Mendoza or Salta?

Neither city has a beach, and both sit far inland. Mendoza's nearest water is the Potrerillos reservoir in its mountain setting, while Salta has the larger Cabra Corral, used more for boating than swimming. In either place a hotel pool is what you will actually swim in.

Mendoza eats better, mostly thanks to its wineries. Multi-course lunches paired with Malbec in Luján de Cuyo, Maipú and the Uco Valley are the highlight, and in town there are parrillas and late terraces on Arístides Villanueva.

Salta's appeal is a different cuisine rather than a better one: empanadas salteñas, humitas, tamales and locro from the Andean tradition, with Torrontés to drink and the central market as the place to eat it. It is more distinctive than steak and wine, but it has fewer standout meals and less fine dining.

Salta has far more to see in town. Its colonial Cathedral, arcaded Cabildo and red-and-gold San Francisco church survived, and the Museum of High Mountain Archaeology, with its preserved Inca children, is a real reason to visit.

Mendoza lost its colonial city to the 1861 earthquake, so its sights are the tree-lined grid that replaced it, the tiled Plaza España, the foundation ruins and the Cerro de la Gloria monument. Each city needs only a day or two, but Salta's day is the richer one.

Both keep late Argentine hours and suit a relaxed drink more than serious clubbing. Mendoza spreads its evenings across Arístides Villanueva's pavement bars and the quieter wine bars of Chacras de Coria, with a few big clubs on the outskirts at weekends. Salta pours its nights into one strip, Calle Balcarce, where bars and folk peñas sit side by side and are lively on Fridays and Saturdays but quiet midweek.

Mendoza has the edge because the high Andes are so close. Within an hour you can raft at Potrerillos or hike in the Cordón del Plata, and a single long day reaches Aconcagua at 6,961m. Paragliding, riding and vineyard cycling fill the gaps.

Salta's scenery is more varied: cloud forest at San Lorenzo, red rock in the Quebrada de las Conchas and cactus country on the way to Los Cardones. Most of it needs long drives, and the summer rain limits when you can go.

The two offer about as much, but in different ways. Mendoza's outings are almost all wine: easy cycling in Maipú, Luján de Cuyo's big estates, and the Uco Valley about an hour and a half out, so the list runs thin if you don't drink.

Salta's outings are more varied, taking in Cafayate, the Quebrada de Humahuaca, Cachi and the Tren a las Nubes, but they mean dawn starts and long drives, and many people stay a night away instead.

Neither city has much built for children, though both welcome them at late dinners and on busy evening plazas. Mendoza has the bigger outdoor playground in Parque San Martín, with paddle boats, plus gentle rafting and the Cacheuta pools. Salta has the cable car with gardens at the top and a museum that older children may find fascinating, but its highlights involve winding roads and altitude.

Both have flat, walkable grid centres, and both need a car, driver or tour once you leave town. Mendoza has a light-rail line towards Maipú and bike hire among the wineries, which makes its nearest wine country easy without a car. Salta's trips are longer and some roads are gravel, though taxis in town are cheap.

Neither city is a shopping destination, and what sets them apart is what ends up in your luggage. Mendoza's best buys come out of its farms and vineyards: Malbec you won't find abroad, picked up at a winery after a tasting, plus olive oil and dried fruit from the same valleys. It is a shopping trip that happens along the way, between bodegas.

Salta gives the keener shopper a little more to browse. Its weavers, silversmiths and woodcarvers turn out things made by hand, above all the red-and-black poncho salteño, and they are worth taking time over in a way a case of wine is not. Mendoza does sell some leather, but it has nothing like Salta's craft tradition to match it. Anyone after fashion or design will be disappointed in both.

Salta is the cheaper of the two for everyday life. Guesthouses, market meals and taxis cost less, though tours and car hire for the long mountain loops take a big share of the budget.

In Mendoza the city itself is moderately priced, but tasting fees, winery lunches and the drivers needed to reach them add up quickly. In both, Argentina's shifting currency can change how expensive the trip feels.

Salta is the better place to hear music. It is a heartland of Argentine folk, and its peñas, with guitar, bombo and couples dancing between tables, make a night out worth planning a trip around. The June Güemes vigil and carnival add bigger occasions.

Mendoza's big moment is the Vendimia harvest festival show in Parque San Martín. For the rest of the year it offers a modest programme of orchestra, touring shows and occasional cueca nights.

Mendoza is the place for proper relaxation. The Cacheuta hot springs, about 40km up the river canyon, have a public thermal park and a quieter spa, and the vineyard lodges in Luján de Cuyo and the Uco Valley offer spa retreats.

Salta offers a slow pace more than treatments: a long siesta, plaza cafés and calm estancias around San Lorenzo. Its only hot springs are a long drive away at Rosario de la Frontera.