Mexico City or Puerto Escondido?

On beaches the two cities have nothing in common. Mexico City is a highland capital at about 2,240m with no coast. Swimming means a hotel pool, and Acapulco is a separate trip, not an afternoon out.

Puerto Escondido is built around the beach, with warm Pacific water in every month. Which beach you pick matters: Zicatela's surf and rip currents are for watching, while the coves of Carrizalillo, Puerto Angelito and Manzanillo are calm enough for swimming and snorkelling. Mazunte and Zipolite are about an hour along the coast.

Mexico City is one of the great places to eat in the Americas. You can have al pastor at late-night stands, lunch at a counter in the Medellín or La Merced markets, or a tasting menu in Roma or Polanco, with mezcal, pulque and Mexican-grown coffee on the side.

Puerto Escondido eats well but simply: fish grilled a la talla, ceviche at beach palapas, tlayudas and moles in the market, and international cafés in La Punta for the surf crowd. The fish could hardly be fresher, but there is no top tier and nothing like the capital's range.

This is where the two cities differ most. Mexico City has the Zócalo, the excavated Templo Mayor, Rivera's murals in the National Palace, Bellas Artes and the National Museum of Anthropology. Add Coyoacán's Frida Kahlo house and the UNESCO-listed canals of Xochimilco, and a week of sightseeing is easily filled.

Puerto Escondido has a small church, a lighthouse and no museums or historic buildings of note. Its culture is the everyday life of the Oaxacan coast in the market, on the fishing beach and at its festivals. Travellers who want more go inland to Oaxaca city.

Mexico City offers every kind of night out. There are cocktail bars and mezcalerías within walking distance of each other in Roma and Condesa, old cantinas in the Centro, salsa and cumbia halls, electronic clubs that run until morning and a large LGBTQ scene in the Zona Rosa.

Puerto Escondido's evenings are barefoot and informal: sunset bars on Zicatela and late reggaeton and electronic parties at La Punta in the winter high season. It is good fun for a surf town but has no real club culture, and it goes quiet in the rainy months.

Most of Mexico City's nature takes a journey to reach. Chapultepec and the Xochimilco wetlands are inside the city. There is hiking at altitude in Desierto de los Leones and on Ajusco, and the volcano pass of Paso de Cortés is about two hours out. Traffic eats into every outing, and the air can be poor in the dry season.

In Puerto Escondido the outdoors starts on the sand. There is the famous big-wave break at Zicatela, gentler surf for learners, boat trips for dolphins and turtles, and whales offshore in winter. Bioluminescence lights up the Manialtepec lagoon at night, and Chacahua has mangrove channels with crocodiles.

Mexico City is a strong base for excursions. Teotihuacan's pyramids are about an hour away, Puebla and the great pyramid of Cholula lie to the east, and Cuernavaca, Tepoztlán and the silver town of Taxco lie to the south. Each shows a different side of central Mexico.

From Puerto Escondido the day trips are mostly more beach: the villages of Mazunte and Zipolite, the fishing port of Puerto Angel, the bays of Huatulco and the lagoon village of Chacahua. Oaxaca city and the mezcal valleys need an overnight stay.

Mexico City has more to fill children's days: the zoo and the Papalote museum in Chapultepec, the aquarium in Polanco, trajinera boats at Xochimilco, lucha libre and the pyramids. The cost is long rides in traffic and the altitude for the first day or two, so it helps to plan by neighbourhood.

Puerto Escondido offers simpler pleasures: paddling and snorkelling in the calm coves, turtle hatchling releases and gentle surf lessons. It has nothing built for children, the heat is strong, and open beaches such as Zicatela are unsafe for young swimmers.

Neither city is easy to get around, but Mexico City has the better means. Its walkable districts, the Centro, Roma, Condesa and Coyoacán, are linked by a large, cheap metro, the Metrobús and a bike-share system, with ride-hailing cars for the rest. Distances are long, though, and rush-hour trains are packed.

Puerto Escondido is small but split into separate parts: the centre, Rinconada and Zicatela down to La Punta. Steep hills, patchy pavements and the heat lie between them. Taxis and colectivo vans are easy to find, but trips along the coast need a driver or a tour.

Mexico City is a serious place to shop, above all for crafts. La Ciudadela has textiles, Oaxacan pottery and silver, San Ángel holds a Saturday bazaar and La Lagunilla a Sunday flea market. Polanco's Avenida Masaryk carries the luxury labels, and Roma and Condesa have Mexican designers.

Puerto Escondido has the craft stalls of El Adoquin, surf shops and swimwear. Hammocks, embroidered blouses and a bottle of mezcal are the best things to buy. For anything more, Oaxaca city is the place.

Both cities are kind to a budget if you eat at markets and street stands, and both get expensive in the districts that cater to foreigners. In the capital those are Roma, Condesa and Polanco, and on the coast Zicatela and La Punta. Mexico City is slightly cheaper overall, with a metro that costs very little and many museums that are cheap or free on certain days.

Puerto Escondido has almost no paid sights. Its weak point is accommodation, which costs most over Christmas, Easter and the Mexican vacation weeks when the town fills up.

Mexico City has a full calendar. Bellas Artes stages opera, the national symphony and the Ballet Folklórico. The university orchestra plays at Sala Nezahualcóyotl, mariachis play nightly in Plaza Garibaldi and lucha libre fills Arena México, though most theatre is in Spanish.

Puerto Escondido has bar bands, DJs and the music and dances of its November festival. It has no theatre or concert hall at all.

Mexico City is energising rather than restful. Noise, traffic and the altitude set the pace, though there are good spas and temazcal steam baths in Polanco and Condesa, and quiet hours in Coyoacán's shaded plazas.

Puerto Escondido slows you down without any effort. Open-air yoga studios and retreats, herbal temazcal ceremonies and cheap beach massages are part of daily life in town. There are no large spas, and light sleepers should stay away from La Punta, which is loud late into the night.