Montevideo or Rio de Janeiro?

Montevideo's beaches along the Rambla, from Pocitos to the wider sands of Carrasco, are pleasant on a summer afternoon. The water is the silty, barely salty Río de la Plata, though, and swimming is off after heavy rain or during algae blooms. Clear Atlantic water means a longer trip east.

Rio has that ocean on its doorstep. Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon are a short walk from the hotels, the water stays warm for much of the year, and Prainha and Grumari add surf under forested hills. The open beaches can have strong currents, and the water inside Guanabara Bay is too polluted for swimming.

Both cities are built around grilled meat and neither offers much range beyond its own traditions, but the way you eat differs. Montevideo's meal is a sit-down parrilla, best at the iron hall of the Mercado del Puerto, with local Tannat or medio y medio and the towering chivito as the national snack.

Rio eats casually and all day. You share pastéis and cold chopp in tiled botecos, eat feijoada on Saturdays and stop at juice bars, with coconut water and caipirinhas sold on the sand. Rio has more grazing and street-side eating, while Montevideo has a stronger wine culture.

Montevideo's sights make a compact walk: Plaza Independencia with the eccentric Palacio Salvo, the Teatro Solís, the colonial and Art Deco streets of the Ciudad Vieja, and the Torres García and Andes museums. They have character, but two or three days covers them.

Rio has more to see, and its sights stay in the memory longer. Christ the Redeemer and Sugarloaf stand over the bay, while downtown has the gilded São Bento monastery and the Real Gabinete Português de Leitura. Santa Teresa's hilltop mansions lead down to the Lapa Arches. Neither city has museums of world rank, but Rio's landmarks are on another level.

Montevideo's nightlife is a small, friendly circuit, while Rio's spills across whole districts. In Montevideo nothing starts until late. There are pubs on the tree-lined streets of Pocitos and Punta Carretas, a student crowd in Cordón and Parque Rodó, and a cluster of bars around Bacacay in the Ciudad Vieja. Weeknights are quiet, and in summer the party crowd heads east to the coast.

Rio goes out in far greater numbers, much of it on the street. Crowds drink under the Lapa Arches, Botafogo's bars put their tables out on the pavement, Leblon has cocktail bars, and baile funk and club nights run until dawn. Before Carnival the blocos take over entire neighbourhoods. In both cities, take a taxi late at night rather than walking along quiet streets.

This is where the two cities differ most. Montevideo's outdoors is the Rambla, more than 20km of shoreline promenade for running and cycling at sunset, plus some leafy parks and the low Cerro across the bay. The land around is flat and farmed.

Rio has rainforest in the middle of the city in Tijuca National Park, with waterfalls, toucans and the trail to Pico da Tijuca. Steep short hikes give views over the beaches, hang-gliders launch from Pedra Bonita, you can surf at Arpoador, and there is multi-day hiking in the Serra dos Órgãos. Start early in the summer heat.

The two are fairly level here, and in both cities the best outings sit at the edge of a day. From Montevideo, the cobbled lanes of Colonia del Sacramento and the resort coast of Punta del Este each take two hours or more. The Canelones wineries and Atlántida are easier half-day trips.

Rio's easy outings are imperial Petrópolis in the cool hills and Niterói's cliff-top Niemeyer museum, a ferry ride across the bay. Paraty, Búzios and Ilha Grande are better as overnight stays, and weekend traffic can slow any trip out of the city.

Montevideo is the calmer place with children. There is the Rambla for scooters, shallow and still estuary water, the old amusement park and pedal boats at Parque Rodó, and traffic that stays manageable. There is little built specially for children, though.

Rio has more for children to do: the Sugarloaf cable car, the Corcovado train, AquaRio and the BioParque zoo. It asks more of parents, with intense summer heat, heavy traffic, uneven pavements and belongings to watch. Leme, Praia Vermelha and Barra have the gentler water.

Montevideo is the simpler city to get around. It has only buses, but the Ciudad Vieja and Avenida 18 de Julio are flat and walkable, taxis are easy to find, and the Rambla links the coastal districts for walkers and cyclists.

Rio's metro runs neatly from the centre to Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon. Much of what visitors come for lies off that line among the mountains, though, including Santa Teresa, the Tijuca forest and the western beaches. Taxis and slow tunnel traffic become part of most days.

Rio is the better place to shop, as long as you are buying for the beach. The Ipanema and Leblon boutiques sell Brazilian swimwear, linen and flip-flops, there is a Sunday hippie fair on Praça General Osório, and the Saara streets downtown are full of cheap fabric and Carnival costumes.

Montevideo's highlight is the Sunday Tristán Narvaja market of antiques and old records. Beyond that, it is leather, knitwear and silver-trimmed mate gourds, and imported goods are expensive.

Montevideo is priced roughly like Southern Europe, and imported goods cost even more. Cheap buses, free museums, set lunches and a good-value steak dinner bring the bill down.

Rio is lighter on the wallet day to day. Kilo lunches, boteco snacks, the metro and ride-hailing all cost little, and the beaches and forest trails are free. The big expense is a hotel near the sand, especially around Carnival and New Year.

Carnival shapes the music in both cities, but in different forms. Montevideo has murga choral satire on neighbourhood tablados and candombe drumming in Barrio Sur and Palermo. Tango, opera and the philharmonic play at the Teatro Solís and the SODRE, though the programme is modest outside summer.

Rio has more live music on more nights. Samba and choro play in Lapa's old houses, rodas de samba gather in squares, samba schools open their rehearsals before Carnival, and small venues keep bossa nova going. The Theatro Municipal handles the formal side, and theatre is in Portuguese.

Neither city has a bathing tradition, and in both, treatments mean a hotel spa. Montevideo is the more restful city overall, with mate passed around on the Rambla walls at sunset and cafés where nobody hurries you.

Rio adds yoga on the sand and an easy evening walk around the lagoon. Beyond the beach districts, though, it is loud, hot and demanding, and finding real quiet means going up to Santa Teresa or the mountain towns.