Petra or Sharm el-Sheikh?

On this the two are far apart. Petra sits high in the mountains of southern Jordan, so swimming means a hotel pool if yours has one. The Red Sea at Aqaba is a separate stop on the trip, not an afternoon out.

Sharm el-Sheikh is built around the water. The reef starts within a few steps of the sand, wooden jetties at Sharks Bay and Ras Um Sid carry snorkellers out to the drop-off, and Naama Bay has the most ordinary sandy bay. Expect small beaches that mostly belong to hotels, and pack reef shoes.

Neither place is worth travelling to for the food, and in both most meals come from hotel buffets. Wadi Musa, the town at Petra, cooks the Jordanian standards competently, from mansaf to zarb cooked in an underground pit. Its best moments are sage tea at a stall on the trail or a Bedouin meal in the hills.

Sharm has a little more range. Naama Bay has international restaurants, and the Old Market is more rewarding, with grilled fish, koshari and taameya eaten late with mint tea. Drinking also has more of a place there, in its tourist bars as well as the hotels.

Petra is one of the world's great archaeological sites, and Sharm cannot compare. The walk through the Siq to the Treasury and on past the Street of Facades and the Royal Tombs to the Monastery fills two or three days. Little Petra and the High Place of Sacrifice add more.

Sharm el-Sheikh is a modern resort with almost no history of its own. The Al Sahaba Mosque and the painted Heavenly Cathedral are worth an evening's wander around the Old Market. The rest of Egypt's heritage is a long excursion away.

Of the two, only Sharm el-Sheikh offers a real night out. Naama Bay's promenade of bars, shisha lounges and a few large clubs stays open late in peak season, and beach bars hold DJ nights, though everything is aimed at tourists.

In Petra an evening means dinner, a shisha on a terrace and an early night, because the trails start early. A hotel bar is about as lively as Wadi Musa gets.

Both are superb for the outdoors, but in opposite ways. Petra is for walking. Trails run through the sandstone domes and wadis of the Sharah mountains to Jebel Haroun, and the back route goes from Little Petra to the Monastery. The ibex slopes of Dana and the red valleys of Wadi Rum are within reach by road.

Sharm el-Sheikh's best landscape is underwater. The reef walls of Ras Mohammed, the wreck of the Thistlegorm and the Tiran Strait put it among the world's great places to dive and snorkel. On land, the Sinai granite and desert are mostly for jeep, quad bike and camel trips.

Both have only a few day trips, and in each the main outings mean long drives. From Petra the choices are the Crusader castles at Shobak and Kerak, the stone village of Dana and the desert of Wadi Rum, all easiest with a driver.

Sharm el-Sheikh has easygoing Dahab an hour up the coast, and St Catherine's Monastery below Mount Sinai, which many visitors combine with a night climb for sunrise. Petra itself is sold as a trip from Sharm, but it needs far more than a rushed day.

Sharm el-Sheikh is much simpler with children. Resort kids' clubs, family pools with slides and shallow lagoons for a first look at the coral make for an easy week, as long as the hotel is chosen well and midsummer is avoided.

Petra can thrill older children who enjoy scrambling into tombs, but the walks are long, shade is scarce and strollers are of little use off the main path. Wadi Musa has no parks or play areas at all.

Neither is easy to get around, though for different reasons. At Petra the hard part is the walking: the archaeological park can only be seen on foot, over long and steep distances, and the wider region needs a hired driver or a rental car.

Sharm el-Sheikh's problem is its size. The resort runs for around 30km of coast from the Old Market to Nabq, and only Naama Bay is pleasant to walk. Hotel shuttles, taxis with the fare agreed first and tour pick-ups do the work, and many guests barely leave the resort.

In both places shopping means souvenirs, with Sharm el-Sheikh offering a bit more. Its Old Market and Naama Bay sell spices, perfume oils, alabaster and galabiyas, with plenty of haggling, and a few modern shopping centres stock beachwear and familiar brands.

Petra's stalls sell Bedouin silver, old coins of doubtful age and bottles of coloured sand. The cooperative shops selling embroidery made by local women are the best buys.

Sharm el-Sheikh is clearly the cheaper stay, above all in its all-inclusive hotels, and guests who eat and drink on the package get the most for their money. Costs rise with diving, excursions and meals in Naama Bay.

Petra is moderately priced. Wadi Musa's guesthouses and falafel counters are cheap, but the entry fee for foreign visitors is among the steepest of any heritage site, so a multi-day ticket or a combined Jordan pass makes a real difference.

Neither place has theatres or concert halls worth planning around, and in both the performances are put on for visitors. Petra has the more memorable evening in Petra by Night, when candles line the Siq and Bedouin musicians play the rababa below the Treasury.

Sharm el-Sheikh offers hotel entertainment teams, belly dancing and tanoura dancers at dinner shows. These are fun enough, but they have little to do with the place.

Sharm el-Sheikh is the more restful choice. Nearly every large resort has a spa with steam rooms, hammam-style scrubs and massage, but the real cure is the slow rhythm of pool, sea and winter sun.

Petra is a tiring stay rather than a soothing one. Wadi Musa's Turkish-style bathhouses, built for visitors, are a welcome end to a day on the trails, and the desert evenings are calm.