Swakopmund or Victoria Falls?

Neither is a beach destination, but Swakopmund at least has one: long sandy shores either side of town and a sheltered stretch by the Mole. The cold Benguela water, morning fog and rough surf mean the beach is for walks, fishing and sunsets rather than swimming.

Victoria Falls has no shore at all. Crocodiles, hippos and strong currents rule out casual swims in the Zambezi, so people swim in lodge pools. Its one draw is a short guided dip in Devil's Pool on the edge of the falls at low water, a thrill rather than a day by the water.

Swakopmund eats noticeably better. Its German heritage brings bakeries, Black Forest cake and well-made beer. The cold sea supplies Walvis Bay oysters, kob and kingklip, alongside the game meat that both places serve.

In Victoria Falls most meals are in lodges and hotels. Kudu, warthog and crocodile are grilled at big dinners with drumming, sadza is the local staple, and afternoon tea is taken on the terrace of the Victoria Falls Hotel. These meals are more an experience than a food scene, and there are no cafés or markets to explore in between.

Swakopmund's whole centre is its heritage. Its streets of German buildings from the early 1900s, with the Woermann House, the old station and the jetty, make an easy walk, and the museum and a tour of the Mondesa township fill a second afternoon.

Victoria Falls grew up around the railway and has little built history beyond the 1905 bridge across the gorge, the Edwardian hotel and the statues of Livingstone. Anyone who wants a proper museum has to cross into Zambia.

Both are quiet after dark, Swakopmund a little less so. Its German-style pubs and a few bars fill up at weekends with locals and overland travellers, and you can walk between them.

Victoria Falls winds down even earlier. The evening is a sundowner on a river cruise, then a hotel bar or the backpacker lodge bar with the rafting crews. Elephants and buffalo walk the streets at night, so you go everywhere by taxi, and most people are in bed early before a dawn start.

This is where Victoria Falls pulls clearly ahead. The water falls along a front more than 1.7km wide into a basalt gorge, and there is rafting on the Batoka rapids below. Lion and elephant live in Zambezi National Park on the edge of town, and Chobe's herds are within easy reach, which makes it one of Africa's great bases for the outdoors.

Swakopmund's landscape is stark rather than lush. It has dunes for sandboarding and quad biking, flamingos and seals on the Walvis Bay lagoon, Sandwich Harbour and the shipwrecks of the Skeleton Coast. It is memorable, but it does not have the same scale or the big game.

From both, there are few towns worth visiting, and the outings that matter go into the landscape. From Swakopmund they run along the coast and inland: Walvis Bay's waterfront, the stone cross at Cape Cross and the rock paintings at Spitzkoppe.

From Victoria Falls the best trips cross a border. Livingstone in Zambia has its colonial main street and museum, and Kasane in Botswana is the way into Chobe. Here a passport matters more than a car.

Swakopmund is the more relaxed choice with children. It is small, orderly and mild, with the marine aquarium, a snake park and the dunes, although the cold sea and long gravel drives have their limits.

Victoria Falls thrills older children with hippos, elephants and the walk through the spray. Malaria, minimum ages for most of the big activities and basic medical care make it far harder with toddlers.

Both have compact centres that you can walk, no public transport worth using, and activity operators who collect you from your lodging. The difference lies beyond the centre. In Swakopmund a hire car is the realistic way to reach the coast and the desert, and most visitors already have one for a road trip around Namibia.

At Victoria Falls you rarely need a car. Lodges spread out along the river mean taxis and shuttles, though, and the wildlife makes walking after dark unwise. The bridge to Zambia can be crossed on foot, with border checks at each end.

Crafts are the theme in both, but Swakopmund has more range. As well as the woodcarvings, baskets and Herero dolls at the markets near the lighthouse, it sells Namibian gemstones, karakul wool rugs and kudu-leather shoes, and has German delicatessens.

Victoria Falls has a large curio market for Shona-style stone carving and animal figures, where bargaining is expected and street traders are persistent. Most pieces are small repeated designs, and finding good sculpture takes searching.

Swakopmund is clearly the cheaper stay. Guesthouses, self-catering flats, fish and game dinners and local beer all cost little. Costs only climb with scenic flights, skydives and the hire car, and rooms in December and January book out early.

Victoria Falls is priced for international visitors. Riverside lodges charge safari rates, much of the food is imported, and entry to the falls, cruises, rafting and game drives add up quickly. Travellers on a budget need the backpacker lodges and a short list of activities.

Neither offers an evening of theatre or concerts. Swakopmund has a small local theatre and some weekend pub bands. Victoria Falls has dance troupes, drummers and marimba bands performing at dinners and in lodges, which are livelier to watch but are staged for visitors rather than coming from a local music scene.

Both have only day spas and treatment rooms in lodges, so the difference is in the kind of calm. In Swakopmund the rest comes from the town itself: cool sea air, walks on the promenade, and coffee and cake, a break in the middle of a hot road trip.

At Victoria Falls the centre is all adrenaline and traders. For peace, stay at a lodge upstream in a private concession, with a spa on a deck above the Zambezi, long afternoons by the pool and sunset on the water.