Jakarta or Kuala Lumpur?

Neither is a beach city, but Jakarta at least has the sea on its doorstep. The bay itself is too murky to swim in, and Ancol's man-made beaches are for strolling and seafood. Still, speedboats from the Ancol marina reach the Thousand Islands, where Pari and Tidung have clear reefs and white sand good for snorkelling. It works best as an overnight trip.

Kuala Lumpur is inland, and the nearby coast at Port Klang is mangrove and shipping water. Port Dickson is the closest real beach, an hour and a half's drive away, and the sand is ordinary and the water rarely clear. Most visitors settle for a rooftop hotel pool or fly on to Langkawi or Penang.

Both are outstanding places to eat, and both are cheapest and best on a plastic stool. The difference is in what you eat. Jakarta's range comes from across Indonesia: Padang tables of rendang, Manadonese and Sundanese cooking, Betawi coconut beef soup, and a serious coffee culture built on Sumatran and Javanese beans. Glodok and the Blok M night markets are where to eat on foot.

Kuala Lumpur's strength is three cuisines side by side: Malay, Cantonese and Hokkien, and South Indian banana-leaf rice. The mamak canteens tie them together and serve roti canai at any hour. Jalan Alor, Brickfields and Kampung Baru make it easy to graze through all three in one evening.

Kuala Lumpur has more to see and an easier time showing it. The Islamic Arts Museum is among Asia's finest. The Moorish arches around Merdeka Square, the Lake Gardens museums, the hilltop Thean Hou Temple and the rainbow stairway at Batu Caves give a varied few days, with the Petronas skybridge on top.

Jakarta has strong individual sights. These include the old Dutch square of Kota Tua, wooden schooners loading at Sunda Kelapa, the National Museum's Hindu-Buddhist statuary, and Istiqlal mosque facing the Cathedral across the street. They are spread across a huge city, though, and the journeys between them eat into a day.

Jakarta is the late-night city of the two. Its big clubs with international DJs often run until dawn, some after-hours venues go on into the morning, and you can choose between Senopati rooftops, the looser Kemang strip and the rowdy bars of Blok M. The districts are far apart, so you go between them by taxi, and many venues quieten during Ramadan.

Kuala Lumpur's nights are smaller but easier to wander. Changkat Bukit Bintang puts pubs and open-air bars along one shophouse street, and rooftop bars look straight at the Petronas Towers. Plenty of evenings end the local way, over tea at a mamak stall.

Kuala Lumpur has much more green within easy reach. You can walk a canopy walkway through original jungle beside the KL Tower or the tall-forest trails at the Forest Research Institute, and the hills of Bukit Kiara are popular for hiking and mountain biking. Further out are birdwatching at Fraser's Hill and fireflies in the Kuala Selangor mangroves.

Jakarta is flat and densely built, with little more than Merdeka Square for green. Its real landscapes are the Puncak tea hills and the rainforest and summit of Gede Pangrango, about two hours away in good traffic and often much longer. The reefs of the Thousand Islands are its other escape.

Kuala Lumpur edges ahead mainly because of Malacca, a UNESCO-listed port town of Dutch, Portuguese and Peranakan heritage about two hours south. Putrajaya's lakeside mosques, royal Klang and the fort at Kuala Selangor make shorter outings.

Jakarta's outings are easier to reach than you might expect. The commuter train runs to Bogor's colonial Botanical Gardens, and the high-speed railway reaches Art Deco Bandung in under an hour. Banten Lama's sultanate ruins lie to the west. Java's biggest sights, Yogyakarta and Borobudur, still need a flight.

Kuala Lumpur is the easier city with children. Many of its attractions are grouped together: the shark-tunnel aquarium, the science centre and a free splash area all sit at the foot of the Petronas Towers, and the Lake Gardens add a walk-in bird park and a butterfly park. The food is also easy to adjust for young eaters.

Jakarta has plenty for children too, including Dunia Fantasi and the water parks at Ancol, leafy Ragunan Zoo and the miniature houses of Taman Mini. Getting between them is the problem, with long traffic jams, poor pavements and often poor air. A hotel pool and a hired driver make a real difference.

Kuala Lumpur is much easier to move around. Several LRT and MRT lines, the Bukit Bintang monorail and an airport express to KL Sentral cover the main districts, though changing lines can mean long walks through confusing stations. An air-conditioned elevated walkway links the towers to Bukit Bintang.

Jakarta has one clean MRT line along the Sudirman-Thamrin spine plus busways in dedicated lanes, and large areas are still a long transfer away. Most visitors rely on app-booked cars and motorbike taxis. In rush hour or rain, a short ride can take an hour, so plan each day around one district.

Both are big mall cities, but they differ in what you find outside the malls. Kuala Lumpur's Bukit Bintang strings huge centres together, linked to the mall under the Petronas Towers, so mall-hopping is easier. For local crafts, the Art Deco Central Market gathers songket, pewter and batik under one roof.

Jakarta is the stronger choice for cloth. Tanah Abang is one of Southeast Asia's largest textile markets, and whole floors next door are piled with batik from Java's batik towns, where bargaining is expected. The antiques and curios of Jalan Surabaya add a flea market that Kuala Lumpur doesn't really have.

Both are very cheap for visitors, Jakarta marginally more so. In both cities, hotels with pools cost little for what you get, street meals cost next to nothing, and heavily taxed alcohol is the one expense that adds up. Jakarta's large business hotels and cheap rides stretch a budget a little further, though its business-district restaurants charge close to international prices. In Kuala Lumpur, the Petronas observation deck and imported brands in the malls are the main exceptions.

Neither city is a place to plan evenings around performances, but each has its own strong point. Jakarta's peak is the Java Jazz Festival over one long weekend, and it is also a regular stop for touring concerts. Taman Ismail Marzuki and the colonial Gedung Kesenian fill in with theatre and traditional performance.

Kuala Lumpur's most reliable night out is the Malaysian Philharmonic's regular season in its intimate hall inside the twin towers, with large productions at Istana Budaya.

Neither city is restful. Both have heat, noise and traffic, so relaxing mostly means a treatment room or a hotel pool. Jakarta's speciality is Javanese body care, offered everywhere from neighbourhood salons to elaborate hotel spas: the turmeric-and-rice lulur scrub once given to brides, creambath hair treatments and pijat massage. For real rest, people go up to the cooler tea hills of Puncak.

Kuala Lumpur offers more kinds of massage. Foot reflexology parlours line Bukit Bintang, hotel spas offer Malay treatments with local herbs and oils, and there are even a few Turkish-style hammams. Within the city, the calmest place is the Lake Gardens early in the morning, and the hill stations are further out.