Mumbai or Mysore?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Mumbai at least has a seafront to enjoy. Juhu and Girgaum Chowpatty are for sunset strolls, snacks and kite flying rather than swimming, and the ferry to Alibaug is the way to cleaner water.

Mysore lies far inland on the Deccan plateau with nothing comparable, so the sea means a separate trip to the coast. In both places, the swimming you actually do will be in a hotel pool.

Mumbai is the far bigger eating city, mainly because of its range. People from all over India have settled here and brought their cooking with them, so a single day can run from a station cart to a smart modern restaurant. Dinner goes on late, and during Ramadan the grills around Mohammed Ali Road make an evening out of eating alone.

If your stomach is sensitive, stick to the busiest stalls.\n\nMysore goes deep rather than wide. It does one regional vegetarian tradition very well, and its best eating happens in the morning, in small, crowded places where breakfast is the main meal. After that the choice narrows to a few North Indian and Chinese-style places and hotel dining rooms. Wine or beer with dinner usually means a hotel bar.

Mumbai has the richer and more varied list of sights. The Gothic Revival grandeur of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, the Oval Maidan with Victorian Gothic on one side and Marine Drive's Art Deco on the other, two strong museums and the Kala Ghoda galleries make up a colonial port city on a grand scale. The catch is the slow travel between them.

Mysore's appeal is concentrated and royal. The Wodeyar palace, especially when lit at night, the Ravi Varma paintings in the Jaganmohan Palace and the temple and stone Nandi on Chamundi Hill can all be seen in two or three unhurried days.

Mumbai offers a real night out. It has dressy cocktail bars, gastropubs and a few clubs in Bandra, Khar and the old mill compounds, plus the older Colaba bar strip, though everything shuts around 1am and the areas are far apart.

Mysore has almost none of this. After the palace lights and dinner, the options are a hotel bar or a quiet pub, and anyone wanting to go out heads to Bengaluru.

Mysore has the stronger wildlife. Bandipur, Nagarhole and Kabini, about two hours away, have tigers, wild elephants and gaur, seen on jeep safaris, and storks and crocodiles crowd the river islands at Ranganathittu, close to town.

Mumbai's surprise is Sanjay Gandhi National Park inside its own suburbs, with leopards and the Kanheri caves, plus flamingos on the Sewri mudflats in winter. The hiking in the Western Ghats is a longer haul through traffic.

Mysore is better placed for outings. Tipu Sultan's island fortress at Srirangapatna is half an hour away, the Hoysala temple at Somnathpur about an hour, and the giant Jain statue at Shravanabelagola makes a fuller day. A hired driver can link several of them.

Mumbai has one superb trip, the ferry to Elephanta's cave carvings of Shiva, plus the older Buddhist halls at Karla and Bhaja. After those the list runs short, and Ajanta and Ellora are too far for a day.

Mysore is the easier city with children. It has a shaded zoo founded by the maharajas, a rail museum with royal carriages to climb into, and the musical fountains at Brindavan Gardens, all in a calmer and milder setting.

Mumbai has the Nehru Science Centre, the Gateway ferries and ice cream on Chowpatty. Even so, crowded pavements, heat and long drives make it hard work, and families get on best with a driver and a hotel pool.

Both cities are awkward to get around, for different reasons. Mumbai is long and narrow. The suburban railway is the fastest way north but is crushingly full at rush hour, while the metro is calmer but covers only part of the city. Road traffic can stretch a short ride to an hour, and only the Fort, Kala Ghoda and Colaba are pleasant on foot.

Mysore is a matter of scale rather than distance. The palace, Sayyaji Rao Road and the market form a small walkable core, and Chamundi Hill, the zoo and Brindavan Gardens are short auto-rickshaw or cab rides apart. The city buses are hard for newcomers to use, so day trips mean hiring a car with a driver.

Mumbai has far more range, from Zaveri Bazaar's gold and Chor Bazaar's antiques to the street stalls of Colaba Causeway and Linking Road. It also has designer and handloom boutiques in Kala Ghoda and Bandra, and luxury malls.

Mysore is a place for a few specific purchases rather than a shopping trip. Gold-threaded Mysore silk, sandalwood soap and carvings, incense and gilded Mysore paintings are best bought from government emporia to avoid fakes.

Mysore is the cheaper stay overall, and its simple hotels and guesthouses are easy to find. Costs only rise at the heritage palace hotels, the safari lodges and when hiring a driver.

In Mumbai, eating and getting about cost little, but rooms are what hurt. Good accommodation in the south of the city is priced well above the rest of India, and drinks in the bars are heavily taxed.

Mumbai has a steady programme all year. The NCPA at Nariman Point hosts the Symphony Orchestra of India, Hindustani music, dance and jazz, little Prithvi Theatre in Juhu anchors Hindi and English drama, and the Kala Ghoda festival fills the Fort area each winter.

Mysore has a deep Carnatic and veena heritage, but outside Dasara the visitor gets only occasional recitals and Kannada-language repertory theatre.

Mysore is a world centre for yoga. Students come to Gokulam to practise Ashtanga for weeks, with dawn classes, Ayurvedic treatments and a slow daily rhythm, although the city centre itself is noisy.

Mumbai offers little real rest outside its luxury hotel spas and yoga studios in Bandra. Its quietest moments are an early walk on Marine Drive or a sit by the Banganga Tank.