Leh or Rishikesh?

Neither town is a place to swim. Leh has nothing at all: the Indus and the high lakes are fed by snowmelt and are for looking at or rafting.

Rishikesh at least has the white sand banks of the Ganges and the camp beaches near Shivpuri, where you can sit by the water. Its fast current means a ritual dip at the ghats, holding the chains, is as far as most people go.

Both kitchens are simple and filling, and the rooftop cafés serving trekkers and yoga students offer much the same pizza and Israeli menus. Rishikesh has a little more depth. Its vegetarian thalis, puri and jalebi breakfasts and chai stalls by the bridges give a fuller day of eating, though meat and alcohol are not sold in the holy town.

Leh's draw is Tibetan and Ladakhi comfort food, such as momos, thenthuk, skyu and salty butter tea, along with its famous apricots. Much of its café scene closes outside summer.

Both towns hold about the same amount to see, but of very different kinds. Leh has real architecture: the nine-storey Leh Palace modelled on the Potala, the Namgyal Tsemo fort ridge above it, a mud-brick old town of chortens and lanes, and the Shanti Stupa at sunset. Its town sights take a day or two.

Rishikesh offers atmosphere rather than monuments. There are the painted ashrams of Swarg Ashram, the tiered Tera Manzil temple, the nightly aarti at Triveni Ghat and the overgrown Beatles ashram in the forest. Seeing it all takes a little longer, two or three days.

Neither town has any nightlife to speak of. Leh at least has a few rooftops where you can have a beer with a late dinner. In Rishikesh there is no alcohol at all, and evenings mean the aarti, a café terrace and perhaps a chant session before bed.

Leh has the bigger landscape. The bare, multicoloured Indus valley lies beneath the Stok range, with the Markha valley trek, the road up Khardung La and rafting on the Zanskar close by. Further out are the Nubra dunes and Pangong Tso, and in winter there is snow leopard tracking and the Chadar trek. Plan on a few days of acclimatising first.

Rishikesh is greener and lower. It has forested Shivalik ridges, strong rapids above Shivpuri, waterfall hikes, and jeep safaris for elephants in Rajaji National Park. It also adds organised thrills such as bungee jumping and ziplining.

Leh has the richer list of day trips, though nearly every outing is a monastery or palace. Thiksey and Shey are close, Hemis is about an hour away, and a full day west reaches the thousand-year-old painted temples at Alchi.

Rishikesh offers more variety but less brilliance. There is the vast evening aarti at Haridwar, the Forest Research Institute in Dehradun, the hill station of Mussoorie and the river confluence at Devprayag.

Both towns are hard going with small children, but Rishikesh is the easier of the two. Teenagers can raft, zipline and join Rajaji safaris, and the vegetarian food is gentle on young stomachs, though the fast river, the macaques and the motorbikes need watching.

Leh adds the risk of altitude sickness, reached in a single flight, and long mountain drives. That makes it realistic only for robust older teenagers.

Rishikesh is the easier town to move around. Footbridges, riverside paths, river ferries and cheap shared vikrams link its quarters, even if the paths are often uphill.

Leh's centre can be walked, but the slopes are tiring in the thin air. Anything beyond town means the fixed-rate taxi union, a hired motorbike or a shared jeep on long mountain roads, and some passes close in winter.

Each town has one theme of its own, and neither is a reason to travel. Leh's Main Bazaar sells pashmina, thangkas, turquoise jewellery and good trekking gear. The lanes of Rishikesh are given over to yoga clothes, malas, Ayurvedic oils and philosophy books. In both, stock repeats from stall to stall, so take your time choosing.

Both are inexpensive, but Rishikesh is cheaper to live in day to day. Ashram rooms, thalis and nearly free shared autos keep costs low, and the bigger bills are rafting and long courses.

In Leh, guesthouses and momos are cheap enough. Transport is what adds up: high taxi union fares, car hire for every outing, permits for the outer valleys, and higher hotel rates in the short summer season.

Neither town has a theatre or concert hall, and in both the performance tradition is devotional. Rishikesh offers a little more on an ordinary evening, with drums at the aarti, kirtan sessions with harmonium and tabla, and the occasional sitar recital.

Leh's highlight comes only on festival days: masked cham dances in monastery courtyards, above all at the summer Hemis festival.

This is where the two differ most. Rishikesh is built around wellbeing. Dozens of ashrams offer dawn yoga, silent meditation and teacher trainings, and there are Ayurvedic detox treatments and an International Yoga Festival each spring. You find real calm in the ashram gardens and upriver, away from the noisy bridges.

Leh offers quiet guesthouse roofs, Buddhist meditation courses and amchi doctors of Tibetan medicine. The thin air and broken sleep of the first days still make true rest hard.