Jaisalmer or Rishikesh?

Neither town has anywhere to swim in open water, but Rishikesh at least gives you a shoreline. You can sit on its white sand banks along the Ganges or at the rafting-camp beaches near Shivpuri and watch the river. The cold, fast current rules out a real swim, so the most you can do is a dip at the ghats, holding the chains.

Jaisalmer has even less. Gadisar Lake is for boats and sunsets, so a hotel pool is the only water you will get into, and in the hot months that pool matters.

The food is about as good in both towns, but very different. Jaisalmer cooks for the desert, with ker sangri, dal baati churma and, in meat-eating homes, slow mutton curries. You can also find a beer on the rooftops facing the fort.

Rishikesh is strictly vegetarian and sells no alcohol. Its strength is the riverside café: terraces over the Ganges in Tapovan, chai by the bridges, and puri and jalebi for breakfast. Its visitor menus lean towards smoothie bowls and Tibetan or Israeli plates for yoga students, while Jaisalmer's tourist rooftops drift into pizza and pancakes.

Jaisalmer has the stronger sights by some way. Its twelfth-century fort is a UNESCO-listed citadel that people still live in, with the royal palace and finely carved Jain temples inside its walls. Below it, the merchant havelis, Patwon ki Haveli above all, add architecture of real distinction.

Rishikesh offers atmosphere rather than monuments. You cross Ram Jhula into Swarg Ashram, see the tiered Tera Manzil temple, watch the evening aarti at Triveni Ghat and wander the overgrown ashram where the Beatles stayed. It is moving to watch, but it has little historic building and nothing to match the fort.

Neither town is a place for going out, and the main difference is whether you can get a drink. In Jaisalmer you can have a beer over a rooftop dinner with the fort lit up opposite, or sit by a campfire out in the dunes. Rishikesh sells no alcohol at all, so evenings mean the aarti, a café terrace and perhaps a chant session, and most people go to bed early for dawn yoga.

Rishikesh is far stronger outdoors. You can raft the Ganges from Shivpuri, hike to waterfalls such as Neer Garh, drive up to Kunjapuri for sunrise and take jeep safaris in Rajaji National Park, with bungee jumping and ziplining for adrenaline. That is enough variety for a week.

Jaisalmer has a single landscape, the Thar. An overnight camel trek beyond the crowded Sam dunes, or out to quieter Khuri, ends with a night under a very dark sky, and winter birders visit the Desert National Park. There are no hills, rivers or forests to add variety.

Rishikesh makes much the better base. Haridwar and its huge aarti at Har Ki Pauri are under an hour down the river, and Dehradun is about as close. Mussoorie and Devprayag make longer days out into the hills.

Jaisalmer is remote, and its outings are short and local. The old Jain temples at Lodurva and the abandoned villages of Kuldhara and Khaba combine easily with the dunes. Beyond those, Pokaran and Tanot are long drives for a modest reward.

Both towns suit older children far better than toddlers, and neither has anything built for children. Jaisalmer's sandcastle of a fort, camel rides and a night in a desert tent camp tend to delight school-age children in the cool months.

Rishikesh suits teenagers who are old enough to raft, zipline and ride through Rajaji on a jeep. The fast river, steep hills and food-snatching macaques make it hard going with small children.

In both towns you get about mostly on foot, and neither has useful public transport, but they are laid out differently. Jaisalmer is compact. The fort, the havelis and Gadisar Lake sit close together, an auto-rickshaw covers short hops, and the dunes and Bada Bagh need a hired jeep or car.

Rishikesh stretches along both banks of the river. You link Tapovan, Lakshman Jhula and Ram Jhula by footbridge, riverside path, shared vikram or ferry, often walking uphill. Rafting put-ins and hilltop temples mean hiring a taxi.

Jaisalmer has the richer craft shopping. The fort lanes are full of mirror-work and appliqué textiles, camel leather, silver and carved yellow sandstone, though much of the stock repeats and sellers push hard.

Rishikesh sells one theme: yoga cottons, malas, singing bowls, incense and philosophy books. That suits a yoga student but offers little to anyone else, and neither town has fashion streets or department stores.

Both are very cheap places to stay well, and the difference lies in where the money goes. Rishikesh offers ashram rooms, shared autos that cost almost nothing and a free aarti. Jaisalmer has simple guesthouses with rooftop views of the fort and inexpensive thalis.

The bigger costs differ. In Jaisalmer they are the palace hotels, the luxury camps and the higher monument fees for foreigners. In Rishikesh they are rafting trips, teacher trainings and upmarket riverside retreats.

Jaisalmer has more to hear. The hereditary Manganiyar and Langa musicians, with kamaicha fiddles and khartal clappers, play most evenings at desert camps, on rooftops and in small shows near the fort. The winter Desert Festival adds folk dance and camel contests.

In Rishikesh the music is devotional and you join in: drums and song at the aarti, kirtan in ashrams and cafés, and now and then a sitar or bansuri recital. Neither town has a theatre or concert hall.

Wellness is the reason Rishikesh exists as a destination. It has ashrams with daily classes, silent meditation, long teacher trainings and Ayurvedic detox treatments, and the International Yoga Festival each spring. The busy bridges and constant horns are the one catch.

Jaisalmer offers only hotel spas and simple massage places. Its calm comes from an unhurried afternoon in a haveli courtyard or a quiet night at a remote dune camp.