Penang or Phuket?

This is where Phuket is far stronger. Its west coast is a chain of proper sandy bays with different moods: busy Patong, broad Karon and Kata, Nai Harn between green headlands, and empty Mai Khao. Boats also run out to islands with clearer water. The catch is the season, because monsoon swells and rip currents close the west coast to safe swimming from about May to October.

Penang's sea is just as warm, but Batu Ferringhi's water is often cloudy and jellyfish appear at times, so many visitors end up in the hotel pool. The cleaner sand at Monkey Beach and Kerachut takes a forest walk or a boat ride to reach, and George Town has no beach of its own.

The two islands share Hokkien and Peranakan roots, but Penang turns them into one of Asia's great street-food cities. Char kway teow, assam laksa, prawn mee and nasi kandar come from single-dish stalls along Gurney Drive and through George Town, joined by Malay and Tamil Muslim cooking in Little India. Many people come here mainly to eat.

Phuket's own cooking, such as Hokkien noodles, moo hong and dim sum breakfasts, is concentrated in Phuket Town, and the waterfront seafood is good. Out in the beach towns the menus become generic, so eating well there means a trip into town.

Both islands have Sino-colonial shophouse quarters from their trading and tin years, but George Town's is far larger and richer. Within a few streets you find carved clan houses such as Khoo Kongsi, the Pinang Peranakan Mansion, the stilted clan jetties and a mosque, a Hindu temple and a church side by side, with Kek Lok Si up at Air Itam.

Phuket Town's Thalang Road and Soi Romanee are pretty, and Wat Chalong and the Big Buddha round out a day or two. Sightseeing there is a pleasant break from the beach rather than a reason to come.

Phuket is ahead if you want a big night out. Bangla Road in Patong closes to traffic every evening and runs with beer bars, clubs and cabaret until dawn, while Bang Tao and Kamala offer more polished beach clubs at sunset.

Penang's evenings revolve around late hawker suppers. After that come backpacker bars on Chulia Street and Love Lane, a short loud strip on Upper Penang Road and a few shophouse cocktail bars, all winding down earlier and made pricier by alcohol taxes.

Phuket's outdoors is mostly on the water, and that is why it comes out ahead. Sea kayaks thread the limestone towers and lagoons of Phang Nga Bay, and boats reach Phi Phi, the Racha islands and, in the dry season, the Similans for some of Thailand's best diving.

Penang's nature is on land and closer to the city. You can take the funicular up Penang Hill to the Habitat canopy walk, follow monkey-lined paths from the Botanic Gardens, walk jungle trails in the national park to the lighthouse and cycle among Balik Pulau's orchards. It makes good mornings out rather than a reason to come.

Neither island has much for day trips, and they lead in different directions. From Penang you cross to the mainland for history. Ipoh has a colonial old town and cave temples, Kuala Kangsar has its royal mosque and palaces, and Taiping has its lake gardens. From Phuket nearly every outing is by boat, to busy Phi Phi or the quiet Koh Yao islands, or by road to Krabi and Khao Lak, with almost no historic towns within reach.

Phuket is the easier island with children, as long as you choose a resort at Kata, Karon or Nai Harn and stay put. The dry-season shallows are gentle, kids' clubs and big pools are common, and the Cape Panwa aquarium, water parks and short snorkelling trips fill the days. Keep children off the west-coast sea in the monsoon months.

Penang needs more planning. The usual pattern is to split the stay with Batu Ferringhi, add the adventure and butterfly parks at Teluk Bahang and the ride up Penang Hill, and have children hunt for George Town's murals. Broken pavements, traffic and the lack of a zoo or aquarium count against it.

Penang is clearly the easier island to get around. George Town's heritage core is compact, a free shuttle loops through it, trishaws and bicycles cover short hops, and cheap ride-hailing or Rapid Penang buses reach the hill, Kek Lok Si and the north coast, though slowly in traffic.

Phuket's beaches are spread along a long, hilly coastal road. The airport bus is infrequent and stops early, and songthaews don't run between beaches. That leaves costly taxis or risky scooters, so every outing beyond your own bay takes planning.

Both islands have big air-conditioned malls full of familiar chains, and in both the better browsing is in the old town. Penang's has more traditional trades. Chowrasta Market sells nutmeg products and local snacks, Little India has saris, spices and gold, and the lanes around Campbell Street still hold joss-stick makers, rattan weavers and signboard carvers.

Phuket does better with things made or sold for visitors. Beach-town tailors make suits to measure and pearl shops are common. The large weekend night market and the Sunday walking street on Thalang Road make shopping into an evening out.

Penang is the cheaper trip. Meals at even the best-known hawker stalls cost little, buses and ride-hailing barely register, and many temples and clan houses are free or close to it. Costs go up if you stay in a restored shophouse boutique hotel or a beachfront resort at Batu Ferringhi, and heavily taxed drinks make evenings out much dearer than evenings spent eating.

Phuket is good value by Western standards but dearer than most of Thailand. The cheap side is street food, markets, massages and guesthouses, mostly in Phuket Town. Taxis are the steady drain, and beach resorts get expensive in the December to February peak. The monsoon months bring big discounts, but the seas are rougher then.

Neither island is a place for regular concerts or theatre, and neither has a resident orchestra, but Penang has more to offer. The George Town Festival fills old warehouses with theatre and dance for several weeks a year, and street events such as Hungry Ghost opera stages, Thaipusam and Chinese New Year lion dances are the real thing. Phuket's evenings offer ladyboy cabaret, staged cultural shows for tour groups and beach-bar cover bands.

Phuket was built for this kind of trip. Thai massage runs from beachfront shopfronts to spa pavilions set in the jungle, dedicated retreats offer yoga, meditation and detox stays, and the Muay Thai camps along one road in Chalong draw people who come to train for weeks. Quiet bases such as Nai Harn, Rawai and Mai Khao feel nothing like Patong.

Penang offers cheap reflexology and Chinese or Malay massage around George Town, resort spas at Batu Ferringhi and cool evenings on Penang Hill. Heat and traffic noise in town mean real rest usually needs a few days by the sea.