Medellin or Santa Marta?

On beaches the two could hardly differ more. Medellín has none at all. Swimming there means a hotel pool, a finca pool in the hills or the reservoir at Guatapé, and the coast is a flight away.

Santa Marta has the Caribbean on its doorstep, and the sea stays warm all year. El Rodadero and coves such as Bahía Concha are easy for a swim. Tayrona's golden beaches take a walk to reach, and only sheltered spots like La Piscina and Cabo San Juan are safe for swimming.

Neither city is a great food destination, but Medellín offers more choice. Beyond the hearty bandeja paisa and arepas, El Poblado and Provenza have creative Colombian kitchens and international restaurants. Laureles is good for unhurried local lunches, and the Minorista market and the coffee from Antioquia add to the appeal.

Santa Marta's strength is simple Caribbean cooking: fried fish with coconut rice and patacones, seafood soups and arepas de huevo from street fryers. In the evening there is a modest choice around Parque de los Novios, but fine dining is scarce and the range runs out quickly.

Medellín has more to see, though its interest is modern rather than old. Botero's work in the Museo de Antioquia and on Plaza Botero, the Museo Casa de la Memoria and the outdoor escalators of Comuna 13 tell the story of a city that rebuilt itself after decades of violence. Together they fill two or three days.

Santa Marta has the older buildings. It is Colombia's oldest surviving Spanish city, with a colonial grid, a whitewashed cathedral, the Tairona gold collection in the Casa de la Aduana and the hacienda where Bolívar died. You can see it all in a day, and the great Tairona site, the Lost City, needs a trek of several days.

Medellín is by far the bigger night out. Parque Lleras and Provenza fill their rooftop bars and reggaeton clubs at weekends. Along La 70 in Laureles, cheaper salsa bars draw people who come to dance properly, and Friday and Saturday nights run past dawn.

Santa Marta's evenings are smaller and spent outdoors: terraces and pavement tables around Parque de los Novios, beach dance bars playing vallenato and champeta at El Rodadero, and backpacker parties in Taganga. It livens up at Christmas and Easter and is quiet on weeknights in low season.

Both cities have mountains close by, but Santa Marta's setting is far grander. The Sierra Nevada climbs from the coast to snow peaks above 5,700m. Tayrona brings rainforest down to the sea, Minca's cloud forest has some of the richest birdwatching in the Americas, and Taganga adds snorkelling and diving.

Medellín's outdoors is gentler and easier to reach. A cable car from the metro takes you straight up to the forest trails of Parque Arví, paragliders launch from San Félix, and the lakes around El Peñol are about two hours away.

Medellín has the better choice of towns to visit. Guatapé, with its painted zócalos beside El Peñol's rock, the colonial streets of Santa Fe de Antioquia and the ceramics town of Carmen de Viboral each make a different day out, and there are coffee farm tours close by.

From Santa Marta, most outings head into the landscape rather than to other towns. The main town visits are Aracataca, the birthplace of García Márquez, and Barranquilla, with Palomino for a beach day. Cartagena is too far to visit there and back in a day.

Medellín has more for children to do. Parque Explora's science museum and aquarium, the planetarium and the botanical garden sit together in the north of the city, and the cable car ride to Parque Arví is a treat. The streets are steep and the traffic heavy, so families tend to stay in El Poblado or Laureles.

Santa Marta has the beach, which many children will prefer, with El Rodadero's calm, shallow bay and a small aquarium reached by boat. Beyond that, the heat, the long hot walks to Tayrona's beaches and the strong currents there make it better suited to older children who like walking.

Medellín is much easier to get around. Its clean metro runs the length of the valley and links to the Metrocable gondolas and a tram, reaching the centre, Comuna 13 and Parque Arví. Cheap ride-hailing covers the steep trips between neighbourhoods.

Santa Marta has no metro or trains. The flat historic centre can be walked, though it is tiring in the heat. Getting to El Rodadero, Taganga or Tayrona means crowded small buses or taxis, and Minca is reached by shared jeep up a winding road.

Medellín is Colombia's textile and fashion centre and the place to buy clothes. There is local swimwear and leather, boutiques in Provenza, large malls in El Poblado and the crowded wholesale maze of El Hueco.

Santa Marta has no shopping streets worth a day, but its crafts are distinctive: Arhuaco mochilas, Wayuu bags and hammocks, and coffee from the Sierra Nevada, sold in the old centre and along the waterfront.

Both are cheap for visitors from Europe or North America, and everyday spending is low in each. The difference is where the money goes. In Medellín, prices rise mainly in El Poblado and Provenza, and staying in Laureles keeps costs down, with most sights free or cheap.

In Santa Marta the daily basics stay cheap, but the excursions add up. Tayrona charges foreign visitors a separate entry rate, a guided trek to the Lost City is a significant expense, and beach hotels cost noticeably more around Christmas, New Year and Easter.

Medellín has a real, if mostly local, scene. There are live salsa bands, tango bars kept going since Carlos Gardel died here in 1935, the philharmonic at the Teatro Metropolitano and theatre at the Teatro Pablo Tobón Uribe, as well as music in the streets during the Feria de las Flores each August.

Santa Marta has almost no formal programme. Its music is informal: vallenato and champeta in bars, and drumming and dance groups in the squares of the old centre, best around carnival time.

Neither city is restful in itself, and in both the way to unwind is to leave town for a few nights. From Medellín that means a finca or eco-lodge in the cool hills of Santa Elena or near the eastern lakes, with inexpensive massage and yoga in El Poblado and Laureles.

Santa Marta offers two kinds of escape: the cloud forest lodges of Minca, with hammocks and river pools, and the yoga retreats and beach cabins towards Palomino, where rest can come with the sea.