Jaisalmer or Jodhpur?

Neither city has anywhere to swim, so in either one a hotel pool is the answer. In the hot months it is worth choosing a hotel that has one. Even the water you can see is for looking at: Gadisar Lake in Jaisalmer is for boating and sunsets, and Kaylana near Jodhpur is a reservoir.

Jodhpur is the better place to eat. Around the Clock Tower and in the old city, breakfast means mirchi vada and pyaaz kachori, followed by thick makhaniya lassi and mawa kachori. Laal maas, the fiery mutton curry from the royal kitchens, gives the city a signature dish to look for.

Jaisalmer cooks from the same desert larder, with ker sangri, gatte ki sabzi and dal baati churma, and its morning snack stalls and sweet shops are worth finding. But the food in Jaisalmer has less depth, and many rooftop places facing the fort fill their menus with pizza and pancakes. Beyond the heritage hotels, neither city has fine dining.

Both cities centre on a great fort, but Jodhpur offers more around it. Mehrangarh rises out of its ridge and holds one of the best museums in Rajasthan, and Jaswant Thada, the Toorji ka Jhalra stepwell, the Art Deco Umaid Bhawan and the cenotaphs at Mandore add range. The blue city spreads below the fort.

Jaisalmer's strength is unity rather than breadth. Its golden fort is still inhabited and contains a palace and Jain temples with extraordinary carved interiors, and the havelis of the old town match that standard. It is beautiful but smaller, and two or three days covers it.

Both cities are quiet after dark, and nobody should come to either for a night out. In Jodhpur, you might have a drink in a heritage hotel bar after dinner. In Jaisalmer, the evening more often ends at a dune camp with a campfire and a show that finishes soon after dinner.

Both cities are in the same desert, but the landscape around each is different. Jaisalmer has sand: the Sam dunes for crowded sunsets, the quieter Khuri dunes, overnight camel treks under a very dark sky, and the Desert National Park, where birders look for the great Indian bustard.

Jodhpur's desert is rocky scrub. You can walk the trails of the Rao Jodha Desert Rock Park beneath the fort, fly the ziplines over the ramparts, or take a jeep into Bishnoi country to see blackbuck and peacocks. Neither has hills, forests or rivers.

Jodhpur makes a far better base for day trips. Osian's early Hindu and Jain temples are about an hour and a half away, and half-day outings visit Bishnoi villages and the rug weavers around Salawas. Village fort hotels such as Rohet make a good lunch stop, and Ranakpur and Kumbhalgarh fit in on the way to Udaipur.

Jaisalmer's outings are short and few: the Jain temples at Lodurva and the abandoned villages of Kuldhara and Khaba, which are best combined with a dune trip. Anything further, such as Pokaran or Tanot, is a long drive for a modest reward.

Both cities suit school-age children on a winter visit, and neither has anything built for children. In Jaisalmer, the attraction is a fort that looks like a giant sandcastle and a night in a desert tent camp. Jodhpur has cannons and elephant howdahs at Mehrangarh, ziplines over the walls and a blackbuck safari, and a hotel with a garden pool makes it much easier.

Jaisalmer is easier to get around. It is a small town, and the fort, the havelis and Gadisar Lake are all within walking distance, although the lanes are uneven and the heat is tiring. You only need a car or jeep for the dunes and the villages beyond.

Jodhpur is more spread out. The market, the blue city and the stepwell are close together, but Mehrangarh means a steep climb, and Umaid Bhawan and Mandore need a rickshaw, with the fare agreed in advance, or a car and driver. Pavements are rare in both cities.

Jodhpur is the stronger shopping city. Sardar Market around the Clock Tower sells spices, bangles and silver. The nearby lanes specialise in bandhani and leheriya textiles, mojari slippers and lacquerwork, and the antique and furniture warehouses on the edge of the city will ship carved doors and chests home. You can even have a pair of jodhpurs tailored.

Jaisalmer has plenty of crafts, from mirror-work textiles to camel leather and carved sandstone, but much of the stock repeats from shop to shop and quality varies. In both cities, expect to bargain hard.

Money goes a long way in both cities. In Jaisalmer, a simple guesthouse with a rooftop view of the fort, a thali and a rickshaw ride all cost little, and camel treks and desert camps run at every level, with haggling bringing prices down. Costs only rise at the top end. The restored palace and haveli hotels and the luxury tented camps in the dunes charge international rates, and foreigners pay more than Indian visitors at the monuments.

Jodhpur is much the same, with cheap street snacks, family-run guesthouses in the blue city and a modest fee for Mehrangarh and its audio guide. Its converted palaces can cost as much as fine hotels anywhere. A car and driver for a day out to Osian or the Bishnoi villages is good value, though.

What sets the two apart is where you hear the music. In Jaisalmer it is mostly at dune camps, on hotel rooftops and in small shows near the fort, and the Desert Festival in winter brings folk dance and camel contests to the town and the sands.

In Jodhpur the same Manganiyar and Langa musicians play in Mehrangarh's courtyards and on heritage hotel terraces, and the autumn folk festival at the fort is the high point of the year. Neither city has a theatre or a concert hall.

Jaisalmer has only hotel spas and simple ayurvedic massage places, and the touts and heat in its lanes make the small town less restful than you might expect. The real quiet there is out of town, on a night at a remote dune camp.

Shaded courtyards, rooftop terraces at dusk and palace gardens are what give Jodhpur its calm, shutting out the horns of the old city, and the palace and heritage hotels add their own spas. Neither city has a bathing tradition.