Pokhara or Ubud?

Neither town has a beach, but Ubud can at least reach one. Pokhara is hundreds of kilometres from any sea, the water off Lakeside is not good for swimming, and a dip at Begnas Lake is about as far as it goes.

From Ubud, the calm reef-sheltered water at Sanur is roughly an hour's drive away, so a swimming day trip is realistic. Otherwise, swimming in both places means a hotel or villa pool.

Ubud is the better place to eat. Balinese cooking gives the town real dishes to look for: babi guling at lunchtime counters, slow-cooked bebek betutu and nasi campur in family warungs. A morning market sits by the palace, and there are tasting-menu kitchens and plant-based cafés.

In Pokhara the good meals are simpler. Thakali dal bhat with refills, momos and charcoal-grilled buffalo sekuwa are worth looking for away from the lake. Most of Lakeside serves broad menus for hungry trekkers, and there is no fine dining.

Ubud has far more culture to take in. Daily offerings, family shrines and temple processions are part of ordinary life. Puri Saren and the Saraswati lotus pond stand in the centre, three museums trace a century of Balinese painting, and the rock-cut Goa Gajah is on the edge of town.

Pokhara's sights are pleasant extras on a mountain trip. These are the island shrine of Tal Barahi, the Peace Pagoda on the ridge, and the International Mountain Museum and Gurkha Museum. Most of the town is modern concrete.

Both towns are quiet at night, but Pokhara has more going on. Rooftop and lakefront bars along Lakeside fill with trekkers celebrating a finished trek, cover bands play, and a couple of small dance bars stay open until around midnight.

Ubud keeps early hours, because many visitors are up at dawn for yoga or a volcano trek. An evening there means a long dinner and a garden bar, and anyone who wants clubs has to make the long drive to Seminyak or Canggu.

For nature, Pokhara is the stronger choice. Machhapuchhre and the Annapurna range rise above 7,000m straight over Phewa Lake, and real Himalayan trekking starts an hour or two away, from short walks to Australian Camp up to Annapurna Base Camp. The Sarangkot ridge gives sunrise views and some of the best paragliding thermals anywhere. The only drawback is that monsoon cloud can hide all of it.

Ubud's outdoors is gentler and on a smaller scale. Its rice terraces, the Campuhan Ridge path and the jungle waterfalls make easy half days rather than expeditions. The Ayung rafting and the pre-dawn climb of Mount Batur are its biggest adventures, and both are done by lunchtime. It is lovely green country to explore slowly, but nothing there matches standing beneath the Annapurnas.

Ubud is much the better base for day trips. Tirta Empul's holy spring and the cliff tombs of Gunung Kawi are close, and a hired driver can also reach Besakih, Klungkung, the Jatiluwih terraces, Tanah Lot or the coast.

Slow mountain roads limit what you can do from Pokhara. The old Newar town of Bandipur, about two hours away, is the one easy outing. Gorkha and Tansen work better as overnight stops on the way somewhere else.

Ubud has more to offer children, though neither town is easy with toddlers. It has villas with private pools, a safari park and a zoo nearby, dance shows and gentle rafting. The downsides are scooter-filled streets with no pavements and Monkey Forest macaques that grab at bags.

Pokhara's lakeshore is calmer underfoot, with little traffic and rowing boats for hire. But there is little built for children, and the roads out of town are rough. Both suit outdoorsy teenagers best.

Pokhara is the easier of the two to get around. Lakeside is small and flat, so guesthouses, restaurants and the boat jetties are a short walk or bike ride apart. Taxis and hired drivers are only needed for Sarangkot and the trailheads.

In Ubud you will depend on drivers. There is no usable public transport, pavements are broken, scooters fill the main streets and the roads climb steeply through the river valleys. Most days are planned around a driver or a ride-hailing app.

Pokhara's shops are there to kit you out for a trek, while Ubud's sell what Bali makes by hand, and Ubud is the richer place to shop. Lakeside is full of boots, poles and down jackets to buy or rent, along with pashmina, singing bowls and thangkas. The most personal souvenirs are the carpets and jewellery from the Tibetan settlements on the edge of town, where the workshops are open to visitors.

Ubud's crafts make a day out in themselves. The Art Market faces the palace, and each village on the road south has its own trade: woodcarving at Mas, silver at Celuk and painting at Batuan. Back in town, small boutiques on Jalan Hanoman sell linen clothing and handmade jewellery.

Both are cheap, but Pokhara costs less. Lakeside guesthouses with mountain views, dal bhat lunches and boat hire cost very little. The real expenses are paragliding, guided treks and Annapurna permits.

Ubud is also good value, with homestays, warungs, massages and day-long drivers all inexpensive. But it has an expensive side too, with luxury resorts above the gorges and cafés charging close to European prices. Imported drinks are heavily taxed.

Ubud has a real performance tradition. Every night a village troupe performs Legong, Barong or the chanted Kecak to gamelan, in the palace courtyard or by the Saraswati lotus pond. The same dances appear at temple festivals.

Pokhara has cover bands in the bars and dinner shows of Gurung and Magar dances put on for visitors, and little beyond that.

Ubud is one of the world's best-known wellness towns, and Pokhara cannot match it. There are open-air yoga pavilions, retreats lasting from a weekend to several weeks, spas in the Ayung and Petanu gorges, flower baths, healers and sound sessions, and the whole town keeps early hours to suit.

Pokhara's appeal here is mostly its unhurried pace after Kathmandu. Quiet hillside yoga retreats, Ayurvedic massage for trekkers' legs and slow mornings watching the cloud lift off the peaks are the main draws. The spas are basic, and the nearest hot springs are far up the trails.