Luang Prabang or Phnom Penh?

Neither city has a beach, but Luang Prabang at least offers a proper swim. The turquoise pools below Kuang Si, under an hour away, and the smaller Tad Sae falls make a good half-day in the water.

Phnom Penh has nothing comparable within a day. The coast at Kep and Kampot is about three hours by road, so swimming comes down to a hotel or rooftop pool.

Phnom Penh eats better and more widely. Its day starts with bai sach chrouk or kuy teav at market stalls, the food halls of Central Market and the Russian Market keep going all day, and fish amok and Kampot pepper dishes run all the way up to restaurants that rework Khmer food for fine dining. NGO training restaurants add another layer.

Luang Prabang has distinctive dishes of its own, such as or lam stew, smoky jeow bong and crisp kaipen river weed, and both cities share the French legacy of baguettes and strong coffee. But the Lao town's menus start repeating after a few days, which doesn't happen in Phnom Penh.

The two are evenly matched, but the experience is very different. In Luang Prabang the whole peninsula is the sight: more than thirty monasteries led by Wat Xieng Thong, colonial shophouses, and the monks' dawn alms round. The museums are small and the pleasure is in the streets.

Phnom Penh is a capital's set piece and a hard history lesson. The Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda stand beside a National Museum full of Angkorian sculpture, and Tuol Sleng and the Choeung Ek killing fields are harrowing but essential. Allow two or three days.

This is one of the widest gaps between the two. Phnom Penh goes out cheaply and late, starting with rooftop sundowners over the Tonle Sap, moving on to the small cocktail bars of Bassac Lane, and ending in clubs near the riverside and Street 51 that stay open into the early morning. Keep your bag on the side away from the road, because motorbike snatch theft is a known risk.

Luang Prabang offers a Beerlao in a garden bar and little more. A curfew shuts everything around midnight and the streets go dark and silent.

Luang Prabang is the place for landscape. Steep green hills surround the town, slow boats pass limestone cliffs on the Mekong, and Kuang Si pairs its waterfall with a rescue sanctuary for Asiatic black bears. Kayaking the Nam Khan and treks to Hmong and Khmu villages are easy to arrange.

Phnom Penh's setting is flat floodplain at the meeting of three rivers. A cycling half-day on Koh Dach island and the Phnom Tamao rescue centre are the best of it, and forest means a two-and-a-half-hour drive to Kirirom.

Both offer modest days out rather than major excursions, but they differ in kind. From Luang Prabang the classic outing is by boat to the Pak Ou caves and their thousands of Buddha images, and the railway puts karst-ringed Vang Vieng about an hour away and Vientiane about two.

Phnom Penh's trips go by road to temples and old capitals: the stupa-covered ridge at Oudong, Tonle Bati's laterite temple by its lake, hilltop Phnom Chisor and the pottery town of Kampong Chhnang. Angkor is too far for a day.

Luang Prabang is a little easier with children. Kuang Si gives them bears and swimming pools in one outing, long-tail boats are a hit, and the quiet streets are safe enough to cycle together.

Phnom Penh is harder work, with constant motorbikes, missing pavements and main sights that are unsuitable for children. Phnom Tamao, river cruises and malls with ice rinks fill some days. Both cities are warm towards children and both suit families who already know Southeast Asia.

Luang Prabang is far easier on foot. The old town is a flat peninsula with light traffic, and a rented bicycle covers the rest, with tuk-tuks or a driver needed only for the falls, villages and station.

In Phnom Penh almost every journey depends on a driver. Ride-hailing apps take the haggling out of tuk-tuk trips, but the pavements are broken or blocked, crossing roads takes nerve, and even short walks between riverfront sights are slow.

Phnom Penh gives a shopper more ground to cover. The Russian Market mixes silk, silver and factory overrun clothing, Central Market's art deco dome covers gold and jewellery, fair-trade boutiques around Street 240 sell cooperative crafts and Kampot pepper, and malls handle the international chains.

Luang Prabang is narrower and centred on crafts. Its night market sells embroidery, lanterns and silk, though some of it is mass-produced, and the weaving studios with natural dyeing are where to find the best textiles.

Both are very cheap for visitors, and Phnom Penh is slightly kinder to the budget. Boutique hotels with pools there are good value, and only imported wine, Western dining and international hotels reach home prices.

Luang Prabang is the costliest stop in Laos. Guesthouses, market food and bicycle hire cost little, but restored colonial hotels and private tours push the bill up faster.

Phnom Penh has more to see. Classical Khmer dance, rebuilt by the Royal University of Fine Arts after near loss under the Khmer Rouge, is staged with shadow puppetry in evening shows near the National Museum, and the Chaktomuk Theatre hosts larger occasions. A few bars add jazz and local bands.

Luang Prabang's equivalent is the masked Phralak Phralam, the Lao Ramayana, at the Royal Palace theatre, along with a handful of folk evenings. Neither city has a concert season.

Luang Prabang is the more restful stay. With no high-rise buildings and little traffic, it is a town for reading on a terrace. It has gentle Lao massage, wooden herbal saunas scented with lemongrass, and riverside yoga at boutique hotels.

Phnom Penh has massage on almost every street, blind-masseur centres and quiet villa hotels with garden pools. But it has no bathing tradition of its own, and traffic, dust and noise always find their way back in.