Puebla or Valladolid, Mexico?

Neither place is for a sea vacation, but Valladolid has much better swimming. Cenote Zací is right in town, and X'keken, Samulá and Suytun are a short bike ride away, with clear fresh water under cave roofs that makes a memorable dip between the ruins.

Puebla sits high on a plateau, hours from the Gulf coast. Swimming there means a hotel pool or one of the spring-fed balnearios on the edge of the city.

Puebla is the better place to eat. Mole poblano and chiles en nogada were born in its convent kitchens, and everyday eating means cemitas, small chalupas and tacos árabes, with the Calle de los Dulces for convent sweets.

Valladolid has good Yucatecan cooking and two dishes of its own, longaniza and lomitos. Most of the best eating happens at the morning market and at the marquesita carts in front of the cathedral. There is less to explore after a few days, and neither town does much international food.

Puebla has far more to see. Its UNESCO-listed centre of brick and Talavera-tiled fronts includes the gilded Capilla del Rosario, the seventeenth-century Biblioteca Palafoxiana and the cathedral's towering spires. The Museo Amparo, the Barroco museum and the 1862 battle forts add enough for several slow days.

Valladolid's appeal is quieter. It has painted low houses, the San Servacio church, the walk along the Calzada de los Frailes to the San Bernardino convent, and the folk art in the Casa de los Venados. The town itself takes about two days, and the bigger history lies at the Maya sites outside it.

Puebla gives you an actual night out. There are mezcal bars and cantinas around the Callejón de los Sapos, rooftop terraces facing the cathedral, and a student bar and club strip in Cholula from Thursday to Saturday, with more clubs in Angelópolis.

In Valladolid the evening centres on the main square, with families strolling and a few small mezcal and craft-beer bars. It has no club scene, and early starts for Chichén Itzá send most people to bed.

Puebla has a slight edge, but the two offer very different outdoors. Puebla has volcanoes: snowy Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl on the skyline, a long pine-forest climb up La Malinche, and high trails in the Izta-Popo park, though almost every outing needs a car or an early bus.

Around Valladolid the land is flat limestone forest, so the attractions are cenotes and caves reached by easy bike paths, plus flamingos and mangroves by boat at Ría Lagartos. There are no hills to hike, and the summer heat cuts outings short.

Both towns are excellent bases, and what you get from each is different. Valladolid is all about the Maya. You can be at Chichén Itzá's gates at opening, see the stucco carvings at Ek Balam and walk the forest paths of Cobá, with yellow Izamal as a further option.

From Puebla the trips are colonial and pre-Hispanic. Cholula's huge pyramid is crowned by a church, Tonantzintla and Acatepec have folk-Baroque village churches, and you can pair Tlaxcala with the Cacaxtla murals. Mexico City is a long but realistic day out.

Puebla offers more for 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 tunnels inside Cholula's pyramid add more.

Valladolid is calm and welcoming, and older children love the cenote rope swings and climbing at the ruins. Nothing there is built for children, though, and the midday heat and long walks in full sun at the sites wear out small ones.

Both centres are flat and easy to walk, and both get harder beyond them. In Puebla the gaps are filled by cheap taxis and ride-hailing to Angelópolis, Cholula or Africam, since buses are hard for visitors to follow.

Valladolid is small enough to need no local transport. Rented bikes and a cycle path reach the nearer cenotes. For Ek Balam, Cobá or Río Lagartos, many visitors hire a car and drive the quiet, straight roads.

Puebla is the better place to shop. You can watch Talavera being painted in old workshops, browse onyx and textiles at El Parián and hunt for antiques at the weekend stalls on the Callejón de los Sapos, with the Angelópolis malls for brands.

Valladolid sells Yucatecan crafts and not much else. Look for embroidered huipiles, hammocks, locally made sandals, honey and Xtabentún liqueur near the Zací cenote and along the Calzada.

Both are cheap, and the costs fall in different places. In Puebla, taxis across the city cost little, many museums are cheap or free on some days, and a room in a restored colonial house costs far less than in the capital.

Valladolid's meals, colectivos and bike hire are just as easy on the budget. The extras are entry fees: Chichén Itzá and the separate charge at each cenote add up over a stay built around them.

Puebla has a real stage. The Teatro Principal is one of the oldest theatres in the Americas, the university's cultural complex hosts dance and orchestral evenings, and the 5 de Mayo festivities bring folk dance into the streets.

Valladolid's performance is mostly what happens on the square. Jarana dancers perform the vaquería with trays balanced on their heads, and history is projected onto the San Bernardino convent at night. There is no theatre or concert hall.

Valladolid is the more restful choice. Its shuttered afternoons, cool evenings on the square and courtyard hotels with hammocks and small pools make winding down easy, and massage and temazcal can be arranged nearby.

Puebla also offers temazcal sweat lodges, plus the sulphurous pools of the Agua Azul balneario and quiet courtyards in the old town. Outside the centre, though, the traffic of a large city breaks the calm.