Siem Reap or Yogyakarta?

Neither city is a beach destination, though Yogyakarta at least has a coast within reach. Siem Reap's only open water is the muddy Tonle Sap, which nobody swims in, so the hotel pool takes the place of a beach.

Yogyakarta's Indian Ocean shore is about an hour south. Parangtritis has black volcanic sand and good sunset walks, but its rip currents are dangerous. The white coves of Gunungkidul, two hours out, have a few sheltered pools for paddling. It makes a good day out, but not a reason to stay.

Yogyakarta gives you the better eating, mainly because street food is the centre of city life. There is gudeg simmered in palm sugar and coconut milk, satay and rice parcels at angkringan carts late into the night, and lesehan stalls along Malioboro where you eat sitting on the floor. Alcohol plays little part, though, and fine dining is thin.

Siem Reap's Khmer cooking, amok and num banh chok among it, is good, and a few ambitious kitchens rework it as tasting menus. But backpacker pizza dominates the centre, so the better meals are a tuk-tuk ride away, in the side streets and across the river.

Angkor puts Siem Reap well ahead. Angkor Wat, the stone faces of the Bayon and the tree-split galleries of Ta Prohm fill three days on their own, and they begin a few minutes from town. The Angkor National Museum is a useful first stop.

Yogyakarta's heritage in the city is a living court rather than a field of ruins. It has the sultan's Kraton, the Taman Sari water palace, the Sonobudoyo collection of puppets and krises, and the silversmith lanes of Kotagede, which together take two or three days. The great temples lie outside the city.

Siem Reap has the livelier night out, though it comes in one style only. Pub Street has neon bars, cheap draught beer and cocktail buckets every night, and there are calmer wine bars along the river.

Yogyakarta's evenings are full but mostly sober. Students crowd the coffee carts, and families pedal lit-up cars round Alun-Alun Kidul. Travellers who want a drink go to the guesthouse bars of Prawirotaman, and anyone after a big night will find the city quiet.

Yogyakarta wins easily outdoors. Merapi has jeep tours across its lava fields and buried villages, and Merbabu is an overnight climb with a dawn view. In the limestone south you can be lowered on a rope into the Jomblang shaft or float through Goa Pindul on a tube.

Siem Reap is flat paddy country, lovely by bicycle early in the day. Boat trips reach the stork and pelican colonies of Prek Toal, and Phnom Kulen has a waterfall and forest walks. There are no mountains, though, and the heat rules out much that is strenuous.

Day trips are Yogyakarta's strongest point. Borobudur and Prambanan, two of Southeast Asia's great monuments, are both within a comfortable drive, with Sewu, Plaosan and Ratu Boko close by. Solo, Central Java's other royal city, is an easy train ride away.

Siem Reap's outings are mostly more temples: the fine pink carving of Banteay Srei and the overgrown Beng Mealea. The stilt villages of the Tonle Sap make a change, but there is no other town near enough for a day.

Both cities suit older, adventurous children better than toddlers, and both come with heat, heavy traffic and broken pavements. The difference lies in what fills the rest of the day.

In Siem Reap the adventure comes from clambering through ruins and riding boats to the stilt villages. There is almost nothing built for children, so the pool fills the afternoons. Yogyakarta has a zoo, the Taman Pintar science park and water parks, plus Merapi jeeps and cave tubing, though its big temples mean longer drives.

Neither city has a metro or buses a visitor would use, so in both you are driven most of the time, and the difference lies in the vehicle. In Siem Reap that means the tuk-tuk, waiting on every corner or called by app, with a driver hired for the whole day at Angkor. The flat temple circuits also suit a bicycle or e-bike. The centre around the Old Market and the river is small, but broken pavements and the heat cut walks short.

Yogyakarta offers a wider choice. Ride-hailing cars and motorbike taxis are the quickest way across town, becaks and horse carts work the streets around Malioboro, and the commuter train to Solo is simple and comfortable. The Kraton and Taman Sari are within walking distance, though the scooters make it slow going, and Borobudur, Merapi and the coast are usually reached with a car and driver.

Yogyakarta has much the deeper craft trade, though Siem Reap's best pieces are made with real care. Siem Reap's Old Market and night markets lean towards souvenirs. The buys worth making are the silk, stone carving and lacquerware from the social-enterprise workshops, where you can watch the work being done.

In Yogyakarta, hand-drawn batik comes from workshops and galleries, filigree silver from the family workshops of Kotagede and pottery from the village of Kasongan, with leather wayang puppets and masks as well. Malioboro and Beringharjo market are where you bargain for cheaper cloth. Neither city has much fashion or luxury.

Both are very cheap, and in both the largest single cost is getting into the monuments. In Siem Reap that is the Angkor pass, and in Yogyakarta the foreigners' fees at Borobudur and Prambanan.

Otherwise they differ in where you can spend freely. Yogyakarta's angkringan meals and day hire of a car and driver cost very little, though alcohol does not. Siem Reap makes a daily massage and a tuk-tuk driver everyday spends, but places aimed at visitors cost clearly more.

Yogyakarta is the centre of Javanese classical performance, and it is easy to see. The Ramayana ballet is danced in front of floodlit Prambanan, the Kraton pavilions host gamelan and court dance, and Sonobudoyo stages shorter versions of the all-night shadow-puppet shows. The arts institute and students keep a contemporary theatre scene going.

Siem Reap offers two good evenings rather than a scene. One is apsara dance, best at the smaller, more serious performances. The other is the much-admired contemporary circus telling Khmer stories under a big top.

Siem Reap is the easier place to unwind, because the shape of the day builds rest in. Dawn at the temples gives way to long afternoons by a garden pool. Khmer massage and herbal compresses are on every street, and yoga is easy to find.

Yogyakarta has the more distinctive tradition: lulur scrubs from the royal courts, flower baths and jamu tonics. But the centre is hot and loud with scooters, so real quiet means a villa among the rice fields north towards Merapi, where the air is cooler.