San Miguel de Allende or Zihuatanejo?

There is no contest here. San Miguel is on the high plateau far from any coast, so water means a hotel pool or a soak in the hot springs towards Atotonilco.

Zihuatanejo is built around its bay. La Ropa has long, calm swimming, Madera is a short walk from town, Las Gatas offers snorkelling behind its stone reef, and Isla Ixtapa's small coves are a boat ride away. Only the open-ocean beaches such as El Palmar need caution because of the surf.

San Miguel has the wider range of food. Courtyard restaurants and rooftop terraces rework Bajío ingredients like nopal and mesquite, the Mercado Ignacio Ramírez and the evening taco carts cover the cheap end, and Guanajuato wines appear on many lists, though the menus start to look alike over a long stay.

Zihuatanejo's cooking is narrower but has a clear identity: tiritas of lime-cured fish, pescado a la talla grilled over coals at palapas on the sand, and Guerrero's Thursday pozole. It is simple coastal food done honestly, not a place for serious dining.

In San Miguel the centre itself is the sight: cobbled hillside streets, the pink spires of the Parroquia, baroque churches such as San Felipe Neri, the Casa de Allende and the Siqueiros mural at Bellas Artes. Two unhurried days cover it, and there are no major museums.

Zihuatanejo offers much less. There is a small museum of coastal archaeology on the waterfront and a whitewashed fishing town whose appeal lies in daily life around the pier rather than in monuments.

Neither town has a real club scene, but San Miguel gives an evening more to do. Rooftop drinks as the Parroquia lights up lead on to mezcal bars and cantinas, and at weekends, with visitors in from Mexico City, the centre stays busy until late.

In Zihuatanejo the night is a sunset drink, a long dinner and a few small bars with a local crowd. The louder beach bars and the handful of clubs are up the coast in Ixtapa, and they fill mainly in the winter high season.

Zihuatanejo's outdoors is on and around the water. There is snorkelling and diving at Las Gatas and Isla Ixtapa, sport fishing for sailfish, humpback whales in winter and kayaks on the bay, plus birds and crocodiles in the lagoons at Barra de Potosí and Playa Linda, with turtles nesting in the second half of the year.

San Miguel's semi-arid highlands make for gentler mornings out: the canyon trails and cacti of El Charco del Ingenio, horse riding, mountain biking and balloon flights at dawn. It has no forests or water sports, though its mild, dry winters are better for walking than the heat of the coast.

This is where San Miguel pulls furthest ahead. Guanajuato's ravine of painted houses and Querétaro's aqueduct and convents are each about an hour away, and the murals of Atotonilco are closer still. Dolores Hidalgo, Mineral de Pozos, Bernal and the wine country fill further days, best reached with a driver.

From Zihuatanejo the outings are small: the surf village of Troncones, lunch on the sand at Barra de Potosí or the ball court at Xihuacan. Acapulco and anything larger are too far for a day.

Zihuatanejo is the easier choice with children. The water is calm and warm at La Ropa and Las Gatas, the town is small and manageable, and Ixtapa's resorts add pools and kids' clubs. Boat rides, crocodile spotting and turtle releases keep children busy, though the strong sun needs care.

San Miguel is an adult town of galleries and rooftop bars, and its steep cobbles defeat pushchairs. The Jardín in the evening, the fiestas and a horse ride please older children, but younger ones soon run out of things to do.

The two are about as easy as each other, in different ways. In San Miguel almost everything is within a walk of the Jardín, but the walk is steep and uneven at about 1,900m, and with no airport in town, arrival means a shuttle from Querétaro or León.

Zihuatanejo's compact centre and waterfront path are easy on foot, and the town has its own airport close by. Its beaches are spread around the bay over hilly roads without pavements, though, so taxis, colectivos and water taxis take you between them.

San Miguel is the better place to buy something worth carrying home. The stepped lane of the Mercado de Artesanías sells tin lanterns, blown glass and embroidery, design shops stock talavera, rugs and carved furniture, and a former textile mill houses studios and antique dealers. Fashion is the one thing missing.

Zihuatanejo is fine for souvenirs. Its artisans' market sells hammocks, Olinalá lacquerware and Taxco silver, and a few boutiques sell resort wear.

Zihuatanejo is the cheaper stay. Simple guesthouses in town, market meals, palapa lunches and colectivos keep daily costs low. Only the hillside hotels above La Ropa and the Ixtapa resorts push them up, especially in winter.

San Miguel costs more, with boutique hotels in colonial houses and restaurants on the Jardín pitched at foreign residents and weekenders. Street food, cantinas and churches that cost nothing to visit help, but rooms are dearer at weekends and during festivals.

San Miguel has a real music life for a small town. There is the nineteenth-century Teatro Ángela Peralta, chamber music and jazz festivals, mariachis on the Jardín every evening and the street music of the Alborada and Holy Week, though the regular programme is thin.

Zihuatanejo has its annual international guitar festival and some live trova or bands in restaurants during high season, and little else.

Both are slow places, but San Miguel offers more ways to unwind. The hot mineral pools and domed grottoes towards Atotonilco are about fifteen minutes away, and the town has day spas, temazcal sweat lodges and yoga. The dry, mild climate also suits lazy afternoons on a rooftop.

In Zihuatanejo the rest comes from the heat, the shade and the sea itself. There is no local bathing tradition, and the spas are mainly in the hillside hotels and the Ixtapa resorts.