Kathmandu or Rishikesh?

Neither place offers a swim worth travelling for, but Rishikesh at least has a river shore to enjoy. White sand banks run along the Ganges, and the rafting camps upstream near Shivpuri pitch their tents on river beaches. The water is cold and fast, though, so a ritual dip at the ghats, holding the chains, is as far as most people go.

Kathmandu has nothing of the kind. Its valley rivers are not fit for bathing, and the mountain rivers are for rafting, so a hotel pool is the only way to swim.

Kathmandu gives you more to explore. Newari cooking, with choila, bara pancakes, yomari dumplings and rice beer, is worth seeking out in the old bazaars, Patan and Kirtipur. Momos are on every corner, and the Tibetan quarter at Boudhanath adds noodle soup and butter tea. Thamel's tourist menus are uneven.

Rishikesh is a holy town, so it is vegetarian and has no alcohol. Thalis at simple dhabas and jalebi with chai by the bridges are good and cheap, and the Tapovan café terraces over the river are lovely places to sit. Their menus are much the same from one café to the next, though, and after a week the range starts to feel narrow.

Here the two are far apart. Kathmandu has a dense heritage that is still in daily use: Durbar Square with the house of the Kumari, Swayambhunath on its hill, the huge stupa at Boudhanath circled by pilgrims at dusk, and cremations on the riverbank at Pashupatinath. Patan has the finest of the valley's squares and a museum that explains Newari craft.

Rishikesh offers atmosphere more than monuments. You can walk across Ram Jhula to the painted ashrams of Swarg Ashram, watch the evening aarti at Triveni Ghat and wander through the overgrown Beatles ashram. Without museums or much old architecture, it doesn't take long to see.

Kathmandu has a modest night out, but it is a real one. In Thamel, trekkers fill the rooftop bars, pool halls and a few dance clubs until about midnight, and Jhamsikhel has the odd lounge bar.

Rishikesh has nothing comparable. Alcohol is not sold, and there are no bars or clubs. An evening there means the aarti on the ghats, a long dinner and perhaps a chant session before an early night.

In Rishikesh, the outdoors is right at the edge of town. You can raft serious rapids from the camps at Shivpuri, walk to the Neer Garh waterfall, or take a jeep safari in Rajaji National Park in search of elephants and perhaps a leopard. Bungee jumping, ziplining and kayaking fill out the list.

From Kathmandu the big mountains are closer. You can watch the sunrise over the snow peaks from Nagarkot or Dhulikhel, walk the oak and rhododendron forest of Shivapuri, or take an hour's flight past Everest. Langtang and longer treks also start here. Its rafting rivers, though, are around three hours away.

Both have a similar number of outings, but they differ in kind. Kathmandu has one outstanding day out: Bhaktapur, a former royal town of brick squares and tiered temples, which you can combine with Changu Narayan. After that, Kirtipur, Bungamati and Panauti are quieter variations on the same Newari theme.

Rishikesh offers more variety. There is the great aarti at Haridwar, the Forest Research Institute and Mindrolling monastery in Dehradun, the hill station of Mussoorie and the river confluence at Devprayag.

Neither is easy with small children, but Rishikesh does a little better with teenagers. They can go rafting (minimum ages apply), take jeep safaris in Rajaji and try the ziplines, and the vegetarian food is gentle on young stomachs. The fast river, steep lanes and food-snatching macaques still need watching.

In Kathmandu, children will enjoy the monkeys at Swayambhunath and the prayer wheels at Boudhanath. Beyond that there is only a small zoo, and traffic, dust and winter air make the days tiring. It works best for families heading on to a trek.

Rishikesh is easier to get around. Its districts are strung along the river, joined by footbridges, riverside paths and a ferry near Ram Jhula, and shared vikrams run along the main road. The walking is often uphill, and you need a taxi for the waterfalls and rafting put-ins.

Kathmandu's old city and Thamel are walkable, but once you leave them, the traffic takes over. The minibuses are hard to work out, so most visitors use taxis or ride-hailing motorbikes, and getting across to Patan or Boudhanath can take a surprisingly long time.

Kathmandu has much more to buy. Thamel sells pashmina, felt and trekking gear, though much of it is copies. Boudhanath sells Tibetan carpets and thangka paintings, and Patan's workshops cast their own bronze and copper statues.

In Rishikesh, almost everything ties back to yoga: cotton practice clothes, malas, incense, Ayurvedic oils and philosophy books around the two jhulas. Both places sell singing bowls, and you are expected to bargain in both.

Both are very cheap, and day-to-day spending barely registers in either. What differs is where the bigger costs come from. In Kathmandu, foreigners pay entry fees at the Durbar Squares, Pashupatinath and Bhaktapur, and trekking permits and mountain flights take most of the budget. In Rishikesh, ashram rooms and drop-in classes cost little, and the expensive items are rafting, multi-week trainings and the upmarket riverside retreats.

Neither has a formal stage, but Kathmandu has a little more to choose from. Bands play rock covers and Nepali folk in Thamel, and dinner shows stage regional dances. During Indra Jatra the streets fill with masked dancers, and an autumn jazz festival has been running for many years.

Rishikesh's music is almost all devotional. There is the singing and drumming of the aarti, kirtan sessions where visitors join in, and the occasional sitar or bansuri recital. It is a good place to take lessons yourself.

This is what Rishikesh is for. Dozens of ashrams offer daily yoga, silent meditation and teacher trainings, Ayurvedic clinics run multi-day treatments, and an international yoga festival is held each spring. With dawn practice and no alcohol, the whole town keeps the same rhythm, though the bridges and main road are noisy.

Kathmandu is more about meditation than retreat. Kopan and the other monasteries above Boudhanath teach Buddhist courses, and cheap massage is everywhere in Thamel. Because the city is so loud and dusty, though, finding calm means getting away from it, to a garden, a monastery or a hill retreat on the valley rim.