Hanoi or Nha Trang?

There is no real contest here. Hanoi sits inland on the Red River delta, and its nearest sea at Ha Long, Cat Ba or Sam Son is a separate trip, so swimming in the city means a hotel pool or a water park by West Lake.

Nha Trang is built around its 6km sandy beach along Tran Phu, a few minutes from most hotels, with island bays for clearer water and the empty sands towards Cam Ranh or at Doc Let for space. Just avoid the autumn monsoon, when the surf in town turns rough.

Hanoi is one of the great street-food cities of Asia: pho at breakfast, bun cha at lunch, cha ca fried at the table, banh cuon, and egg coffee up narrow stairs above the lakes, plus bia hoi on the pavement in the evening. Many stalls have cooked a single dish for decades.

Nha Trang eats well too, especially seafood grilled at the table and local dishes such as bun cha ca with jellyfish, nem nuong and banh can. It has less range, though, and the tourist streets lean towards pizza and Russian menus, so you have to seek out the local places.

Hanoi has far more to see. The guild streets of the Old Quarter, Hoan Kiem Lake with Ngoc Son temple, the French Quarter's boulevards, the Temple of Literature, the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long and the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum fill several days, with the Museum of Ethnology and Hoa Lo prison adding depth.

Nha Trang's heritage is a single good day: the Cham towers of Po Nagar, the white Buddha at Long Son Pagoda, the cathedral and the small Yersin museum. Beyond these the town is mostly modern hotel blocks.

Hanoi has a little more going on, but neither city is made for dancing until dawn, and the two differ in style. Hanoi's evenings are early and street-level, with bia hoi on tiny stools, the crowded bars around Ta Hien, weekend promenading by Hoan Kiem and a quieter West Lake expat scene, nearly all winding down around midnight.

Nha Trang's nights are a beach-resort kind of lively, with cheap cocktails on the backpacker blocks, DJ nights and fire shows on the sand, and a few clubs that run later than anything in Hanoi.

Nha Trang has the better setting on its doorstep: a bay ringed by green islands, the protected reefs of Hon Mun for snorkelling and diving, and the Ba Ho waterfalls or the hills of Hon Ba for a half day inland.

Hanoi itself is flat and built-up, with West Lake's shoreline path as the main green escape. Its great landscapes, the limestone karsts of Ninh Binh, Ha Long Bay and the Sapa mountains, are spectacular but need an early start or a night away.

Excursions are where Hanoi pulls clearly ahead. Ninh Binh combines the old capital of Hoa Lu and the Bai Dinh pagoda with boat rides through the karst. The Perfume Pagoda lies up a river in a cave, and the ceramic and silk villages of Bat Trang and Van Phuc, the laterite houses of Duong Lam and the carved wood at But Thap pagoda are all close by.

From Nha Trang the choice is thin: the Cham towers of Po Klong Garai near Phan Rang, island fishing villages such as Binh Ba, and quiet bays along the coast. Dalat needs a night away, so most visitors simply stay by the bay.

Nha Trang is much easier with children. The beach is long and mostly gentle in the dry season, Hon Tre island packs rides, a water park and an aquarium into one day, and the mud-bath parks and resort pools fill the gaps.

Children are made welcome in both cities, but Hanoi asks more of parents. Its pleasures, the water puppets, the zoo and the village houses at the Museum of Ethnology, sit between streets of motorbikes and pavements full of scooters, and summers are heavy. Short outings from a hotel near the lake work best.

Neither city is easy on foot beyond its core, and in both the ride-hailing cars and motorbike taxis do most of the work. What differs is the layout. Hanoi's sights are spread across the Old Quarter, the French Quarter and Ba Dinh, close enough to walk but through dense traffic, with cyclos as a slow alternative.

Nha Trang is a simpler seafront strip where the promenade makes the main stretch pleasant to walk. The catch is arrival, with the airport at Cam Ranh about 35km away, and boats are needed for the islands.

Hanoi is the better place to shop. Whole Old Quarter streets still keep to one trade, Hang Gai offers silk and made-to-measure clothes in a day or two, Dong Xuan is the great covered market, and lacquerware, Bat Trang ceramics and hill-tribe textiles make good buys.

Nha Trang's shopping is local and limited: the round Cho Dam market for dried seafood, cashews and coffee, a night market of souvenirs, and regional pearls and agarwood. There is little else besides beachwear.

Both are very cheap by any Western standard, and Hanoi stretches money slightly further. Street meals, coffee, boutique hotels in the Old Quarter and ride-hailing cost very little there, and only cruises and international hotels push the budget up.

Nha Trang buys a lot of comfort for the money, with mid-range sea-view or pool hotels at low rates, but resort stays, the island park and dive trips add up. Seafood sold by weight on the tourist streets is worth checking before you order.

Hanoi has a modest but real stage life: water puppetry by Hoan Kiem Lake several times a day, the national symphony, opera and ballet at the colonial Opera House when they play, ca tru sung poetry in Old Quarter communal houses, and a long-running jazz scene.

Nha Trang offers almost nothing to plan an evening around beyond cover bands in beach bars and occasional folk or Cham music shows for tourists.

Nha Trang is the more restful choice. Its warm mineral mud baths and hot spring pools near Thap Ba are a half day found nowhere in Hanoi, the resort spas on the outer bays are calm, and beach mornings set a slow pace, even if the central hotel strip is noisy.

Hanoi's way to unwind is massage, with cheap foot and body treatment shops all over the Old Quarter. The city itself rarely lets up, so the calm moments come at dawn by the lakes or in the lanes around West Lake.