Huatulco or Oaxaca?

Here the gap is as wide as it gets. Huatulco is a beach destination first. It has sheltered golden-sand coves such as Santa Cruz and La Entrega, wilder bays like Cacaluta reached by boat or a forest path, and sea warm enough to swim in all year.

Oaxaca sits in a highland valley at about 1,550m, with mountains between it and the coast, so in the city swimming means a hotel pool. The usual answer is to end a Oaxaca stay on the coast, and Huatulco is one of the places people go.

Both cook from the same Oaxacan tradition, but the city is where it is done best. Oaxaca has its many moles, the smoke-filled grill aisle of the 20 de Noviembre market, village mezcal poured in tasting rooms, and a group of chefs running tasting menus built on heirloom maize.

Huatulco brings that cooking to the coast, with whole fish grilled at beach palapas and honest fondas in La Crucecita. The choice is narrow, though, and Tangolunda's resorts lean on buffets. On the coast you eat well and simply. Oaxaca is the place to travel to for food.

Huatulco was built as a resort. Its sights, the painted dome of La Crucecita's church and the small Copalita site, fit into a morning.

Oaxaca is a UNESCO-listed colonial city built in green stone. It has the gilded Baroque interior of Santo Domingo, the gold from Monte Albán's Tomb 7 in the museum next door and a long tradition of painting and printmaking, and the Zapotec capital itself is twenty minutes away. In Oaxaca culture is a reason to go, while in Huatulco it is an afterthought.

Neither is a place for clubbing, but Oaxaca gives you more of an evening. Mezcal bars in the centre and Jalatlaco, rooftops facing the domes of Santo Domingo and the lively pedestrian Macedonio Alcalá keep people out later, with salsa and DJs at weekends.

In Huatulco an evening means dinner and a drink around La Crucecita's plaza or by the Santa Cruz marina. It is livelier in the winter high season, but for most of the year the town is quiet by midnight. Anyone after a party goes up the coast to Zipolite.

Huatulco has the edge, because its nature starts at the hotel door. There is a national park of dry tropical forest and cliffs, coral to snorkel and dive, humpback whales offshore from December to March and rafting on the Copalita River.

In Oaxaca the outdoors means mountains rather than sea. The Sierra Norte, an hour and a half away, has village-to-village walks through pine-oak and cloud forest, and the mineral cliffs of Hierve el Agua make a half-day out. Walkers will be content in Oaxaca, but for water and wildlife Huatulco is better.

Oaxaca is far better placed for outings. Within an hour lie the great cypress at Tule, the rugs of Teotitlán del Valle, the stone fretwork of Mitla and the mezcal distilleries of Santiago Matatlán, and the monasteries of the Mixteca Alta make a longer day.

From Huatulco the choice is mostly along the coast. Mazunte's turtle centre, Puerto Ángel and Zipolite are about an hour west and Puerto Escondido is about two, or you can spend a slow half day in the coffee hills. Oaxaca city is too far to visit from the coast in a day.

Huatulco makes the easier family vacation. Children can snorkel among fish in the calm shallows at La Entrega and Santa Cruz, Tangolunda's resorts have pools and kids' clubs, and the small town is simple to manage.

Oaxaca welcomes children just as warmly, and older ones may enjoy painting alebrijes or a chocolate-making session. The main outings, though, are ruins with little shade, and the cobbles are hard work with a pushchair. Neither city has a zoo, aquarium or theme park.

Oaxaca is the easier city to get around. Nearly everything lies within twenty minutes' walk of the zócalo, and colectivos or a hired driver make the valley villages straightforward.

Huatulco is spread across separate bays. Beyond compact La Crucecita and the walk down to Santa Cruz, you take taxis, colectivos or a boat, and a hire car helps for the coast villages. Distances are short, but you will rarely walk from one beach to the next.

Shopping in Huatulco means a stroll past the stalls around La Crucecita's plaza and in Santa Cruz. There, embroidered blouses, hammocks, mezcal and hill coffee share space with beach souvenirs. It is fine for a few gifts, but keen craft buyers keep their budget for later.

Oaxaca is where that budget gets spent. Cooperative galleries along the Macedonio Alcalá sell handwoven textiles and contemporary Oaxacan design, and the workshops are close by: black pottery at San Bartolo Coyotepec, alebrije carving at Arrazola and the weekly markets at Tlacolula and Ocotlán. Neither place has fashion brands or luxury streets.

Your money goes further in Oaxaca. Market meals, cheap taxis and colectivos to the villages, modest entry to the ruins and inexpensive guesthouses keep daily costs low. Only boutique hotels, tasting menus and the festival weeks push them up.

Huatulco can be done cheaply too, by staying in La Crucecita and eating at fondas, but beach life adds its own costs: Tangolunda's all-inclusives, boat tours and taxis between bays. Overall it is dearer than inland Oaxaca.

Oaxaca has a real performing tradition. The Guelaguetza each July brings dance groups from across the state to a hillside auditorium, and the Day of the Dead fills the streets with comparsas. Through the year the state band and marimba players perform in the zócalo, and the ornate Teatro Macedonio Alcalá hosts concerts.

Huatulco offers folk-dance shows in the resorts and the odd festival night on the plaza, but no theatre or concert hall. Outside the festivals, neither is a place to plan a trip around performances.

For rest the two are about level, and both offer the temazcal steam bath. In Huatulco it comes with full resort spas in Tangolunda and Conejos and a beach town that goes quiet once the boats are in, so the sea and the slow pace do much of the unwinding.

In Oaxaca the temazcal is often a ceremony led by a traditional healer, in the city or the valley villages, and there are also yoga studios, shaded courtyards and the gardens of Jalatlaco. Its festival weeks, though, bring fireworks and crowds.