Oaxaca or Playa del Carmen?

For sand and sea, there is no contest. Oaxaca sits in a highland valley with mountain ranges between it and the Pacific. Its beaches at Puerto Escondido, Mazunte and Huatulco are several hours away by road or a short flight, so the coast works as a separate stay, not a day out. Visitors who want both usually end with a few nights there. In the city itself, swimming means a hotel pool.

Playa del Carmen has the Caribbean at the end of every street, and you choose the mood by walking the shore: sunbeds and music near the pier, more space and quiet at either end of town. When the town sand feels narrow, Xpu-Ha's white beach or the sheltered bays of Akumal are a short colectivo ride away. Seaweed can wash up in summer, so the clearest water comes in winter and spring.

Oaxaca is a place people travel to for the food. There are moles from negro to amarillo, tlayudas over charcoal, the grill aisle of the 20 de Noviembre market, mezcal from village distilleries and cinnamon-spiced hot chocolate at breakfast. A group of serious chefs adds tasting menus built on heirloom maize.

Playa del Carmen eats well enough if you leave Quinta Avenida, where menus are pitched at the crowds. Head inland for al pastor, cochinita pibil and ceviche. Its Italian and Argentine community gives it the pizza and pasta Oaxaca lacks, but it has no market hall worth seeing and little fine dining.

Oaxaca's historic centre is the sight in itself. Its pale green stone streets lead to the gilded Baroque church of Santo Domingo, and the museum in the old monastery beside it holds the Tomb 7 gold. The Rufino Tamayo and Textile museums add more, and Monte Albán is twenty minutes up the hill. Two or three days pass easily without leaving town.

Playa del Carmen was a fishing village until the late twentieth century. Inside town, the small Xaman Ha ruins in Playacar and the seafront chapel of Nuestra Señora del Carmen take an hour at most. Its heritage lies along the coast and in the jungle, not in its streets.

Playa del Carmen is the place for a big night out. Calle 12 and its corner with Quinta Avenida pack open-fronted bars and clubs playing reggaeton, house and EDM until the early hours, and beach clubs run daytime parties. It is loud, young and simple, with touts and inflated drink prices along the strip.

Oaxaca's evenings are slower and more grown-up: mezcal tasting bars in the centre and Jalatlaco, rooftop terraces over Santo Domingo's domes, and a few salsa nights at weekends. It suits a long dinner and good drinks, not clubbing until dawn.

Playa del Carmen's outdoors is underwater. Dozens of cenotes along the Ruta de los Cenotes, the reef walls off Cozumel, turtles at Akumal and the lagoons of Sian Ka'an make it superb for snorkelling, diving and boat trips. Hiking is the gap, since the land is flat and the summers sticky.

Oaxaca offers the opposite: mountains. The Pueblos Mancomunados in the Sierra Norte run village-to-village trails through pine-oak and cloud forest up to about 3,000m. Hierve el Agua's petrified falls and mountain biking among agave fields add easier outings.

Playa del Carmen has the slightly stronger list of big names. Tulum's clifftop walls are less than an hour away, Coba's pyramid and Cozumel are close, and Chichen Itza, Valladolid and Ek Balam fill a long day inland. Beyond those, the options turn into resorts and eco-parks.

Oaxaca's outings are smaller and closer together, mostly within an hour in the Central Valleys. The Tule cypress, Teotitlán's weavers, Mitla's stone fretwork, Yagul and the mezcal distilleries of Matatlán can be combined in one day. The lonely sixteenth-century monasteries of the Mixteca Alta make a longer trip.

Playa del Carmen is far easier with children. Xcaret, Xel-Ha and Xplor turn underground rivers, lagoons and zip lines into full days out, and the sea inside the reef is often calm. Shallow cenotes and Akumal's turtles add to that, and Playacar resorts or apartments north of the centre keep families away from the Calle 12 noise.

Oaxaca welcomes children warmly, and older ones enjoy painting alebrijes or making chocolate. Younger children, though, will find shadeless ruins and long days of sightseeing dull, and cobbles make pushchairs a struggle.

The two are equally easy, in different ways. Oaxaca is a compact grid where the zócalo, Santo Domingo, Jalatlaco and Xochimilco are all walkable, though pavements are narrow. For the valley villages you rely on taxis, colectivos or a driver for the day.

Playa del Carmen's flat centre is just as walkable, and its strength is the coast. Colectivo vans run along Highway 307 to beaches and cenotes, ferries cross to Cozumel, and buses and the Tren Maya link it to the wider region. Its taxis are unmetered, so agree the fare first.

Oaxaca is the better place to shop by a long way, as long as you want crafts. You can buy rugs from the looms of Teotitlán del Valle, black pottery in San Bartolo Coyotepec and alebrijes in Arrazola, at the source. The Tlacolula and Ocotlán weekly markets and the cooperative galleries on Macedonio Alcalá add to the choice.

Playa del Carmen's Quinta Avenida stretches for kilometres but sells mostly souvenirs, silver, beachwear and tequila, and the crafts there need a careful eye. It does have the international brands Oaxaca lacks, in an open-air mall near the pier.

Oaxaca makes a budget go further. Meals in the markets and fondas, colectivos out to the villages and the modest entry fees at the ruins all cost little. Costs climb only if you want a restored colonial hotel, a chef's tasting menu or a room during Guelaguetza or the Day of the Dead.

Playa del Carmen is built for international visitors. Its resorts, beach clubs, dive trips and big eco-parks charge close to what you would pay in Western Europe or the United States. Spending stays modest only if you rent a few blocks back from the sea, eat at the taco stands inland, ride the colectivos and keep to the free public beaches.

Neither city has a full concert season, but Oaxaca has more to see. The Guelaguetza in July fills a hillside auditorium with regional dance, and the Day of the Dead brings comparsas into the streets. Through the year there are marimba and state band evenings in the zócalo and concerts at the ornate Teatro Macedonio Alcalá.

Playa del Carmen's live entertainment is covers bands on Quinta Avenida, fire dancers on the beach and the evening spectacle at Xcaret, which is a show, not a stage tradition.

Both cities offer the temazcal sweat lodge. In Oaxaca it is often led by a traditional healer in a village setting, and the rest of the relaxation comes from shaded courtyards, slow chocolate breakfasts and quiet Jalatlaco gardens.

Playa del Carmen relaxes through resort spas, beachfront massage and yoga studios in the quieter north. In both, the calm has limits: festival fireworks in Oaxaca, and the late music around Calle 12 in Playa.