Guanajuato or Los Cabos?

There is no real contest here. Guanajuato lies in the mountains, a long way from either coast, so swimming means a hotel pool or a trip out to a warm balneario in the countryside.

Los Cabos is built around its beaches, but you need to pick the side carefully. Medano and the coves along the corridor on the Sea of Cortez are calm and good for snorkelling. The Pacific beaches, such as Playa del Divorcio, have surf and undertow that make them for looking at only.

Los Cabos eats better, mostly thanks to the sea: fish tacos, ceviche and aguachile, with Baja wines to go with them. The best of it is in San José del Cabo and at the farm restaurants in the hills, not at the marina grills of Cabo San Lucas.

Guanajuato is simpler and much cheaper. Look for enchiladas mineras, the upstairs counters of Mercado Hidalgo and gorditas around the plazas. The range narrows after a few days, though, and the terraces on the Jardín de la Unión sell the view more than the cooking.

This is where Guanajuato pulls far ahead. The whole town is the sight: painted houses climbing a ravine, the baroque Valenciana church, the Alhóndiga where the fighting of 1810 began, Diego Rivera's birthplace and the famous mummies. That is enough for two or three full days.

Los Cabos has little to set against it beyond the small colonial-style centre and mission church of San José del Cabo, with its weekly art walk in season. The arch at Land's End is scenery, not heritage.

Los Cabos goes out harder. The bars and clubs behind the Cabo San Lucas marina run into the early hours and the Medano beach bars get going in the afternoon. The scene is loud rather than varied, and San José stays quiet.

Guanajuato's evenings are smaller and friendlier, and students set the tone. Nights start on the terraces of the Jardín de la Unión and Plaza San Fernando, then move on to mezcal bars in old stone buildings, and they are busiest from Thursday to Saturday.

Los Cabos has the stronger outdoors, and almost all of it is at sea: humpback and grey whales in winter, marlin fishing, boats out to the sea lions at Land's End and the living reef of Cabo Pulmo. On land, the Sierra de la Laguna offers serious hiking, though summer heat cuts it short.

In Guanajuato, the outdoors means climbing out of the ravine for the views, up to the Pípila or onto La Bufa. Further out, the Sierra de Santa Rosa has oak forest and bike trails. It is good country for walkers, but there is no water.

Guanajuato is the better base for excursions. San Miguel de Allende is about an hour and a half away and Dolores Hidalgo and León are closer still. Querétaro and the half-abandoned mining town of Mineral de Pozos fill out a week of colonial towns.

From Los Cabos the list is shorter and you need a car. The options are Todos Santos up the Pacific coast, a long day to La Paz, or a loop through El Triunfo and Miraflores. Beyond those there is mostly open desert.

Los Cabos is easier with children, as long as you stay at a resort with pools and a kids' club and stick to calm coves such as Chileno Bay. Glass-bottom boats and whale-watching fill the gaps, though the Pacific surf needs watching.

Guanajuato suits older children who can manage long stairways at altitude and will enjoy the funicular, the tunnels and the singing callejoneadas. With a pushchair, or with young children who would find the mummies too much, it is hard going.

Guanajuato is far easier to get around once you arrive. Almost everything is a short walk from the Jardín de la Unión, and cheap buses and taxis run through the tunnels beneath the town. The catch is the steep lanes and stairways at about 2000m.

Los Cabos is spread over two towns and a 30km resort corridor, so most visitors rely on taxis, shuttles or a hire car. You will also need your own wheels to reach Todos Santos or the East Cape.

Neither city is a shopping destination; the difference is in what is for sale. Guanajuato means crafts and sweets: majolica-style ceramics, silver, leather goods and cajeta in Mercado Hidalgo, with León nearby for shoes in quantity. Los Cabos has duty-free brands in the marina malls of Cabo San Lucas and better galleries and folk-art shops in San José del Cabo, much of it aimed at cruise visitors.

The gap is wide. Guanajuato is cheap to eat, sleep and travel in. The main exceptions are the boutique hotels and the restaurants on the plazas, and October's Cervantino, when rooms become scarce.

Los Cabos is among the most expensive places in Mexico, with resort rooms and marina dining priced like a beach resort in the United States, plus costly taxis. Staying in San José del Cabo and eating at taco stands helps, but it is still an expensive trip.

Guanajuato has a real stage life and Los Cabos has almost none. Each October the Festival Internacional Cervantino fills the Teatro Juárez, the plazas and the university courtyards. All year, estudiantinas lead singing walks through the alleys most evenings, though outside the festival the regular programme is modest.

In Los Cabos, live music means cover bands in the Cabo San Lucas bars, mariachi over dinner and resort shows. There is no theatre or concert season to plan around.

Los Cabos is the more restful choice if you stay along the corridor or in San José. The luxury hotels there compete on their spas, with sea-facing treatment rooms, beach yoga and temazcal ceremonies, while Cabo San Lucas itself is noisy.

Guanajuato offers hotel spas, massages in old mansions and thermal balnearios such as Comanjilla near León, about an hour away. Late-night street music and weekend crowds keep the town itself from feeling like a retreat.