Huatulco or Puebla?

Huatulco is built around its beaches. There are nine bays of golden sand along the Pacific, with sheltered coves such as La Entrega and Santa Cruz where the water is calm and clear over coral. Wilder beaches like Cacaluta can only be reached by boat or by a forest path. Swimming is the whole point of going.

Puebla sits on a plateau more than 2,000m up, several hours from the Gulf coast, so swimming means a hotel pool or one of the spring-fed balnearios on the edge of the city. If you want sea and sand, don't choose it.

You can eat mole in both cities, but in Puebla food is a reason to make the trip. Mole poblano began in its convent kitchens, and everyday food is just as much its own: cemitas, small fried chalupas, tacos árabes, chiles en nogada in late summer and the sweet shops of the Calle de los Dulces.

Huatulco eats well but simply. The best meals are Oaxacan dishes and market breakfasts in La Crucecita and whole fish grilled at the beach palapas, while the Tangolunda resorts lean on buffets. Beyond that, the choice is narrow.

Puebla is one of Mexico's great colonial cities. Its UNESCO-listed grid of red-brick and Talavera-tiled house fronts holds the gilded Capilla del Rosario, the seventeenth-century Biblioteca Palafoxiana and the Museo Amparo, with the forts of the 5 May 1862 battle on the hill above. That is enough for several unhurried days.

Huatulco is a planned resort with a morning's worth of sights: the painted dome of La Crucecita's church, the small ceremonial site at Copalita and the quiet colonial church in Santa María Huatulco.

Neither city is a party destination, but Puebla gives you more to do after dark. There are mezcal bars and cathedral-view rooftops around the Callejón de los Sapos, student bars and small clubs in neighbouring Cholula from Thursday to Saturday, and clubs in Angelópolis.

In Huatulco an evening means a long dinner and a drink on La Crucecita's plaza or by the Santa Cruz marina, and most of the town is asleep by midnight. People looking for a party go up the coast to Zipolite.

In Huatulco the outdoors starts at the hotel door. The national park's dry forest, sea arches and coral patches are made for snorkelling and diving, humpback whales pass offshore from December to March, and you can raft on the Copalita River or visit waterfalls and coffee farms in the hills.

Puebla's landscapes are grander but further away. The snow-capped Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl fill the skyline, and La Malinche is a long climb to more than 4,400m. Almost every outing needs a car or a tour, and the parks in the city are modest.

Puebla has excellent outings all around it. The Great Pyramid of Cholula is half an hour away, close to the decorated village churches of Tonantzintla and Acatepec, and Huejotzingo has a Franciscan convent. You can pair Tlaxcala with the Cacaxtla murals, and Mexico City works as a long day.

From Huatulco the main outing is west along the coast, about an hour to Mazunte, Zipolite and Puerto Ángel, with Puerto Escondido further on. Oaxaca city is too far to see in a day.

Both cities work for families, in different ways. Huatulco is a beach stay. Children can snorkel near the shore in calm coves, and the resorts have pools and kids' clubs, but there is little else once they tire of the sea.

In Puebla the highlight is Africam Safari, where animals wander around your car, along with the tunnels inside Cholula's pyramid and the observation wheel. Most other sights are churches and museums, and altitude and traffic can tire small children.

Puebla's historic centre is a flat grid, and almost every sight is within twenty minutes' walk of the zócalo. There is no metro, though, and buses are hard for visitors to use, so getting further out means a taxi or ride-hailing.

Huatulco is spread across separate bays. La Crucecita and Santa Cruz are within walking distance of each other, but Tangolunda or Maguey mean a taxi or colectivo, and the remoter bays need a boat or a hire car.

Puebla has something worth buying in Talavera pottery, and some workshops let you watch it being painted. The El Parián craft market and the weekend antiques stalls on the Callejón de los Sapos add to that, and the Angelópolis malls cover the brands.

Huatulco has stalls of Oaxacan textiles, black pottery and alebrijes mixed in with beach souvenirs, and no fashion shopping to speak of.

Puebla is the cheaper of the two. Street food and market lunches cost very little, getting around town is inexpensive, and hotels in restored colonial houses near the zócalo are good value.

You can keep Huatulco reasonable by staying in La Crucecita and eating at fondas. The Tangolunda resorts, boat tours and hotel restaurants cost noticeably more, and prices go up in the high season.

Puebla has stages worth planning an evening around. The Teatro Principal is among the oldest theatres in the Americas, the university's cultural complex hosts dance and orchestral evenings, and trios and mariachis play on the squares.

In Huatulco, performance mostly means folk-dance shows at the resorts, the odd live band in a bar and music on the plaza during festivals.

Huatulco is the more restful place. It is low-rise and quiet, with full spas at the Tangolunda and Conejos resorts and temazcal steam baths at several eco-centres.

Puebla also has temazcales around Cholula and the sulphur pools of the Agua Azul balneario. But traffic outside the centre cuts into the calm, and relaxing there mostly means shaded courtyards and long lunches.