Oaxaca or Puebla?

Neither city has a beach. Both sit high in the mountains, and swimming in town means a hotel pool.

What differs is the coast you could add on. From Oaxaca, Puerto Escondido, Mazunte or Huatulco are a short flight away and make a natural few days of beach to end the trip. Puebla's nearest coast, around Veracruz, is a longer journey by road, but its spring-fed balnearios on the edge of the city give a more local kind of swim.

These are two of the places Mexican cooking comes from, and either will feed you superbly. Oaxaca has the wider range of moles, tlayudas grilled over charcoal and the smoky grill aisle of the 20 de Noviembre market. It also has a drinking culture built on village mezcal and morning hot chocolate, and a group of chefs serving tasting menus, which give it the slight edge.

Puebla is the birthplace of mole poblano, and its strength is street eating. There are cemitas, small chalupas and tacos árabes, chiles en nogada in late summer, and the convent sweets of the Calle de los Dulces.

Both have UNESCO-listed colonial centres you can see properly in two or three days, so the difference is in character. Oaxaca's pale green stone streets lead to Santo Domingo and the Tomb 7 gold, and Monte Albán is twenty minutes away. Its printmaking workshops and Textile Museum make the Zapotec past and today's art feel connected.

Puebla is about density and ornament. It has red brick and Talavera house fronts, more churches per block, the gilded Capilla del Rosario and the Palafoxiana library. The Museo Amparo and the forts from the 1862 battle add history Oaxaca cannot match.

Evenings are low-key in both cities. Oaxaca's are the more intimate: mezcal tasting bars in the centre and Jalatlaco, rooftops over the domes of Santo Domingo, and only a few salsa or DJ nights at weekends.

Puebla has a little more reach thanks to its students. Its own centre offers cantinas around the Callejón de los Sapos, but the real going-out is a taxi ride away, in the bars and small clubs of Cholula from Thursday to Saturday or in the clubs of Angelópolis.

Oaxaca is for walking from village to village through forest, and Puebla is for climbing volcanoes. Oaxaca has the slight edge because of the Sierra Norte, about an hour and a half away. There the Zapotec Pueblos Mancomunados run cabins, local guides and trails through pine-oak and cloud forest, for a single long hike or several days on foot. Closer in, the mineral cliffs of Hierve el Agua make an easy half-day, and the valley floor is good for mountain biking among the agave fields.

Puebla's outdoors is about altitude. Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl dominate the skyline, La Malinche is a long climb through pine forest to above 4,400m, and the Izta-Popo national park has high trails on Iztaccíhuatl's flanks. The city's own parks are modest, though, and almost every outing needs a car, a tour or an early bus.

Puebla has the stronger and more varied day trips. Cholula's Great Pyramid and the tiled churches of Tonantzintla and Acatepec are barely half an hour away, and Huejotzingo's convent is on the way to the volcano. Tlaxcala is a second colonial city and pairs well with the Cacaxtla murals, and even Mexico City is within reach.

Oaxaca's outings are smaller but have their own appeal: the Tule cypress, Mitla's stone fretwork, Yagul, the mezcal distilleries and the craft villages, with the Mixteca Alta monasteries for a longer day. What it lacks is another historic city nearby.

Puebla is clearly the better pick with children, mainly because of Africam Safari, where animals walk around the car. The observation wheel at Angelópolis, the open grounds of the forts and the pyramid tunnels at Cholula fill out the days.

Oaxaca makes children welcome in its squares and pedestrian streets, and older ones enjoy painting alebrijes or making chocolate. But it has no zoo or theme park, the ruins offer little shade, and younger children may find it slow.

In both cities the sights cluster within a twenty-minute walk of the zócalo, though Puebla's flat grid is a little kinder on the feet than Oaxaca's narrow, uneven pavements. The gap is what happens beyond the centre.

Oaxaca is easier. Colectivos and second-class buses to the valley villages leave from the edge of the old town, and cheap taxis or a day driver cover the rest. Puebla spreads out further, so getting to Angelópolis, Cholula or Africam usually means a taxi or ride-hailing app, and day trips often need a long-distance bus or a tour.

Oaxaca is the better place to fill a suitcase. Galleries along the Macedonio Alcalá sell textiles, huipiles, barro negro and tin work, and you can buy straight from the makers in Teotitlán, Atzompa or San Martín Tilcajete. The weekly markets at Tlacolula and Ocotlán are worth a morning of their own.

Puebla's shopping centres on one thing done well, Talavera pottery, which you can watch being painted in its workshops. It also has the weekend antiques stalls on the Callejón de los Sapos and the malls of Angelópolis for the brands Oaxaca lacks.

Both are easy on the budget, with very cheap market lunches and street food, and Puebla is slightly cheaper overall. Its comfortable hotels in restored colonial houses near the zócalo are good value, and some museums are free on certain days.

Oaxaca costs more at the top end. Its boutique hotels and chef-led tasting menus are priced with foreign visitors in mind, and rooms climb during the Guelaguetza and the Day of the Dead.

Neither city is a reason to travel for performance alone, but they differ in timing. Oaxaca's highlights depend on festivals: the Guelaguetza dances in the hillside auditorium and the Day of the Dead processions are memorable. Outside them it offers marimba and the state band in the zócalo, plus the odd evening at the Teatro Macedonio Alcalá.

Puebla has a steadier stage calendar, with plays at the historic Teatro Principal and touring dance and orchestras at the university's cultural complex. Most evenings, though, its music means mariachis and trios on the squares.

Oaxaca is the better place to unwind. The temazcal sweat lodge is still part of daily life in nearby Zapotec and Mixtec communities, and you can join a ceremony led by a healer, followed by herbal rubs. Yoga studios and shaded gardens in Jalatlaco add to its easy pace.

Puebla offers temazcales at small spas around the city and Cholula, and a swim in the sulphurous pools at Agua Azul. Beyond that it comes down to hotel spas and quiet plazas, and traffic outside the centre spoils some of the calm.