Guanajuato or Merida?

Guanajuato is a mountain town far from either coast, so swimming means a hotel pool or a trip out to a countryside balneario. If water matters at all, Merida is the only real option of the two.

From Merida, Progreso is about 40 minutes away on the Gulf: wide sand and warm, shallow, calm water. It is pleasant rather than beautiful, and the cenotes, clear freshwater pools in limestone caverns, are what most visitors remember. For Caribbean colour you still need a separate trip to the Riviera Maya.

Guanajuato eats simply and cheaply. Its signature dish is enchiladas mineras, there are food counters above the iron hall of Mercado Hidalgo, and street gorditas are sold around the plazas. The choice runs thin after a few days, and the terraces on the main square trade on their view more than their cooking.

Merida has a whole regional cuisine of its own, built on Maya technique, achiote, sour orange and habanero. Cochinita pibil at breakfast, panuchos, sopa de lima and papadzules make each meal different, from the stalls of the Lucas de Galvez and Santiago markets to the grand dining rooms in restored townhouses. Neither city offers much international or high-end dining, but the food alone is a reason to choose Merida.

Both are colonial centres painted in ochre, pink and blue, and both are rewarding, but in different ways. In Guanajuato the townscape itself is the sight: a UNESCO-listed ravine of churches, plazas and stepped alleys. Its history centres on silver and on 1810, when the Alhóndiga de Granaditas was stormed, and it adds the Diego Rivera birthplace museum and the macabre Museum of the Mummies.

Merida is a flat grid built over the Maya city of T'ho. Its cathedral was raised from temple stones, and the mansions of Paseo de Montejo show the wealth of the henequen boom. The Gran Museo del Mundo Maya is less a sight in its own right than preparation for the ruins outside town.

The two are evenly matched after dark: both are sociable student towns with mezcal bars and few proper clubs. In Guanajuato, evenings gather around the Jardín de la Unión and Plaza San Fernando and then move into small bars in the stone alleys, mostly from Thursday to Saturday.

Merida's evenings begin once the heat breaks and spill outdoors along Calle 60 and around Santa Lucia. They add rooftop bars over the old town and traditional cantinas where small plates arrive free with each drink.

Neither city is a serious outdoor destination, and the landscapes are opposites. Guanajuato is about climbing: up to the Pípila for the view over the rooftops, onto the rock of La Bufa for a half-day hike, or into the oak forest and bike trails of the Sierra de Santa Rosa.

Merida has no hills at all. Its landscape is underground, in the cenotes around Cuzama and Homun, which you reach by bicycle or by horse-drawn rail cart. The boat trip through the mangroves of Celestun to see the flamingos has nothing comparable near Guanajuato, though from April to September the heat limits outings to the early morning.

From Guanajuato the outings take you through some of Mexico's finest colonial towns. San Miguel de Allende, a UNESCO-listed town of cobbled streets, galleries and a pink-spired parish church, is the essential trip and is about an hour and a half away. Querétaro adds a second UNESCO historic centre with its long aqueduct. Dolores Hidalgo, where the independence movement began in 1810, has Talavera pottery workshops, and the mining town of Mineral de Pozos and the wineries make quieter days. Everything is within about two hours by bus or car.

Merida comes out ahead because its outings take you to the cities of the ancient Maya, and Guanajuato has nothing like them. Uxmal and the Ruta Puuc sites are about an hour south, Chichen Itza is about two hours east and pairs with Valladolid, and Dzibilchaltun, with its temple and cenote, is barely half an hour out. Izamal, painted yellow around its convent, and the restored henequen haciendas add colonial days as well, so a week here can mix ruins, towns and countryside.

Guanajuato suits older children who are happy to walk. The funicular, the road tunnels and the singing callejoneadas tend to go down well, but the steep stairways are hard going with a pushchair, and the mummy museum is too much for many young children.

Merida does more for younger children, with a free zoo and playground at the Parque del Centenario, the larger Animaya park, cenotes and the shallow sea at Progreso. Its drawbacks are fierce heat, uneven pavements and ruins with little shade.

Guanajuato is the easier town to get around. Nearly everything lies within a short walk of the Jardín de la Unión, traffic runs underground through tunnels, and cheap buses, taxis and a funicular cover the rest. The catch is physical: steep stairways at about 2000m make walking slow and tiring.

Merida's numbered grid is hard to get lost in, but narrow pavements and midday heat make walking hard work, and visitors find the city buses confusing. For the Puuc sites, cenotes and haciendas a hire car makes things far simpler, although the flat Yucatan roads are easy to drive.

Merida is clearly the better place to shop for crafts. It has hammocks in every size, guayabera shirts, palm-fibre Panama hats from Becal and embroidered huipiles, plus galleries in the restored houses of the centre and malls in the north for brands.

In Guanajuato the shopping is mainly souvenirs: cajeta and candied fruit, majolica-style ceramics, silver and Cervantes keepsakes from Mercado Hidalgo and the streets nearby. Serious leather buyers go to León.

In Guanajuato the extra costs depend on when you go. During the Cervantino in October rooms become scarce and expensive, and the boutique hotels and restaurants on the main plazas charge more all year. Otherwise market meals, buses and museums cost little, and with no car needed, daily spending stays low.

In Merida the extra costs depend on how much you see outside the city. Over a week of outings, a hire car and the entry fees at the major archaeological sites add up. The city itself is about as cheap as Guanajuato, and its courtyard hotels are reasonable for what they offer.

Guanajuato has one big October festival, while Merida has regular free shows through the week. The Cervantino brings theatre, dance and orchestras from many countries to the Teatro Juárez, the plazas and the university courtyards. The rest of the year is quieter, and the estudiantinas in minstrel costume, singing their way through the alleys, are the main performance most evenings.

Merida spreads its shows evenly through the year, so timing matters far less. The city puts on free performances in the squares, including jarana dancers, the trova serenade in Parque Santa Lucia and a re-enactment of the Maya ballgame in front of the cathedral. The Teatro Jose Peon Contreras adds the Yucatan Symphony Orchestra and ballet.

Merida is the more restful of the two. Hacienda hotels outside town offer spa treatments drawing on Maya traditions, and courtyard hotels in the centre have plunge pools and hammocks. The shuttered afternoon pace helps too, though from April to June the heat is more draining than relaxing.

Guanajuato has a hotel spa or a massage in a colonial mansion, and the thermal balnearios such as Comanjilla near León are about an hour away. Weekend crowds and street music late into the night keep the town itself from feeling like a retreat.