Sao Paulo or Buenos Aires?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Sao Paulo at least has a coast within a day's reach. Buenos Aires looks out on the silty Rio de la Plata, which is unsafe for swimming, so the Costanera is for strolling and lying on the grass, and Mar del Plata needs a trip of several days.

From Sao Paulo, the road down the Serra do Mar reaches Santos and Guarujá in about an hour or more, with warm water in summer. Guarujá has the better sand. The lovely coves around Ubatuba and Ilhabela need a weekend, and on summer weekends the traffic down to the coast is heavy.

Both cities eat late and share a deep Italian streak, but Sao Paulo has much the wider table. Immigration filled it with Japanese counters in Liberdade, Bixiga's cantinas, Lebanese and Syrian cooking at every level, and feijoada and the Mercado Municipal's mortadella sandwich. Padarias and botecos cover the everyday, and Jardins and Pinheiros have kitchens working with Amazonian ingredients.

Buenos Aires does fewer things with real conviction. It has the wood-fired parrilla with Malbec, thick pizza, excellent ice cream and dulce de leche, plus grand coffee houses like the Tortoni where an hour passes easily. Step outside beef, pasta and pastry, though, and the choice narrows quickly.

Buenos Aires is the more rewarding city to look at. Its sights are its streets: the walk along Avenida de Mayo from the Casa Rosada past the Palacio Barolo to Congress, the elegant blocks of Recoleta around Eva Perón's cemetery, and colonial San Telmo. The Bellas Artes and MALBA add solid collections.

Sao Paulo's heritage is mostly from the twentieth century, and it shines for modern architecture: MASP raised over Avenida Paulista, Niemeyer's pavilions in Ibirapuera, the Copan and Lina Bo Bardi's SESC Pompeia. The Pinacoteca holds the best Brazilian art, but there is little colonial fabric, and the sights are spread across a huge city.

Both cities party until sunrise, but Buenos Aires has the edge, and its nights have a different texture. Palermo Soho and Hollywood are full of speakeasy cocktail bars and rooftop terraces, the clubs take electronic music seriously, and the milongas, where locals dance tango into the small hours, have no equal in Sao Paulo.

Sao Paulo's night starts on the pavement, with draught beer and caipirinhas at a boteco and street drinking around Vila Madalena's corners. It then moves on to Baixo Augusta's grittier bars and clubs of international standing. It also has one of Latin America's largest LGBTQ+ scenes, though the distances mean a car between every stop.

Sao Paulo has more landscape within reach, but traffic makes it harder to get to. The Serra do Mar escarpment, an hour or two away, is covered in Atlantic Forest with trails and waterfalls, and the misty railway village of Paranapiacaba is there too. Further out, Campos do Jordão offers cooler mountain hiking.

Buenos Aires is flat in every direction. Its outdoor life means the lakes of the Bosques de Palermo, the birdlife of the Costanera Sur wetland and, best of all, kayaking or taking a launch through the channels of the Paraná Delta beyond Tigre. Horse riding on a pampas estancia is the other classic escape.

Buenos Aires offers the more memorable days out, starting with a fast ferry to another country. Colonia del Sacramento's cobbled Portuguese quarter is a perfect day across the river. Tigre, the gaucho town of San Antonio de Areco, the basilica at Luján and planned La Plata round out a good list.

From Sao Paulo the options are pleasant but modest. You can see Santos's coffee exchange and seafront, the craft market at Embu das Artes and the wineries of São Roque, while Paraty is too far for one day. Leaving the city in heavy traffic means early starts, which wears down the appeal.

The two are about equal for children, and both are tiring with small ones. Buenos Aires has the easy afternoon in Palermo, with pedal boats, playgrounds and the planetarium, and the Temaikèn biopark an hour north. Children join in the late dinners, though broken pavements make pushchairs hard work.

Sao Paulo has the stronger set of attractions: the hands-on Catavento museum, a zoo with a drive-through safari, a big aquarium and theme parks near Vinhedo. Against that are long car journeys and parts of the centre that call for care.

Buenos Aires is much easier to get around. It is flat and set out on a grid, the Subte reaches the centre and Palermo, and colectivo buses run day and night on one card. The distances between neighbourhoods are long, but a combination of walking and the metro covers most of a stay.

Sao Paulo's metro is clean and efficient, but too small for the city. Hills, sprawl and notorious traffic mean most visitors rely on ride-hailing. Walking only works within Jardins, Pinheiros, Vila Madalena or along Paulista, which turns car-free on Sundays.

Sao Paulo is the bigger shopping city, with range at both ends. Rua Oscar Freire has Brazilian fashion and swimwear, the malls are lavish, and the chaotic bazaar of 25 de Março and the Bom Retiro garment district sit at the other end. Havaianas and design pieces from Pinheiros are the things to take home.

Buenos Aires is more focused and more atmospheric. It is the place for leather from the Villa Crespo workshops and independent designers in Palermo Soho. The Sunday antiques fair on Calle Defensa sells soda siphons and tango records, and the Recoleta weekend market sells silver and mate gourds.

Sao Paulo is a little kinder on the everyday budget, with cheap set lunches, padaria breakfasts, boteco beers and free museum days. Buenos Aires matches it on transport and on generous parrilla meals, and its wine is good value where Sao Paulo's is costly.

At the top end the two are alike: smart hotels, cocktail bars and acclaimed restaurants in Palermo or Jardins cost close to Southern European prices. The difference is predictability. Argentina's currency swings mean Buenos Aires can feel cheap one trip and dear the next.

The two are evenly matched, and their character comes from their music. Buenos Aires has the Teatro Colón, one of the world's great opera houses, and the playhouses of Avenida Corrientes. Above all it has tango, best experienced at a neighbourhood milonga with a live orchestra rather than at a dinner show.

Sao Paulo answers with the Sala São Paulo in its converted railway station and opera at the Theatro Municipal. Its musical life is samba circles, choro and MPB, and the SESC centres run concerts and dance at low cost. Expect Spanish on stage in one city and Portuguese in the other.

Neither city is restful, and neither has a bathing tradition. Spa time in either means hotel or day spas in the smart districts. In Buenos Aires, slowing down comes from its habits: the unhurried café table, the long sobremesa after lunch and the silent Sunday mornings after a long night.

Sao Paulo's breathing spaces are physical: a Sunday on car-free Avenida Paulista, an afternoon under Ibirapuera's trees, or a Japanese-style relaxation spot. For proper rest it also has the hills and coast nearer to hand than Argentina's distant hot springs.