Mexico City or Zihuatanejo?

At 2,240m on a plateau, Mexico City has nothing to swim in beyond hotel pools, and the coast is a separate trip of several hours.

Zihuatanejo is built around its beaches. Playa La Ropa gives a long calm crescent, Las Gatas has a reef-sheltered sea for snorkelling, and Isla Ixtapa has small coves a short boat ride away. Many visitors pair the two, adding a few days on this bay after a stay in the capital.

Mexico City is one of the world's great food cities. Its range runs from al pastor at late-night stands and blue-corn quesadillas at Medellín or La Merced market to Roma and Polanco tasting menus, pulquerías and a serious coffee scene.

Zihuatanejo cooks well within a narrow range: tiritas, pescado a la talla grilled at a palapa on the sand, and Thursday pozole. You eat honestly and well here, but nobody travels for its restaurants the way they do for the capital's.

The difference here is huge. Mexico City has Tenochtitlan's Templo Mayor beside the cathedral, the National Palace murals, Bellas Artes, the Anthropology Museum with the Sun Stone, and Coyoacán's Kahlo house, and a week barely covers it.

Zihuatanejo has a small archaeological museum on the waterfront and a whitewashed fishing town to stroll through. Its appeal is the everyday life of the pier and the streets, not anything you would plan a visit around.

In Mexico City a night out can mean bar-hopping on foot through Roma and Condesa, an old Centro cantina with snacks served with each round, a salsa hall, an electronic club that runs until dawn, or the Zona Rosa's large LGBTQ scene.

Zihuatanejo's evenings end early by comparison: a sunset drink, a long dinner and a few small bars. The louder beach bars and clubs are up the coast in Ixtapa, and they only really fill in high season and on Mexican long weekends.

Zihuatanejo has the edge because its nature starts at the shore. You can snorkel and dive at Las Gatas, watch for humpback whales in winter, paddle the calm bay, see spoonbills at Barra de Potosí and crocodiles in the mangroves near Playa Linda, and turtles nest on its beaches.

Mexico City's best landscapes are bigger but harder to reach. The pass between Iztaccíhuatl and Popocatépetl and the crater lakes of Nevado de Toluca mean a couple of hours in traffic each way. Closer in, there are the Ajusco slopes and Xochimilco's canals.

From Mexico City you can reach the pyramids of Teotihuacan, tiled Puebla and Cholula's church-topped pyramid, Cuernavaca, Tepoztlán and silver-mining Taxco, enough for several days of outings if you start early to beat the traffic.

Zihuatanejo's outings are small and local: a surf day at Troncones, lunch on the sand at Barra de Potosí, or the ball court at Xihuacan. Acapulco and anything else of size is too far for a comfortable day out.

Both cities work for children, but in different ways. Mexico City suits families who want variety: the Chapultepec zoo and Papalote museum, a trajinera on Xochimilco, lucha libre and the pyramids. It also brings long rides in traffic and altitude that tires everyone at first.

Zihuatanejo is easier to handle. The town is small, La Ropa and Las Gatas have shallow, calm water for paddling, and the Ixtapa resorts have kids' clubs. There is little else for children besides boat rides and turtle releases, and the heat needs watching.

Neither city is simple to get around, for opposite reasons. Mexico City has a large, cheap metro and walkable districts such as Roma, Condesa and Coyoacán, but they sit far apart in a vast city, so expect crowded trains at rush hour and ride-hailing at night.

Zihuatanejo is small, but its centre is the only walkable part. The beaches are linked by taxis, colectivos and water taxis over steep hills without pavements.

Mexico City brings together craft from the whole country at La Ciudadela, adds the Lagunilla flea market and San Ángel's Saturday bazaar, and has Masaryk's luxury houses and Roma's Mexican designers for fashion.

Zihuatanejo's artisans' market has a good selection of hammocks, embroidery, Olinalá lacquer and Taxco silver for souvenirs. Beyond that there are a few resort-wear boutiques and a small plaza in Ixtapa.

Mexico City comes out somewhat cheaper. The metro, street tacos, market lunches and museums cost very little. Spending only rises if you stay and eat in Roma, Condesa or Polanco.

Zihuatanejo is also inexpensive if you stay in town and eat at the market and palapas. It gets dearer in the hillside boutique hotels, the Ixtapa resorts, and in the winter high season and around Christmas and Easter.

Mexico City has a full calendar. There is opera, symphony and Ballet Folklórico at Bellas Artes, the university orchestra at Sala Nezahualcóyotl, mariachis in Plaza Garibaldi, jazz clubs in Roma, and lucha libre at Arena México, which many visitors remember as a highlight.

Zihuatanejo has no theatre or concert life to speak of. The yearly guitar festival and the trova singers or bands in restaurants during high season are about all there is.

Zihuatanejo is the place to switch off. Life slows down in the heat, there are no sights to rush between, and a day of reading in the shade and swimming in the bay restores most people. There are also spas and yoga in the hillside hotels and Ixtapa resorts.

Mexico City is noisy and crowded, and its calm comes in pockets: a temazcal steam bath, a hotel spa in Polanco, or a slow morning in a Coyoacán plaza. For a proper retreat, people leave the city for Tepoztlán or Cuernavaca.