Singapore or Hong Kong?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Hong Kong's coast is the more natural of the two. Shek O and Big Wave Bay sit on a rocky shore with a village feel, Cheung Sha on Lantau has long, quiet sand, and Sai Kung's clearest beaches reward a boat ride or a hike. Swimming is limited to the months from late spring to autumn.

Singapore's sea is warm all year, but Sentosa's beaches are imported sand behind breakwaters, with tankers on the horizon and water that is rarely clear. The sheltered lagoons of St John's and Lazarus are better for a swim, and many visitors settle for the hotel pool.

Both cities are among Asia's great places to eat, and the difference is depth against breadth. Hong Kong focuses on Cantonese cooking done with precision: dim sum teahouses, roast goose and char siu, wonton noodles, and the cha chaan teng diner with its milk tea and pineapple buns.

Singapore's strength is the mix. A single hawker centre such as Maxwell or Tekka sets Hainanese chicken rice, laksa, satay and roti prata next to each other, and Little India and Kampong Glam keep serving biryani and murtabak late into the night.

Neither city has much old heritage, and the two offer about as much to see, set out in different ways. In Hong Kong the cityscape itself is the draw: the harbour skyline, the trams and the incense of Man Mo Temple. Add M+ and the Palace Museum in West Kowloon, and the walled villages and the Big Buddha further out.

Singapore is tidier and more museum-led. The Civic District puts the National Gallery, with its Southeast Asian art, and the Asian Civilisations and Peranakan museums within a short walk of each other. Chinatown, Little India and Kampong Glam show distinct communities living side by side.

Hong Kong is the better night out, and the later one. Lan Kwai Fong spills onto the street at weekends, Soho and Sheung Wan have considered cocktail bars, and Wan Chai keeps going into the early hours. Kowloon's seafood stalls and karaoke offer a more local evening.

Singapore is about a well-made drink rather than a long night. Its rooftop terraces over Marina Bay and its shophouse cocktail bars in Keong Saik and Telok Ayer are excellent, but the mood is orderly and few people stay out until dawn. Both cities have small club scenes and costly drinks.

Here the gap is wide. Country parks cover a large share of Hong Kong, and steep green hills rise straight behind the towers. The Dragon's Back ridge, the sunrise climb up Lantau Peak, the long MacLehose Trail and Sai Kung's sea caves and islands can all be reached by public transport.

Singapore has real rainforest at Bukit Timah and MacRitchie, the raised walkways of the Southern Ridges and cycling on Pulau Ubin, but the island is small and flat and these few places are soon done. Hiking in both cities is best kept for the cooler hours, though only Hong Kong has a dry autumn and winter for long walks.

Hong Kong is far better placed for a day out. Macau's Portuguese squares are about an hour away by ferry, high-speed trains reach Guangzhou in under an hour, and the outlying islands of Cheung Chau, Lamma and Tai O need no border crossing at all. Trips into mainland China do mean checking the entry rules for your passport.

From Singapore the choices are thin. Johor Bahru is just across the causeway, but slow border queues eat into the day, and Bintan and Batam are resort islands rather than places to explore. Malacca needs an overnight stay, so most visitors fly onward instead.

Both cities are safe, clean and easy with children, but Singapore is the smoother of the two. Mandai's zoo, Night Safari, bird park and panda park, plus Universal Studios and the calm beaches on Sentosa, fill more full days, and lifts, air conditioning and familiar food are everywhere.

Hong Kong has Disneyland and Ocean Park, and the Peak Tram, the Star Ferry and the cable car are rides in themselves. Weekend crowds and small hotel rooms make it harder work, though. Summer heat is tiring in both.

Both cities have outstanding public transport, and nobody needs a car in either. Hong Kong's network has more variety. Alongside the MTR there are the Star Ferry, the north-shore trams, the island ferries from the Central piers and the Mid-Levels escalator, so getting around becomes part of the sightseeing.

Singapore's MRT is step-free throughout and takes a contactless bank card at the gates, which suits pushchairs and first-time visitors. Its drawback is the heat, which sends people underground at midday. In Hong Kong the obstacle is the steep hills.

Hong Kong is the stronger shopping city, mostly because so much of it happens in the street. Central and Canton Road have rows of luxury shops, with no sales tax, and the markets give the city its character: Mong Kok's Ladies' Market and its bird, flower and goldfish markets, Sham Shui Po's electronics and fabric lanes, and the curios of Hollywood Road and Cat Street.

Singapore shops indoors, along Orchard Road and beneath Marina Bay Sands, in malls that are large but much alike. Its more personal finds are the boutiques of Haji Lane, the bookshops of Tiong Bahru, and Peranakan beadwork and porcelain.

What sets the two apart is where the money goes. In Hong Kong the evening costs most: cocktails, harbour-view tables and Western dining in Central are priced like a major Western city, and the hotel room is often tiny for what you pay. Days out are cheap, with the Star Ferry, cha chaan teng diners and free trails up into the hills.

Singapore's rooms are just as dear, but the extra costs come at the gates and at the bar. The wildlife parks and Sentosa charge high entry fees, which a family will feel, and alcohol is heavily taxed. Hawker centre meals and cheap trains bring the rest of the day down, though in both cities the room stays the largest part of the bill.

Cantonese opera, with its painted faces, high singing and clashing percussion, is the performance a visitor to Hong Kong is most likely to remember. It is staged at the Xiqu Centre in West Kowloon and in bamboo theatres at village festivals, and the Hong Kong Philharmonic plays a solid season on the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront. Most local theatre is in Cantonese, though.

Singapore's stage life centres on the Esplanade by the bay, which is easier to drop into, with free outdoor performances and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. Touring musicals play at Marina Bay Sands, but there is little homegrown work with a name. In either city the stage fills an evening rather than shaping the trip.

Both are fast cities with no tradition of public bathing, so relaxing in either means massage, foot reflexology and hotel spas. In Hong Kong real calm means leaving the city, for the gardens of Chi Lin Nunnery or a slow afternoon on car-free Lamma or Cheung Chau.

Singapore keeps its quiet closer to hand, in the Botanic Gardens early in the morning and on the shaded paths around the reservoirs. Little India adds Ayurvedic treatments.