Luang Prabang or Pokhara?

Neither city has a beach, but Luang Prabang has the better place to swim. The turquoise pools below Kuang Si, and Tad Sae later in the year, make a proper half-day dip in the forest.

In Pokhara, Phewa Lake is for boating, not swimming, and the water by Lakeside is not inviting. A swim there usually means a trip out to Begnas Lake or a hotel pool.

Luang Prabang has more cooking of its own to discover. Peppery or lam, smoky jeow bong, kaipen river weed and a morning market of herbs and river fish, plus the French-era baguettes, give it a distinct table, even if the menus start to repeat after a few days.

Pokhara's Lakeside is built around trekkers' appetites, with pizza, curries and apple pie. The better meals are Thakali dal bhat, momos and buffalo sekuwa in simpler places away from the lake, and there is no market worth planning a morning around.

This is where the two differ most. Luang Prabang's entire peninsula is the attraction: monasteries among wooden houses and colonial shophouses, the Royal Palace museum, the stupa on Mount Phousi, and novices in saffron robes as part of everyday street life.

Pokhara has a handful of separate sights in a mostly modern town. There is the island temple of Tal Barahi, the Peace Pagoda on its ridge, and museums of mountaineering and the Gurkhas. They are worth a look but none of them is a reason to come.

Pokhara is the livelier of the two, but only by a gentle standard. Rooftop and lakefront bars fill with trekkers celebrating, cover bands play rock standards, and there are a couple of small dance bars before things wind down around midnight.

In Luang Prabang, a few garden bars and riverside terraces close at the curfew, and after that the streets are silent.

Luang Prabang's green hills and the Mekong are lovely. Kuang Si, slow boats past limestone cliffs and treks to Hmong villages make for easy, gentle outings.

Pokhara plays in a different league. It has white peaks above 7,000m over the lake, paragliding thermals that pilots travel to fly, and the Annapurna trailheads within an hour or two by road. Here the outdoors is the whole reason for the trip.

Luang Prabang has more to offer for a single day out. A boat goes up the Mekong to the Buddha-filled Pak Ou caves, the weaving villages are close by, and the railway puts Vang Vieng about an hour away and Vientiane about two.

Pokhara is held back by slow mountain roads. Bandipur's car-free brick bazaar is the one easy outing, and places such as Gorkha and Tansen work better as overnight stops.

The two are about level, and both suit older children better than toddlers. Luang Prabang's big draw is Kuang Si, with its rescued bears and swimming pools, plus boat rides and quiet streets for cycling together.

Pokhara is better for adventurous teenagers. They can row on the lake, explore the caves and try tandem paragliding if they meet the limits. Neither town has zoos or play attractions.

Luang Prabang is easier to get around. The old town is a compact, flat peninsula with light traffic, so walking and cycling cover almost everything. Tuk-tuks, minivans and boats handle the waterfalls, the caves and the train station.

Pokhara's Lakeside strip is walkable, but anything beyond it, such as Sarangkot, the old bazaar or the trailheads, means a taxi, a scooter or a hired driver. Pavements are patchy and the roads out of town are rough.

Luang Prabang edges ahead for crafts. Its nightly market of hand-woven silk, Hmong embroidery and mulberry-paper lanterns is backed by weaving studios where you can watch natural dyeing and buy textiles of real quality.

Pokhara's shopping is more practical: trekking gear to buy or rent, pashmina, singing bowls and thangkas. The Tibetan settlements on the edge of town, with their carpet workshops, give it a character of its own.

Both are cheap, but Pokhara costs less. Lakeside rooms with mountain views and Western-style meals are inexpensive even by the standards of the region, and the real costs are paragliding, guided treks and Annapurna permits.

Luang Prabang is the costliest stop in Laos. Market meals and guesthouses are cheap, but restored colonial hotels and riverside wine lists raise the bill quickly.

Neither town has much of a stage life, though Luang Prabang has the one performance worth planning an evening around. The masked Phralak Phralam is danced at the theatre in the Royal Palace grounds.

Pokhara's offer is cover bands in the bars and Gurung and Magar dances at dinner shows put on for visitors.

Both towns are restful, in different ways. Luang Prabang's calm is part of daily life: the alms round at dawn, sunset over the Mekong, gentle Lao massage and herbal saunas scented with lemongrass.

Pokhara is the place for more structured rest. Yoga and meditation retreats line the hillsides and the far shore of the lake, and massages are tailored to trekkers' tired legs. There are no hot springs in town, though.