Montevideo or Valparaiso?

Montevideo has the better beaches for an actual beach day. Pocitos, Malvín and Carrasco are sandy and line the city itself, and in midsummer the estuary is warm enough for a long swim. The water is often brown with silt, though, and it is sometimes unsafe after heavy rain.

Valparaíso has no sand of its own. You take the coastal train to Viña del Mar, Reñaca or Concón, where the beaches are wide but the cold Humboldt Current and strong waves mean most people only paddle or take a quick dip.

Montevideo eats better, if you love meat. The grills of the Mercado del Puerto, the chivito and a bottle of Tannat make up a confident beef-and-wine cuisine, though it has little variety beyond that.

Valparaíso cooks from the sea instead, with fried fish and machas in the coves, conger eel soup, and the chorrillana served in the old port bars. The harbour-view restaurants on the cerros are more ambitious, but quality is less reliable than in Montevideo.

Valparaíso is the more rewarding city to explore. Its whole historic quarter is a World Heritage Site of steep cerros, painted houses, funiculars and murals, and Neruda's La Sebastiana adds a famous house museum.

Montevideo's sights are more conventional and quieter: the Palacio Salvo and Teatro Solís around Plaza Independencia, Art Deco façades, the Torres García museum and the Andes crash museum. They are pleasant, but less memorable, and parts of the Ciudad Vieja look neglected.

Valparaíso has the livelier nights, driven by students who go from the cocktail bars on Cerro Alegre down to the clubs around Subida Ecuador and stay out until dawn. The lower streets can feel rough late at night.

Montevideo's nightlife is gentler and later, made up mostly of neighbourhood bars in Pocitos, Cordón and the old town. Weeknights are quiet, and in summer much of the crowd heads east to the coastal resorts.

This is the biggest difference between the two. Valparaíso sits on a wild Pacific coast of headlands, dunes and fishing coves, with surf, wildlife boat trips and the palm forests of La Campana within reach.

Montevideo has the Rambla, over 20km of waterfront promenade with wide sunsets, plus a few old parks and the low Cerro across the bay. Beyond the city the land is flat farmland, and the nearest hills are modest.

Valparaíso has the more varied choice. Santiago is a full day of museums and markets, the Casablanca Valley wineries are close, and Neruda's Isla Negra and the coves of Quintay and Zapallar lie along the coast, with Viña del Mar practically next door.

From Montevideo, the trip that stands out is cobbled Colonia del Sacramento, with Punta del Este, Piriápolis and the Canelones wineries as the other options. The best of these are a long ride each way.

Montevideo is much easier with children. Its flat promenade, calm and shallow beaches, playgrounds and gentle traffic make for relaxed days, even though it has no big aquarium or theme park.

In Valparaíso children enjoy the funiculars and harbour boats, but the steep stairs, broken pavements, narrow streets and street dogs wear families out. Many stay in Viña del Mar and come into Valparaíso for the day.

Montevideo is easier to get around, though it has no metro. The centre and old town are flat, buses go everywhere, and taxis and ride-hailing bridge the long stretch along the shore to Pocitos and Carrasco.

Valparaíso is compact but steep, so every move between hills is a climb. Funiculars, colectivos, trolleybuses and the coastal train help, but the funiculars do not always run and the walking is hard work.

Neither city is a shopping destination, but Montevideo has a little more. There are malls in Pocitos and in a converted prison in Punta Carretas, the Sunday Tristán Narvaja market, and leather, knitwear and mate gear as the local crafts.

Valparaíso's shopping is mainly prints, ceramics and lapis lazuli from studios on the cerros, plus a weekend flea market. For anything bigger, people go to Viña or Santiago.

Valparaíso is noticeably cheaper to stay in, as long as you eat in the port picadas and sleep in guesthouses rather than in the boutique hotels on Cerro Alegre. Its stairways, murals and views cost nothing.

Montevideo costs about what Southern Europe does, and summer hotels in Pocitos are priced like a capital's. The cheap buses, free museums and good-value steak dinners help, but it remains a mid-priced city.

Montevideo is the stronger stage by some distance. It has the long Carnaval of murga troupes and candombe Llamadas, drum groups practising in Barrio Sur, tango through the year, and opera and ballet at the Teatro Solís and SODRE.

Valparaíso's live music is homelier, with cueca porteña, boleros and waltzes in old bars, and the Teatro Municipal for touring shows. For opera you would have to go to Santiago.

Montevideo is the more restful of the two. It has no spa culture, but its slow pace, unhurried cafés and sunset mate on the Rambla walls make for a low-stress stay. Valparaíso is noisy, steep and gritty, and the most it offers for relaxing is a quiet terrace above the bay or a hotel spa over in Viña.