Hue or Luang Prabang?

Neither is a beach town, but Hue at least has real sand within reach. Thuan An lies about 15km away at the river mouth. The prettier curve of Lang Co, between lagoon and sea, makes a good day out in the calm summer months.

Luang Prabang has no sea at all, and nobody swims in its fast brown rivers. Swimming there means the turquoise pools below the Kuang Si and Tad Sae falls. They are lovely for a forest dip, but they don't replace a day on the sand.

Hue is the stronger place to eat. Its cooking comes from the imperial kitchens, so you get bun bo Hue, steamed banh beo, crisp banh khoai and clam rice from the river. The many pagodas also give it a strong vegetarian tradition, and Dong Ba market is good for sweet che.

Luang Prabang has its own Lao dishes, such as or lam stew, jeow bong chilli paste and river-weed kaipen, as well as French-style bakeries and good coffee. The range is small, though, and the same set menus soon come round again.

Hue has more to see and on a much bigger scale. The moated citadel holds the Imperial City and the Forbidden Purple City, partly restored and partly in ruins, and the emperors' tombs spread through the hills upriver, each in its own style. Thien Mu pagoda and the royal antiquities museum easily fill a third day.

Luang Prabang works the other way. The whole UNESCO-listed old town is the sight: more than thirty monasteries led by Wat Xieng Thong, set among colonial shophouses, with novices in saffron robes and the dawn alms round as part of daily life. It feels more intimate and more alive with religion, but its museums are small.

Both are early-night towns, but Hue has a bit more going on after dark. A few streets near the river on the south bank have loud backpacker bars and happy hours, and locals sit late at street-side beer places with grilled snacks.

In Luang Prabang, the garden bars and riverside terraces close under a town curfew around midnight. After that the streets go dark and silent.

Luang Prabang has the wilder setting. Steep green hills surround the town, the Kuang Si falls tumble through the forest, and slow boats run up the Mekong past limestone cliffs. Kayaking on the Nam Khan and treks to Hmong and Khmu villages are easy to arrange from town.

Hue's countryside is flatter and gentler: cycling through rice fields, and fish traps and sunsets on the Tam Giang lagoon. For something bigger you have to go further, to the forests of Bach Ma or the Hai Van Pass, and the autumn floods shut most of it for months.

Hue has the better choice of days out. North lie the Vinh Moc tunnels, the Hien Luong bridge and Khe Sanh in the old Demilitarised Zone. South, the road or the coastal train crosses the Hai Van Pass to Da Nang, with Hoi An beyond for those moving on.

From Luang Prabang, the main trip is by boat to the Pak Ou caves and their thousands of Buddha images, with weaving villages close by. The railway puts karst-ringed Vang Vieng and the capital Vientiane within a day's reach, but there is less variety overall.

Neither town is built for children, and they suit families about equally, with older children rather than toddlers. Hue keeps them busy in town with dragon boat and cyclo rides, the wide Citadel grounds and village cycling, but the autumn rain can wear a family down.

Luang Prabang has one outing that children love, the bear sanctuary and swimming pools at Kuang Si. Its quiet streets are easy to walk together, but medical care is limited and village roads are rough.

Luang Prabang is the easier of the two. Almost everything sits on a flat peninsula a short walk or bike ride apart, with light traffic. Only the waterfalls, villages and the station need a tuk-tuk or a driver.

Hue's centre is also small and flat, but parked motorbikes and stalls block the pavements, and crossing the road takes some nerve. The royal tombs are several kilometres upriver, so seeing them means a taxi, a motorbike driver, a boat or a tour.

Luang Prabang is the better place for crafts. Every evening the long night market sells woven silk, Hmong embroidery and mulberry-paper lanterns. The weaving studios in town and in nearby villages sell real quality, often dyed in front of you.

Shopping in Hue is more about daily needs, centred on the crowded Dong Ba market. Its own specialities are worth taking home: conical hats with poems hidden in the leaf, sesame candy and incense from Thuy Xuan.

Both are cheap, but Hue is the cheaper. Comfortable guesthouses, stall meals and cyclos cost almost nothing, and the main extra costs are tickets for the Citadel and the tombs.

Luang Prabang is still inexpensive for market food, massages and simple rooms. As the most expensive stop in Laos, though, its restored boutique hotels, wine lists and imported goods can push the bill well up.

Hue has more to offer in the evening. Nguyen court music, nha nhac, is performed in the Citadel, and ca Hue singers perform on dragon boats on the Perfume River among floating lanterns. The long-running Hue Festival adds a wider programme in its season.

Luang Prabang's one real performance is the masked Phralak Phralam, the Lao Ramayana, at the Royal Palace theatre, plus a few folk evenings.

Luang Prabang is better for unwinding. The days run from the alms round to sunset over the Mekong, and the town has wooden herbal saunas scented with lemongrass, gentle Lao massage and garden spas with yoga by the river.

Hue has a calmer pace than most Vietnamese cities, with pagodas, Kim Long garden houses and tai chi by the river at dawn. For a proper soak, though, you need a day trip to the Thanh Tan hot springs.