Livingstone or Windhoek?

Neither city has a beach, so the difference is only in the oddities each offers. In Livingstone, crocodiles, hippos and strong currents keep you out of the Zambezi. The one exception is a guided swim in Devil's Pool on the lip of the falls when the river is low, an adventure rather than a swim.

Windhoek's nearest sea is at Swakopmund, about four hours across the desert, and the Benguela current keeps that Atlantic water too cold for comfort. In both places, everyday swimming means the pool at your lodge or guest house.

Windhoek has more to eat. You can stand at a kapana stall in Katutura with grilled beef and chilli salt, eat oryx or kudu at a steakhouse, or have strudel and a lager brewed to the German purity law. Klein Windhoek has a few decent mid-range restaurants.

Livingstone's choice is narrower: lodge menus and a few restaurants on the main road. Its best dishes are nshima with relishes and whole Zambezi bream. Your best meal there is likely to be on a deck over the river, remembered more for the view than for the cooking.

Each town can be seen in about a day, but the subject matter differs. Livingstone's sights look back to the explorer and the railway: Livingstone's own letters in Zambia's oldest museum, steam locomotives, and the steel arch of the Victoria Falls Bridge over the gorge.

Windhoek is the place to understand a country's politics. The Christuskirche, the Tintenpalast and the Alte Feste stand together on one ridge, and the Independence Memorial Museum is unusually frank about colonial rule and the Herero and Nama genocide. That makes Windhoek the weightier half-day.

Windhoek has a bit more after dark. There are beer gardens and lounge bars in Klein Windhoek, a few clubs at weekends, and the Katutura shebeens, best visited with someone local. Taxis are a must, since the centre is not for walking at night.

In Livingstone, the main event is the sundowner on a river cruise. After dinner your options are a couple of hostel bars and some local taverns, and with rafting starting at dawn, most visitors are in bed early.

This is where the two differ most. From Livingstone, the falls are a short ride away: more than 1.7km of water dropping into a basalt gorge, with rainforest paths soaked by spray. Below them are some of the world's hardest one-day rapids and the hike down to the Boiling Pot, and upstream you canoe past hippos and elephants.

Windhoek's surroundings are quieter. The Khomas Hochland is thornbush and granite koppies, and Daan Viljoen has trails among zebra and oryx. Pleasant as that is, Sossusvlei and Etosha, the landscapes Namibia is known for, are a long drive and an overnight stay away.

Neither city is a good base for day trips, but Livingstone has the better ones. You can walk across the bridge to Zimbabwe's Victoria Falls town for a second view of the falls, visit Mukuni village with its traditional custodian of the falls, or cross into Botswana for the river and game safaris around Kasane.

From Windhoek, a day out means Okahandja's woodcarvers' market and the Herero chiefs' graves, perhaps with the Gross Barmen springs added on. Swakopmund and the rest of the country belong on a road trip with overnight stops.

Both work about equally well for families, and both depend on wildlife rather than anything built for children. Livingstone suits teenagers best, with rhino walks, hippo cruises and the spray of the falls. Minimum ages rule out many of the big activities for younger children, and malaria all year puts off many parents of small children.

In Windhoek, a game drive at Daan Viljoen or a nearby farm shows children giraffe and zebra. Suburban guest houses with gardens and the dry air make it an easy stop with children of any age, usually on the way to Etosha or the coast.

Neither has public transport a visitor would use, but Livingstone needs less effort. Its activities usually include pick-ups, and taxis are easy to find for the 10km out to the falls. Don't walk along the roads outside town, where elephants roam.

Windhoek covers more ground across hilly suburbs, and the shared sedan taxis take confidence. Most visitors hire a car, which they need anyway for the rest of Namibia, and walking after dark is best avoided.

Both are mainly about crafts, but Windhoek has more choice. The Namibia Craft Centre, in the old brewery, brings together baskets, Herero dolls, ostrich-shell jewellery and leatherwork from across the country, and semi-precious stones and karakul wool add to the range.

In Livingstone you will mostly find carvings, baskets and copper at the curio markets, with bargaining expected. A length of bright chitenge cloth is the souvenir to take home.

Windhoek is the cheaper place to stay. Suburban guest houses, kapana and local beer keep daily costs low, though taxis or a hire car add up.

Livingstone's costs depend on how you spend your days. Hostels, minibuses and local meals cost little, but the reasons to go, from park entry and visas to rafting, helicopter flights and Chobe safaris, are priced for international travellers and quickly push the total above Windhoek's.

Windhoek at least has a stage. The National Theatre of Namibia puts on drama, dance and choirs, and the College of the Arts holds student concerts, though you need to check what is on.

Livingstone has no theatre at all. What you can see is traditional drumming and dance at cultural centres and lodge dinners, sometimes including Makishi masked dancers, and the Lwiindi ceremony if your dates match.

Livingstone is the more restful choice, as long as you pick the right lodge. On the quiet upper Zambezi you get decks over the water, birdsong at dawn and empty hours between a morning game walk and an evening cruise, with spa treatments at the larger lodges.

Windhoek's calm is more suburban: garden guest houses, wide skies and cool winter nights, good for a day's rest after a long drive. Its one real addition is the thermal pools at Gross Barmen, about an hour north.