Krabi or Penang?

Krabi's beaches are the reason to go. Railay West and Phra Nang, under sheer limestone walls, are among the most photographed in Asia, and island coves are only a short longtail ride from Ao Nang. From about November to April the water is calm and clear.

Penang's sea is just as warm, but Batu Ferringhi's long bay is often cloudy, and jellyfish appear at times. The better sand is a forest walk or boat ride away at Monkey Beach and Kerachut in the national park. On Penang a beach is an afternoon off from George Town, not a beach vacation in itself.

Penang is a place people travel to for the food alone. Its hawker stalls have cooked one dish for decades, from charcoal-fried char kway teow and sour assam laksa to nasi kandar, banana-leaf meals in Little India and slow-cooked Nyonya dishes, and breakfast is taken seriously.

Krabi eats well but simply. Its southern Thai curries, turmeric fish soups and roti are at their best at Krabi Town's evening market and riverside stalls, while Ao Nang's restaurants lean towards grilled seafood and milder dishes for visitors. In Krabi you enjoy dinner, but you would not plan the trip around it.

George Town gives Penang a real cultural core. It is a trading port where carved clan houses, Kapitan Keling Mosque, Sri Mahamariamman Temple and St George's Church stand within a few streets of one another, and Kek Lok Si spreads over the hillside at Air Itam. Two or three days cover it well.

Krabi offers little to match. The long climb at the Tiger Cave Temple to a hilltop Buddha is the one landmark worth planning around, and Krabi Town adds a riverside promenade and a few Chinese shophouses. In Krabi, culture fills a morning rather than a whole stay.

Neither place is a party destination, and both wind down early. Penang has a little more variety in George Town: backpacker bars around Chulia Street and Love Lane, cocktail bars in converted shophouses and a couple of clubs on Upper Penang Road. Alcohol taxes make every round costly.

Krabi's evenings are spent at beach bars, with hammocks, reggae and fire-spinning on Railay and a short run of bars in Ao Nang, and most places are quiet by midnight. Anyone wanting a real party night takes the ferry to Phi Phi.

Krabi's landscape is the main event. Limestone towers rise straight from the sea and the jungle, Railay and Tonsai draw climbers to hundreds of bolted routes, and kayaking through the Ao Thalane mangroves and around the Hong islands is outstanding. Inland there are the Emerald Pool and the hike up Dragon Crest.

Penang's green side is gentler and closer to town. You can take the funicular or hike up Penang Hill to the canopy walk, watch the monkeys in the Botanic Gardens, or follow the coastal jungle trails in the national park. These make good half-days out from the city rather than the heart of the trip.

Day trips play a similarly modest part in both places, but they differ in kind. Krabi's outings go by boat, to Phi Phi, to Koh Lanta's stilted Old Town or to the fishing villages of Koh Yao Noi, and often the scenery on the way is the point.

Penang's outings head across to the mainland and are about towns: Ipoh's colonial old town and cave temples, Taiping's lake gardens and the royal Ubudiah Mosque at Kuala Kangsar, all reached by road or train.

Both work reasonably well with children, and neither has a big zoo or aquarium. In Krabi the days revolve around the sea, with warm shallows at Klong Muang and Phra Nang in the dry season and kids' clubs at the larger resorts. Open longtail boats and strong sun need care with toddlers.

Penang offers more to do on land: the water park and butterfly park at Teluk Bahang, the funicular up Penang Hill, and mural hunting and trick-art museums in George Town. The drawbacks there are uneven pavements and heavy traffic.

Neither is especially easy, but Penang is the more manageable of the two. George Town's heritage core can be walked, with a free shuttle loop and trishaws for short hops, and buses and inexpensive ride-hailing reach the beaches, Penang Hill and Kek Lok Si, if slowly in traffic.

Krabi relies on songthaew pickups along the coast, taxis, hired scooters and tour transfers. Railay can only be reached by longtail boat, which stops in heavy seas. Beyond Ao Nang's beachfront strip there is little within walking distance.

Penang gives you more to browse. Chowrasta Market sells nutmeg products and local snacks, and Little India has saris, spices and gold. The lanes around Campbell Street keep traditional trades such as joss-stick makers and rattan weavers, and shophouse boutiques sell batik and Peranakan beadwork.

Krabi's shopping is mostly beachwear and souvenir stalls along Ao Nang's main road, plus Krabi Town's weekend walking-street market. Neither is a place for serious shopping, but Penang has more worth taking home.

Both are inexpensive, but the costs fall in different places. In Krabi, island tours, longtail fares and park fees add up, and a stay on Railay costs more than one in Krabi Town or Ao Nang. In Penang, meals and transport cost very little and most heritage sights are cheap or free, but heavily taxed alcohol makes evenings with drinks the expensive part.

Penang has more to see and hear, though much of it comes with the festival calendar. The George Town Festival fills old warehouses and shophouses with theatre, dance and music, and Chinese opera, getai stages, Thaipusam processions and lion dances bring performance to the streets in their seasons. In Krabi the nearest equivalents are fire-spinning on the beach, cover bands in bars and Muay Thai fights staged for visitors.

Krabi is the more restful place. There are massage shops on every street, and the resort spas along Klong Muang, Tubkaek and Railay have open-air pavilions facing the sea. Yoga is easy to find, and at the Hot Springs Waterfall near Khlong Thom warm mineral water runs into forest pools.

Penang has inexpensive reflexology and Chinese and Malay massage in George Town, and there are spas at the Batu Ferringhi resorts. The heat and traffic noise make the city tiring, though, so many visitors add a few days by the sea to rest properly.