Jeddah or Riyadh?

This is where the two cities differ most. Jeddah lies on the Red Sea, with warm, clear water and coral close to the shore. The public corniche is better for strolling than swimming, so most visitors pay for a beach club or resort in Obhur, where jetties run out over the reef.

Riyadh is on the central desert plateau, far from any coast, so swimming there means a hotel pool or a water park. Anyone who wants sea and sand should fly to the coast, and Jeddah is the obvious place to go.

Jeddah has the more varied table. Its Hejazi cooking took in centuries of influence from pilgrims and traders, it has a fish market where you choose your fish and have it grilled nearby, and Al-Balad offers street snacks and sweets, especially on Ramadan evenings.

Riyadh's Najdi food is heavier and built around shared platters of kabsa and jareesh, often eaten in family sections with floor seating. Its real strength is coffee, with speciality cafés along Olaya and King Fahd Road, but there is much less street food. Neither city serves alcohol.

The two are about level, and both have a UNESCO-listed old quarter, but the experience is quite different. In Jeddah's Al-Balad you walk through living lanes of coral-stone houses with carved wooden balconies, with Nassif House and the souks between them. The rest of the city adds seafront sculpture and the Al-Rahma mosque rather than museums.

Riyadh's heritage is mud-brick and connected to the founding of the state: At-Turaif above the palm groves of Wadi Hanifah, Masmak Fort, and a National Museum that is far more substantial than anything in Jeddah. Either city is covered in two or three days.

Neither city has bars, pubs or a conventional club scene, and both stay up very late. In Jeddah the evening centres on the sea, with families out on the corniche and shisha lounges and dessert shops busy in the northern districts. Riyadh's late nights happen in malls, coffee shops and open-air entertainment zones, and it is somewhat more likely to have an alcohol-free club night or a large festival on.

Jeddah wins because of what lies under the water. Fringing reefs with walls and wrecks run along the coast, dive boats leave from Obhur, and the northern creek is used for kitesurfing and sailing. On land it is flat and hot, but the mountain roads to Taif lead up to cooler air and terraced slopes.

Riyadh's outdoors is entirely desert: the sheer drop of the Edge of the World, red dunes for quad bikes and overnight camps, and the green palm corridor of Wadi Hanifah. It is impressive, but it is a single kind of landscape, with no water sports and no mountains.

Neither city is a great base for excursions, but Jeddah has slightly more choice. Taif, about two hours up the escarpment, combines rose farms, old palaces and cooler air, and Muslim visitors have Mecca and Medina within reach by high-speed train.

From Riyadh the best outing is the restored mud-brick village of Ushaiger, which can be paired with old Shaqra. Apart from that, most trips go into the open desert rather than to other towns.

Children are welcome everywhere in both cities, including late into the evening, but Jeddah gives families a little more to do. The corniche has playgrounds and lawns, there is an aquarium and a seafront fun park, and calm, reef-sheltered water at the beach clubs suits confident young swimmers.

Riyadh relies more on indoor attractions: ice rinks and amusement parks in the malls, plus a zoo. Desert camps with camel rides add something older children will remember. Both cities need a car, and in both the summer heat keeps children indoors.

Both are car cities, but Riyadh is noticeably easier without one. Its driverless metro serves Olaya, King Abdullah Road and the airport, although the last stretch to a sight often still needs a taxi.

Jeddah has no metro and no useful bus network, and its districts stretch for many kilometres along the coast. Visitors rely on ride-hailing and sit in rush-hour traffic, and only Al-Balad and parts of the corniche are pleasant on foot.

The two are level, and both have large air-conditioned malls full of international brands and abayas. The difference is in the old markets. In Jeddah, the souks of Al-Balad sell gold by weight and perfumes blended to order. Riyadh's Souq Al Zal is the place for carpets, antiques, daggers and brass coffee pots. Neither city has much in the way of independent boutiques.

Jeddah is the cheaper of the two. Local grills and cheap ride-hailing keep everyday costs down, and the main extras are entry fees for beach clubs and the higher hotel rates during the pilgrimage seasons.

In Riyadh, hotels are priced for business travellers and mid-range restaurants are costly. Free or low-cost museums, cheap metro fares and inexpensive South Asian eateries help balance this, but a comparable stay still costs more.

The difference is between heritage music and arena shows. In Jeddah, the live performance you are most likely to come across is at heritage events in Al-Balad, where oud, drums and the mizmar stick dance carry on the old Hejazi tradition. Touring acts and comedy appear on open-air stages in the cooler months, but an ordinary evening offers little.

Riyadh has more on in its winter season, with bigger concerts by Arab and international stars and touring shows in arenas. At national celebrations you can see the ardah, the Najdi sword dance performed with drums and poetry. Neither city has a resident opera, an orchestra season or a theatre district, so check what is on before you book.

Jeddah's seafront resorts at Obhur give it the edge for a slower trip. A pool, a view over the Red Sea and long, easy evenings after sunset make a few quiet days possible there. The rest of the city, run on traffic and air conditioning, does not offer that.

Riyadh has no retreat like this inside the city. Its spas are in the big international hotels, much like Jeddah's, with massage and Moroccan-style hammam rooms, usually separate for men and women, and neither city has a bathing tradition of its own. For real calm in Riyadh you have to leave the hotels behind: spend a night at a desert camp, or a winter evening in the palm groves around Diriyah.