Kuala Lumpur or Singapore?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Singapore at least lets you swim without leaving town. Kuala Lumpur is inland. Its nearest coast, at Port Klang, is mangrove and shipping water, and the real sand at Port Dickson is about an hour and a half away and unremarkable.

Singapore's Sentosa beaches are man-made, with tankers on the horizon, but the lagoons behind the breakwaters are calm and safe, and the Southern Islands of St John's and Lazarus are a short ferry ride away. In both cities the hotel pool does most of the work, and for proper beach time you go on to Langkawi, Penang or further.

Both are among Asia's great eating cities and share the same Malay, Chinese and Indian roots, so nasi lemak, satay and roti turn up in each. Kuala Lumpur's version is looser and more street-level: Jalan Alor after dark, Malay home cooking in Kampung Baru, banana-leaf rice in Brickfields and mamak canteens that serve at any hour.

Singapore comes out a little ahead because its hawker centres, such as Maxwell, Lau Pa Sat and Old Airport Road, bring dozens of specialist stalls together under one roof. Chilli crab, chicken rice and Peranakan cooking widen the range, and there is more serious fine dining above the stalls.

The two are evenly matched here. Both are young cities whose sights fill two or three days. Kuala Lumpur's sights are more spread out and more religious in character: the British-era buildings around Merdeka Square, the Islamic Arts Museum in the Lake Gardens, and the rainbow stairway up to the shrine at Batu Caves.

Singapore's strength is its museums, gathered in the Civic District, with the National Gallery's Southeast Asian collection and the Peranakan Museum close together. Its modern waterfront, from Marina Bay Sands to the Supertrees, is itself the main sight.

The two are broadly level, but Kuala Lumpur gives the looser night out. Changkat Bukit Bintang's shophouse bars stay busy late, there are bigger clubs for dancing into the small hours, and many evenings end over tea at a mamak stall.

Singapore is more about the drink than the dance floor, with skilled cocktail bars in Keong Saik and Telok Ayer, rooftops above Marina Bay and a small, orderly club scene at Clarke Quay. Heavy alcohol taxes make drinking expensive in both.

Both keep real rainforest inside the city, and the difference is what lies beyond it. Kuala Lumpur has the jungle patch by the KL Tower and the Forest Research Institute trails. Further out are the hill stations of Fraser's Hill and Genting and the firefly mangroves at Kuala Selangor, though traffic slows the escape.

Singapore's green spaces are easier to reach but limited: Bukit Timah, the MacRitchie treetop walk, the Southern Ridges, Sungei Buloh's wetlands and a bicycle ride around Pulau Ubin. Once you have seen those, the small, flat island has nothing more to offer.

Kuala Lumpur is the much better base for outings. Malacca, with its Dutch and Portuguese buildings and Peranakan cooking, is about two hours south, while Putrajaya, royal Klang and Kuala Selangor's hilltop fort make shorter days out.

From Singapore, an island city-state, there is little within a day's reach. Johor Bahru is across the causeway, but border queues eat into the day, and Bintan and Batam are resort islands more than places to explore. Even Malacca needs a night away from there.

Kuala Lumpur does better with children than you might expect, with the aquarium and science centre under the Petronas Towers, the bird park in the Lake Gardens and the Sunway water park. The catch is getting between them, as broken pavements and busy roads push families into taxis.

Singapore is clearly ahead. Mandai's zoo, Night Safari, bird park and giant pandas, plus Universal Studios and calm water on Sentosa, are bigger draws. Lifts, clean streets and air conditioning everywhere also make the days far less tiring.

This is the widest practical gap between the two. Kuala Lumpur's LRT, MRT, monorail and commuter lines cover the main districts, but they were built separately, so changing lines can mean long walks through confusing stations. Outside the centre the pavements run out, and most visitors rely on cheap ride-hailing.

Singapore's MRT is step-free, easy to follow and reaches nearly every sight, and you can tap a contactless card on both trains and buses. Pavements are good and covered walkways are common, so only the midday heat limits walking.

Both are mall cities. Kuala Lumpur's Bukit Bintang centres are vast, running from luxury flagships to whole floors of electronics, and the city has more market character, with batik, songket and pewter in the Art Deco Central Market and cheap stalls along Petaling Street.

Singapore still comes out ahead. Orchard Road and the shops beneath Marina Bay Sands carry a wider spread of brands, and Haji Lane and Tiong Bahru have the independent boutiques and design stores that Kuala Lumpur offers only in small numbers, mainly in Bangsar.

Kuala Lumpur is far kinder to the wallet. Hotels of international standard with rooftop pools cost much less, and hawker meals, trains and ride-hailing are all cheap. Only alcohol is expensive.

In Singapore the room takes the biggest share of the budget, even in plain mid-range hotels, and the wildlife parks and Sentosa charge high entry fees. Hawker centres, the MRT and the free parks keep everything else manageable, but the difference in hotel costs never goes away.

Neither city is worth travelling to for performances, but Singapore has more on in any given week. Kuala Lumpur's best evening is the Malaysian Philharmonic in its intimate hall inside the Petronas Towers. Beyond that there are large productions at Istana Budaya and a small jazz circuit around Bangsar and Changkat.

Singapore has the Esplanade by the bay, with free outdoor shows as well as its concert hall and theatre. Add the Singapore Symphony, the Victoria Theatre, touring musicals at Marina Bay Sands and Chinese opera at temple festivals.

The two are broadly level, and neither has a bathing culture, so the choice comes down to massage, spas and pace. Kuala Lumpur is better for walking in off the street for a treatment, with reflexology and several styles of massage all along Bukit Bintang at modest cost, and hotel spas that work with Malay herbs. What it lacks is calm. Traffic and heat follow you through most districts, so real rest means the Lake Gardens before the day warms up or a drive up into the hills.

Singapore's treatments lean more towards medicine, from Chinese clinics in Chinatown to Ayurveda in Little India, and its hotel spas are at their best with a pool high above the skyline. The city is busy and work-minded, yet orderly enough that quiet is easier to find, in the Botanic Gardens early in the morning or on the shaded paths around the reservoirs.