Nha Trang or Ubud?

This is Nha Trang's main strength. A sandy crescent runs the length of the town, so the day starts with a swim, and island bays, the empty sand towards Cam Ranh and the shallows at Doc Let add variety. The one gap is the autumn monsoon, when the surf in town gets rough.

Ubud is inland, and swimming usually means the hotel pool. Sanur's calm reef-sheltered water is the nearest proper beach, and getting there is a drive of the best part of an hour each way.

The two eat about equally well, but in different ways. Nha Trang is about the sea and the street: crab and squid picked from tanks and grilled at the table, bowls of bun cha ca, nem nuong rolls and strong drip coffee on every pavement. There is not much at the top end beyond the resort hotels.

Ubud's Balinese dishes, babi guling at lunch counters and slow-cooked bebek betutu, come with a wide layer of plant-based cafés and a few serious tasting menus. That gives it more range, although you need to step off the main street to eat well.

The two differ in kind as well as in amount: one has a short sightseeing list, while in the other the culture is all around you. Nha Trang's list fits into a single day. The Cham towers on the hill above the river mouth are a reminder that an older kingdom held this coast long before the resort. The French-era cathedral and the small museum to Alexandre Yersin add a colonial chapter, and the white Buddha at Long Son is worth the climb for its view over the bay. After that, the town has little left to show.

Ubud takes longer, because so much of its culture is going on around you rather than kept in buildings. Shrines stand inside family compounds, and on feast days temple processions take over the lanes. A long painting tradition, shaped by contact with European artists, shows in the galleries and studios around town. Older layers lie close by, in the carved Elephant Cave at Goa Gajah and the rock shrines in the river valleys. It rewards two or three unhurried days rather than a checklist.

Nha Trang stays up much later. The backpacker blocks behind the seafront run bar crawls and loud music, beach bars put on fire shows and DJ nights, and a few clubs go on past midnight. Local nights out mean beer and seafood at long outdoor tables.

Ubud keeps early hours because many visitors are up at dawn for yoga or Batur. A night out there is dinner and a drink in a garden bar, and anyone who wants to dance has to drive to Seminyak or Canggu.

Ubud is the place for landscapes on land. You can walk to the rice terraces from town along the Campuhan Ridge, raft the Ayung gorge, visit jungle waterfalls and climb Mount Batur in the dark for sunrise over the crater lake.

Nha Trang's best nature is on and under the water. The ring of green islands in the bay and the protected reef around Hon Mun make some of Vietnam's best snorkelling and diving. On land there is less, mainly the Ba Ho pools and the hills at Hon Ba.

Ubud is a far better base for excursions. Tirta Empul and Gunung Kawi are close by, and Besakih, Klungkung's painted pavilions, the Jatiluwih terraces and lakeside Ulun Danu Bratan can all be done in a day with a hired driver. The island's slow roads limit how many fit into one trip.

From Nha Trang the choice is thin. Phan Rang's Cham towers and craft villages are about two hours south, boats go to island villages such as Binh Ba, and Dalat really needs an overnight stay.

Nha Trang is easier with children. There is a gentle sandy beach in the dry months, a full day out on Hon Tre with rides, a water park and an aquarium, and turtles at the Oceanographic Institute. Children also tend to enjoy the mud baths.

Ubud works best for older children who like the outdoors, with rafting, dance shows and walks through the paddies. Toddlers will find it harder: the pavements are poor, the Monkey Forest macaques grab at bags, and most outings involve time in a car. Scooter traffic is a nuisance in both places.

Nha Trang is noticeably easier. Hotels, restaurants and the beach sit along one walkable seafront strip, and ride-hailing cars or motorbike taxis cover the rest. Arriving involves a 35km drive from Cam Ranh airport.

In Ubud, distances between villas and sights are longer than they look, the roads climb steeply in and out of the valleys, and there is no usable public transport. Most days are planned around a driver, so staying near the centre is the only way to walk to dinner.

Ubud is the better place to shop, as long as you want handmade things. Each village on the road south has its own craft: woodcarving in Mas, silver in Celuk and painting in Batuan. Back in town there are linen and jewellery boutiques on Jalan Hanoman.

Nha Trang's shopping is mostly food and souvenirs. Cho Dam's round market hall sells dried squid, cashews and coffee, and pearls and agarwood are the local specialities, but there is little worth carrying home beyond those.

Both are cheap, and Nha Trang is a little cheaper again. A comfortable hotel with a pool or a sea view costs little, and street food and motorbike taxis cost even less. Expect higher prices for dive trips, the island park and seafood priced by weight.

Ubud's homestays, warungs and massages are also inexpensive. However, the town has a costly side as well, with luxury jungle resorts and visitor cafés charging close to European prices, so it is easier to overspend there.

Ubud gives you a reason to go out after dark. Most nights there is Legong, Barong or Kecak with live gamelan in the palace courtyard or at the Saraswati lotus pond, danced by village troupes, and a temple festival is worth catching if one happens during your stay.

Nha Trang has little beyond cover bands in hotel lounges and the occasional Cham music show put on for tourists.

Ubud is one of Asia's best-known wellness destinations. You can join yoga classes from dawn or longer retreats, book spas above the Ayung and Petanu gorges and take part in the purification ritual at Tirta Empul. Quiet paddies lie a few steps from the main road.

Nha Trang's version is simpler and fun: warm mineral mud and hot-spring pools near Thap Ba, and a massage shop on almost every street. The high-rise centre is noisy, though, so for real rest you need to stay out in the bays.