Cabos lacks is natural warm water: thermal balnearios on the edge of La Primavera and by Lake Chapala, with slow days in Ajijic nearby.