Kochi or Udaipur?

Kochi at least gives you a sea. The sand at Fort Kochi is for strolling past the fishing nets, but Cherai Beach, an hour north, is a long palm-backed stretch with warm water, safe to swim from November to March.

Udaipur sits inland among the Aravalli hills and its lakes are not for bathing, so any swim there means a hotel pool, ideally one looking over Lake Pichola.

Kochi is the better place to eat by some distance. Kerala cooking, built on coconut, curry leaf and black pepper, is distinctive, seafood is the strength, and the city's Christian and Muslim communities add beef fry, duck roast and Malabar biryani. Eating fish bought from the stalls by the nets is a highlight in itself.

Udaipur's Mewari dishes, dal baati churma, laal maas and refillable thalis, reward a few days of exploring the old bazaars, but the lakefront rooftops sell the view more than the cooking.

Both reward two or three days of sightseeing, but they tell different stories. Kochi's heritage is a mixed trading-port history: a Portuguese church where Vasco da Gama was first buried, the tiled Paradesi Synagogue, Dutch houses and the Hindu murals of Mattancherry Palace, with contemporary art filling the warehouses in Biennale years.

Udaipur is one royal ensemble rather than many layers. The City Palace, the Lake Palace and Jag Mandir on the water, and the havelis around the Jagdish Temple make a coherent, romantic picture that is grander to look at, if narrower in range.

Neither city goes out late, and both evenings follow the same pattern of sunset and dinner. The difference is the setting and the drink: in Kochi alcohol is tightly controlled, so a drink means a hotel bar or an Ernakulam lounge, and the evening is a waterfront walk, whereas Udaipur makes a sunset drink on a rooftop over Lake Pichola the easy centrepiece, with the odd lounge playing music at weekends.

Kochi's outdoors are watery and lush: kayaks and country boats through the canals of Kumbalangi, herons in the Mangalavanam mangroves, birdwatching at Thattekad and the falls at Athirappilly. The monsoon greens it all, though it also cancels plans, and the tea hills of Munnar need an overnight trip.

Udaipur offers gentler, drier scenery of scrubby hills and linked lakes, with boat rides, the Sajjangarh sanctuary and short hikes or cycles in hill villages. Its outdoor season is confined to October to March.

Udaipur is the better base for excursions, and they are major sights. The hill fort of Kumbhalgarh pairs with the marble Jain temple at Ranakpur, Chittorgarh is the most storied of Rajput fortresses, and the temple towns of Eklingji, Nagda and Nathdwara are close.

From Kochi the classic outing is a backwater day from Alappuzha, alongside the Muziris port sites and temple-centred Thrissur. They are characterful rather than celebrated, and congested roads stretch the journeys.

Ferry crossings, backwater boat trips and the fishing nets being hauled in all keep young children absorbed in Kochi, and there is a large amusement and water park on the eastern edge. Neither city is built for children, but Fort Kochi's slow pace makes it the gentler of the two, as long as outings fit the cooler mornings and you are careful with food and water.

In Udaipur, children enjoy the boat rides, puppet shows and the cable car too. The narrow old-city lanes shared with motorbikes and cows, and the punishing heat from April to June, make it better suited to older, history-minded children visiting in winter.

Water links Kochi together. Public ferries and the water metro make the harbour crossing between Fort Kochi and Ernakulam a pleasant part of the day, a metro line runs through the commercial centre, and the flat old quarter can be walked or cycled.

Udaipur has no public transport a visitor would use. Its old city is compact but steep in places and crowded with motorbikes, so everything beyond it means autorickshaws, ride-hailing cars or a hired driver.

Both are craft-and-bazaar towns rather than fashion destinations, so the choice comes down to what you want to bring home. Kochi means antiques and reproductions in the Jew Town warehouses, spices sold by Mattancherry wholesalers and cream-and-gold kasavu handloom, with a large mall for brands.

Udaipur is stronger on handmade art: miniature paintings from palace-side workshops, bandhani textiles, silver and puppets, plus the December crafts fair at Shilpgram. Expect pushier commission-driven selling near the palace.

Both are very cheap day to day, with low-cost meals, rickshaws and sights, so the budget turns on where you splurge. In Kochi the extras are a private houseboat, a heritage hotel or a residential Ayurveda course, and scarce alcohol keeps evenings cheap; in Udaipur the big outlay is the lake-view palace or haveli room, though mid-range lakeside stays fill the gap well.

Kochi has the more memorable performance. Fort Kochi's small theatres stage Kathakali every evening, with the chance to watch the elaborate make-up being applied, often alongside Kalaripayattu, and temple drumming fills the festival season.

Udaipur's evening fixture is the folk dance show at Bagore ki Haveli, backed by puppet shows at Lok Kala Mandal and musicians at the winter Shilpgram fair. Both are worth an evening, not a programme.

Kochi is the far stronger choice for restoring yourself. Ayurveda is Kerala's own medicine, with consultations and treatment courses lasting up to three weeks, shirodhara and oil massage at every level, and backwater resorts nearby for complete quiet.

Udaipur offers massages, yoga classes and lavish palace-hotel spas, and the lake at sunset is genuinely calming, but the peace stays inside the hotels while the streets remain loud.