Queenstown or Ushuaia?

Neither town is a beach destination, but Queenstown at least offers a swim of sorts in summer. You can jump off the town jetty, lie on the shingle at Queenstown Bay, or take a gentler dip in Lake Hayes or Moke Lake in January and February.

Ushuaia's shore on the Beagle Channel is rock, shingle and kelp, the water is close to polar, and the wind seldom drops. There, the sea is something you watch from a boat.

The two are much alike for food, and both have a narrow range. Queenstown's strength is wine: cellar doors and winery restaurants in the Gibbston Valley, with lamb and venison in town and plenty of burger counters, pie shops and ramen for casual meals.

Ushuaia eats from the cold sea instead. King crab is the dish to try, along with toothfish and channel mussels, and lamb is roasted whole over an open fire. Dinner starts at late Argentine hours and runs long.

Ushuaia has more to see indoors, mostly because of its old prison. The radial cell blocks now house the Maritime Museum, with exhibits on prison life, navigation and Antarctic exploration. Smaller museums cover the Yámana people, and pioneer houses of wood and corrugated iron stand among the plainer buildings in the streets.

Queenstown's best sight is the 1912 steamship TSS Earnslaw, along with a few gold-rush stone buildings and the lakeside gardens. Its gold-rush history is told better in nearby Arrowtown. Neither town needs more than a day.

Queenstown has a real night out. Seasonal workers, backpackers and skiers crowd the pubs and DJ bars around Shotover, Camp and Searle streets, with après-ski in winter and lakefront terraces on summer evenings. It is bar life rather than club culture, but it is lively.

Ushuaia's evenings are a late dinner followed by a drink in a brewpub, with a casino and the odd late bar for anyone still up. Most visitors turn in early because a boat or trek leaves in the morning.

Both towns have outstanding scenery. Queenstown comes out ahead on the sheer range of things to do. Commercial bungy began at the Kawarau Bridge, jet boats run the Shotover canyons, the Routeburn Track and Mount Aspiring are close by, and four ski fields are within a drive.

Ushuaia feels wilder and emptier, and it has marine life that Queenstown lacks. There are sea lions, cormorants and penguins on the Beagle Channel, beech forest in Tierra del Fuego National Park, and hikes to the Martial Glacier and Laguna Esmeralda. In winter you can ski at Cerro Castor or go dog-sledding.

Queenstown has the better choice of places to go. Arrowtown, with its miners' cottages and Chinese settlement, is about twenty minutes away, and Wanaka is an hour over the Crown Range. The vineyards around Cromwell and Bannockburn and the goldfields towns of Clyde and Alexandra are also within reach. Milford Sound is the region's best-known sight, but it is three to four hours away by road in each direction, so it takes a whole day.

From Ushuaia, the main outings are the historic Estancia Harberton with its marine mammal museum, Tolhuin on the way to Lago Fagnano, and a boat across the channel to Puerto Williams in Chile. Most other outings from Ushuaia lead into empty country rather than to another town.

Queenstown is the easier town to manage with children. It is compact and relaxed, and the lakeside gardens, playgrounds, steamship wharf and gondola base are all a short walk from one another. The catch is that the thrills the town is famous for don't suit every age. The bungy jumps, canyon swings and skydives have age and weight limits, so younger children often watch while older siblings jump, and long drives to Glenorchy or Milford Sound test their patience.

Ushuaia is also small and safe, but very little in it is made for children, so families who expect entertainment laid on soon run out of things to do. It suits parents whose children are happy walking, watching wildlife and coping with a cold wind. In winter Queenstown stays ahead, with proper ski schools at Coronet Peak and Cardrona. In Ushuaia, winter brings snow to play in and dog-sledding in the valleys near town.

Getting around is much the same in both towns. Each has a small centre you can walk, and each needs wheels for the wild country around it. In Queenstown the buses are genuinely useful for Arrowtown, Frankton and the airport, and a water taxi crosses the lake. The wineries and trailheads still call for a car, and the single Frankton road backs up at busy times.

Ushuaia's grid climbs steep hillside streets that can be icy in winter, and its buses are of little use to visitors. Shuttles and taxis cover the trailheads, and boat trips leave from the central pier.

Neither town is worth a trip for shopping, though Queenstown has a little more to browse. It has merino and possum-wool knitwear, greenstone jewellery, landscape galleries, specialist ski and bike shops, and a lakefront craft market on summer weekends.

Ushuaia's main street sells penguin souvenirs, chocolate, wool and spare fleeces. Tierra del Fuego's special tax regime makes some goods cheaper than elsewhere in Argentina.

Ushuaia is the easier town on your budget. It is dear for Argentina, and boat trips, guided treks and taxis to trailheads add up. Hostels and casual meals stay reasonable, though, and spring or autumn bring cheaper rooms.

Queenstown is expensive all round. Rooms cost more than elsewhere in New Zealand, meals carry resort prices, and the bungy jumps, scenic flights and lift passes you came for pile on top. Self-catering and the free trails soften the cost, but not by much.

Both towns are thin on performing arts, and neither has theatre, opera or an orchestra to plan around. Queenstown has a bit more in the evenings: covers bands in the après bars, touring comedians at the events centre, and a few days of street performances and concerts during the winter festival. In Ushuaia it comes down to occasional concerts at the cultural centre and live music in the odd pub.

Queenstown has more ways to relax, despite its love of adrenaline. You can book a private cedar hot tub above the Shotover River, a lodge spa towards Arrowtown, or a soak after skiing. Glenorchy's quiet at the head of the lake is the place to escape the tour buses in the centre.

In Ushuaia, wellness means the spas in the larger hotels, some of them in the forest above the channel. The rest comes from the town going quiet once the cruise passengers leave.