Guanajuato or San Miguel de Allende?

Neither town has any beach. Both sit high on the central plateau, many hours from either coast. In both, swimming means a hotel pool or a warm spring-fed pool in the countryside. San Miguel's springs are closer to town, while Guanajuato's balnearios mean a longer drive out.

Guanajuato eats cheaply and simply. Look for enchiladas mineras from its mining past, the food counters upstairs in Mercado Hidalgo, and small family places a few alleys back from the plaza terraces. It is satisfying for a few days, but the choice is narrow.

San Miguel has more range and more ambition. Chefs cook with nopal, mesquite and local cheeses in courtyard and rooftop restaurants, and there are mezcal bars and local wines too. The Mercado Ignacio Ramírez and the Sunday tianguis cover the cheaper end. Over a longer stay the menus begin to look alike, but it is still the better food town of the two.

Both towns are UNESCO-listed colonial centres where the streets themselves are the main sight. Guanajuato has a little more depth. Alongside the painted ravine, the basilica and the Valenciana church, it has real museums. There is the Alhóndiga de Granaditas with its murals and its 1810 history, Diego Rivera's birthplace, the Quijote museum and the famous mummies.

San Miguel is more about architecture and art schools than collections. It has the pink spires of the Parroquia, San Felipe Neri, the Casa de Allende and the unfinished Siqueiros mural at Bellas Artes, and you can see it all in two easy days.

Neither is a place to come for nightlife, and the difference lies in the crowd. Guanajuato's university gives its evenings a student character. Terraces fill around the Jardín de la Unión and Plaza San Fernando, and from Thursday to Saturday people move on to mezcal spots and a few dance clubs in old stone buildings.

San Miguel's nights are more grown-up. Drinks on a rooftop as the Parroquia lights up lead on to cantinas. The town is busy at weekends when visitors arrive from Mexico City, but on weeknights things wind down soon after dinner.

Neither town is a place for serious outdoor trips, and the outings differ in style. Guanajuato is for climbers. You can walk up out of the ravine to the Pípila or La Bufa, and further out there is oak forest with trails in the Sierra de Santa Rosa.

San Miguel's outdoor time is gentler and more organised. El Charco del Ingenio has cactus trails along a canyon, and you can add horse riding on the ranches or a dawn balloon flight over the dry valley.

Each town is the other's best day out, and both reach Dolores Hidalgo, Mineral de Pozos and the wineries. Guanajuato is handier for León and its leather trade. San Miguel has a slight edge. Querétaro is about an hour away rather than two, and the muralled Sanctuary of Atotonilco, Bernal's monolith and the Cañada de la Virgen pyramids are all close. Many of those smaller places need a car or a driver, though.

Neither town is made for young children. Both have steep streets that are hard with a pushchair, and neither has a zoo or theme park. Guanajuato gives older children more to explore: the funicular, the tunnels under the town and the singing callejoneadas, plus the mummies for teenagers with strong stomachs. San Miguel offers balloon sellers in the Jardín, warm spring pools, horse rides and fiesta fireworks.

Guanajuato is the easier town to get around, despite its stairways. Almost everything is close to the Jardín de la Unión. Cheap buses and taxis run through the underground tunnels to the outlying sights, a funicular climbs to the Pípila, and intercity buses leave from the edge of town.

San Miguel's centre is just as compact, but its uneven cobbles and narrow pavements make walking tiring. There is no airport in town, so you arrive by shuttle from Querétaro or León. Many day trips beyond Guanajuato and Querétaro mean hiring a driver or a car.

San Miguel is the place to shop for crafts and the home. Its stepped craft market sells punched tin, blown glass, papier-mâché and embroidery. Design shops around the centre carry high-quality talavera, rugs and carved furniture, and an old textile mill houses artists' studios and antique dealers.

Guanajuato's shopping is smaller and plainer: cajeta and candied fruit, majolica-style ceramics, silver and Cervantes keepsakes. For leather and shoes in quantity, people go to León.

Guanajuato is much the cheaper stay. Market meals, simple restaurants, taxis and museums all cost little. The exceptions are the boutique hotels and the terraces on the main plazas, and rooms during the Cervantino in October.

San Miguel is one of the pricier places to visit in Mexico. Colonial boutique hotels and central restaurants set their prices for foreign residents and weekenders from the capital, and rooms cost most at weekends. Prices fall quickly away from the centre, though, and the churches and streets cost nothing to enjoy.

Guanajuato is ahead, mainly because of the Festival Internacional Cervantino. Each October it fills the Teatro Juárez, the plazas and the university courtyards with theatre, dance and orchestras from abroad. All year, costumed estudiantinas lead singing walks through the alleys.

San Miguel's music is more casual. There are mariachis for hire on the Jardín, live guitar in the bars, and chamber music and jazz festivals in their seasons at the Teatro Ángela Peralta. The Alborada and Holy Week bring street music and dance.

For rest, San Miguel is far ahead. The mineral springs towards Atotonilco, with open-air pools and domed grottoes, are about fifteen minutes away. In town there are temazcal sweat lodges, yoga and day spas, and the courtyard-and-rooftop pace suits idle days.

Guanajuato offers hotel spas and massages, plus a half day at the Comanjilla springs about an hour away near León. Students and late street music keep it from being a quiet retreat.