Mexico City or Puerto Vallarta?

On beaches the two could hardly be further apart. Mexico City sits on a plateau at about 2,240m, several hours from the Pacific, and swimming there means a hotel pool.

Puerto Vallarta is built around Banderas Bay. Playa Los Muertos has loungers and grilled fish, Conchas Chinas has rock pools, there are coves such as Mismaloya by road or water taxi, and the flat, calm sands of Nuevo Vallarta lie to the north. The sand is coarse and golden rather than white, and summer rain can cloud the water.

Both cities eat well on the street, but Mexico City has far more depth. Its late-night taco stands, breakfast tamales and the markets of Medellín, San Juan and La Merced lead on to cantinas, pulquerías, mezcal bars and some of the most respected tasting menus in the Americas, in Roma, Condesa and Polanco.

Puerto Vallarta's strength is narrower: Pacific seafood, from wood-grilled pescado zarandeado to fiery aguachile, plus evening taco carts and the mountain spirit raicilla. Along the Malecón much of the food is tourist fare, so the good meals are found a few streets back.

After the beach, culture is where the gap is widest, and here it runs the other way. Mexico City has the Zócalo, the excavated Templo Mayor, Rivera's murals in the National Palace, the Palacio de Bellas Artes, the National Museum of Anthropology in Chapultepec and Frida Kahlo's house in Coyoacán, which is enough to fill a long stay.

Puerto Vallarta offers a pretty old fishing town of whitewashed, red-tiled streets, the crown-topped Guadalupe church, the bronze sculptures along the Malecón and a couple of small museums. That fills an afternoon.

Mexico City has the bigger and more varied night out. In Roma and Condesa an evening is a walk between cocktail bars, mezcalerías and rooftops. Old cantinas in the Centro keep the traditional evening alive, and salsa halls and electronic clubs run until morning.

Puerto Vallarta is lively for a beach town. Open-fronted clubs on the Malecón fill after midnight, and the Zona Romántica has one of the most established gay scenes in Latin America. The mood is relaxed vacation fun rather than cutting-edge, and it quietens in the summer.

Mexico City has a green side, but reaching it takes effort. Chapultepec and the Xochimilco canals are pleasant, and the volcano pass of Paso de Cortés and the crater lakes of Nevado de Toluca are worth a full day, but traffic eats into the time and the air can be poor in the dry season.

In Puerto Vallarta the landscape is right on the doorstep. The jungle ridges of the Sierra Madre fall into the bay, humpback whales calve offshore from December to March, and boats run to Los Arcos and the Marietas Islands for snorkelling. Coastal trails follow the roadless south shore.

Outings from the capital lead into history, while those from the bay mostly lead to more coast. From Mexico City, the pyramids of Teotihuacan are about an hour away, Puebla's tiled centre and the church-topped pyramid at Cholula about two, and the colonial towns of Cuernavaca, Tepoztlán and silver Taxco lie to the south. Leaving early gets you ahead of the traffic.

From Puerto Vallarta, most trips follow the shore to Bucerías, surfing Sayulita and quieter San Pancho, or go by boat to Yelapa. The main inland drive climbs to the old mining town of San Sebastián del Oeste, among coffee farms in the pines. These make pleasant days out, but there are fewer of them, and Guadalajara is too far for a comfortable return.

With children, the difference comes down to effort: the capital needs careful planning, while the coast is easy from the first day. Mexico City offers more than its reputation suggests, from the zoo and the hands-on Papalote museum in Chapultepec to trajinera rides at Xochimilco and the spectacle of lucha libre. Still, long rides in traffic, crowded trains and the altitude make for tiring days.

Puerto Vallarta is the simpler choice because the day revolves around the beach. Resorts have kids' clubs and shallow pools, and there are water parks, the small jungle zoo at Mismaloya, turtle releases in nesting season and evening ice cream on the Malecón. Steep cobbled streets and the summer heat are the drawbacks.

Neither is effortless, and they differ in kind. Mexico City has a large, cheap metro and Metrobús lines linking walkable districts such as the Centro, Roma, Condesa and Coyoacán, though the trains are packed at rush hour and distances are long.

Puerto Vallarta has no metro. Its compact but steep core gives way to a long strip around the bay, served by cheap but confusing buses, taxis, ride-hailing and water taxis. A hire car helps there for the Riviera Nayarit, whereas in the capital a car is more trouble than help.

For shopping, Mexico City is the far stronger stop. La Ciudadela gathers textiles, pottery and alebrijes from across the country, La Lagunilla's flea market and San Ángel's bazaar are good for a long browse, and Polanco's Avenida Masaryk and Roma's designer shops cover fashion.

Puerto Vallarta's most distinctive buys are Huichol yarn paintings and beadwork, along with gallery art in the old centre. Beyond the Mercado Municipal, a few boutiques and the malls near the marina, there is little fashion or luxury.

Mexico City is the cheaper stay overall. Metro rides, market lunches and museum entry cost little and ride-hailing is affordable, although hotels and restaurants in Roma, Condesa and Polanco charge close to European prices.

Puerto Vallarta sets many prices for foreign visitors, especially for beachfront hotels, boat tours and dining on the Malecón in the winter high season. It is still cheaper than a beach resort in the United States or the Caribbean, and taco stands and guesthouses in the old centre keep costs down.

Formal against informal sums up the difference on stage. In Mexico City, Bellas Artes holds the opera, the symphony and the Ballet Folklórico, the university orchestra plays in the modernist Sala Nezahualcóyotl, and the Auditorio Nacional takes major concerts. Most theatre is in Spanish, but mariachis at Plaza Garibaldi and lucha libre at Arena México need no translation.

Puerto Vallarta's evenings bring drag and cabaret revues in the Zona Romántica through the winter, bands and Latin jazz in the bars, folkloric dance shows and the Papantla flyers on the Malecón. Classical music and serious theatre barely feature, and much of the programme slows down in summer.

Mexico City is not a restful place. Noise, traffic and the altitude set the pace, calm comes from Coyoacán's shaded plazas or a hotel spa, and many people head south to Cuernavaca for a proper retreat.

Puerto Vallarta lends itself to a slower rhythm, with sunsets over the bay, spas in the resorts and hillside hotels, and yoga retreats in the south-shore villages. Both offer the temazcal steam-bath ritual, so the difference lies in the setting rather than the treatments.