Hua Hin or Penang?

Hua Hin is the beach destination of the two. Its main sand runs for kilometres from the old fishing pier to Khao Takiab, the Gulf is usually calm and easy for swimming, and Khao Tao and the empty shore towards Pranburi are close by for quieter days. Neither sea is clear, but in Hua Hin the beach is right on your doorstep.

Penang's water is just as warm, but Batu Ferringhi is forty minutes from George Town, the sea there is often cloudy, and many people end up in the hotel pool. The cleaner coves at Monkey Beach and Kerachut need a forest walk or a boat ride. Plan beach time in Penang as an afternoon, not as the reason for the trip.

Penang is by far the stronger place to eat. Hokkien, Malay, Tamil Muslim and Nyonya traditions meet at single-dish hawker stalls, from charcoal-fried char kway teow to assam laksa and nasi kandar. Breakfast alone is worth planning around, before the favourite stalls sell out.

Hua Hin eats well in a simpler way: crab and whole fish grilled at the stilted restaurants by the old pier, and satay and mango sticky rice at the Dechanuchit Road night market. It is good provincial Thai cooking, but nobody plans a trip around it the way people do for George Town.

George Town gives a culture trip real substance. In this UNESCO-listed port, the carved Khoo Kongsi, the indigo Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, a mosque, a Hindu temple and an Anglican church stand within a few streets of each other, with the clan jetties nearby and Kek Lok Si on the hill at Air Itam. The pleasure lies in the whole townscape, walked over two or three days.

Hua Hin's story is its royal seaside past, which you see in the railway station's royal pavilion and the teak palace of Maruekhathaiyawan, plus the temples on Khao Takiab. It fills a day or two, and the main palace is rarely open to visitors.

Neither is a place for a big night out, so the difference is in character. Hua Hin's evenings are concentrated in a few old-town lanes around Soi Bintabaht, full of beer bars, sports screens and hostess bars aimed at older Western men, with a few rooftops for sunset. They stay lively past midnight but offer little variety.

Penang spreads its drinking more widely, with backpacker bars on Chulia Street and Love Lane, cocktail bars in converted shophouses and a couple of clubs on Upper Penang Road. It closes earlier, and the night often ends at a hawker stall.

Hua Hin has the bigger landscapes within reach. Khao Sam Roi Yot, an hour south, has limestone peaks, marshes and the Phraya Nakhon cave with its pavilion in a shaft of light. Inland, Kaeng Krachan's rainforest holds gibbons, hornbills and wild elephants, and from February to May the steady wind draws kitesurfers.

Penang's nature is closer to town but smaller in scale. You can take the funicular up Penang Hill to cooler air and canopy walks, walk the monkey-lined paths from the Botanic Gardens, or follow the jungle trails along the coast in the national park. All of it fits easily around a city stay, but there is no real wilderness.

Hua Hin is better placed for days out. Phetchaburi, an hour north, has a hilltop palace, the light-filled Khao Luang cave and some of Thailand's finest temple murals. Amphawa's canals and the Damnoen Saduak floating market make a longer but rewarding day.

From Penang, outings mean crossing to the mainland. Ipoh's cave temples and old town are about two hours away, and Taiping's lake gardens and the royal Ubudiah Mosque at Kuala Kangsar are quieter options. Most visitors find enough on the island and stay put.

Hua Hin is the easier family base. A gentle sea, resorts with kids' clubs and large pools, two water parks and pony rides on the beach fill the days with little planning. The busy highway and the midday heat mean families get about by car or taxi.

Penang can work well with children, but only if you split the stay between George Town and a resort at Batu Ferringhi. Penang Hill, the butterfly park and hunting for the street murals make good outings. The broken five-foot ways, heavy traffic and the lack of a zoo or aquarium make days in town harder work.

Both are hard work on foot and both rely on ride-hailing, but they are laid out very differently. Hua Hin is a long ribbon of resorts along a busy highway, with green songthaews running up and down the strip. A car with a driver is the practical way to reach its parks and palaces.

Penang has a compact heritage core with a free shuttle, trishaws and rental bicycles, and buses reach the hill, Kek Lok Si and the north coast, though slowly in traffic. You can manage there without a car, which is harder to do on Hua Hin's outings.

Hua Hin's shopping is at its weekend art-and-craft markets on the southern side of town, where handmade jewellery, ceramics and clothing are sold under the trees in the evening. Beyond them there are tailors along the tourist streets and a couple of malls for everyday brands.

In George Town you browse working trades instead. Joss-stick makers and rattan weavers work around Campbell Street, Little India sells saris, spices and gold, Chowrasta Market has nutmeg goods, and small shophouse boutiques stock batik and Peranakan beadwork. Neither city is worth a trip for shopping alone, but Penang's old town gives an afternoon's wandering more to find.

Both are cheap places to travel, and the costs rise in similar places. In Hua Hin, market meals, massages and songthaews keep the days inexpensive, but room rates climb at weekends when Thai visitors arrive, so midweek is cheaper.

In Penang, hawker food and ride-hailing cost very little, and the extra spending goes on restored shophouse hotels. In both places alcohol is heavily taxed, so evenings with drinks cost far more than days spent eating.

Penang has more to offer, though most of it depends on the season. The George Town Festival brings theatre and dance into warehouses and shophouses for several weeks a year, and Straits Quay has a performing arts centre. The street calendar adds Chinese opera during the Hungry Ghost month, Thaipusam processions and lion dances.

Hua Hin has cover bands, dance shows for resort guests and, in some years, a beach jazz festival. There is no regular concert or theatre programme at all.

Hua Hin is built for rest. It is home to some of Asia's best-known residential spa retreats, with detox, yoga and traditional treatments in seafront gardens. Almost every resort has a spa and massages on the beach are part of the day, and the rhythm of early swims and pool afternoons suits the place.

Penang has cheap reflexology and Chinese and Malay massage all around George Town. The heat and traffic noise in town get in the way of real rest, though, and most people who want to unwind add a few days at a Batu Ferringhi resort.