Tulum or Valladolid, Mexico?

Tulum's coast is the main event. A long strand of pale sand under palms runs from the ruins south towards Sian Ka'an, and the warm water turns from turquoise to deep blue a few strokes out. Akumal's sheltered bay adds turtles, though in some years sargassum fouls the sand in the warmer months.

Valladolid has no sea within easy reach, since El Cuyo on the Gulf and the Caribbean shore are both about two hours away. You swim in cenotes instead: Zací right in town, and X'keken or Suytun just outside. They are cool, clear and striking under their cave roofs, but they make a dip between sights, not a beach day.

Tulum has the wider choice. There are fire-cooked dinners on the beach road built around Caribbean fish and mezcal, and taco stands serving al pastor in the town centre. The tourist strip does lean on its setting, though, and on the same ceviche and smoothie-bowl formula.

Valladolid's range is narrower but more its own. It has its own longaniza and lomitos, morning tacos at the municipal market, and marquesitas made in front of the cathedral at night. The regional cooking in its colonial courtyards is good, and there is very little beyond it.

Tulum has one great sight: the walled Maya port on the cliff, with El Castillo standing above the sea. You can see it in a couple of hours. Around it is a modern highway town with no museums of note.

Valladolid has more to see in its own streets. The painted colonial houses around the square, the church of San Servacio, the Calzada de los Frailes leading to the San Bernardino convent and the folk art of the Casa de los Venados fill a couple of unhurried days.

Tulum has a real night scene. It is known for DJ sets in jungle clearings, beach clubs that run from late afternoon, and full-moon parties, all at their peak in winter and around New Year. Between the big events, the mezcal bars on the main avenue and the sunset spots on the beach road keep things going on a smaller scale.

In Valladolid an evening means a stroll on the lit-up main square past the marquesita carts, and perhaps a drink in a courtyard bar or a craft-beer place on the Calzada. The town is mostly asleep by late evening, and there are no clubs.

Both towns sit on the same flat limestone forest with cenotes beneath it, but Tulum has more close at hand. Gran Cenote and Dos Ojos are among the world's great places for cavern snorkelling and cave diving. The Sian Ka'an reserve adds lagoons, mangroves, reef and dolphins.

Valladolid's cenotes are an easy early-morning bike ride away. Ría Lagartos, about an hour and a quarter north, has mangrove channels and flamingos on its pink salt flats. Neither place has hills or real hiking.

From Tulum, Cobá and Muyil are close, but Chichén Itzá is a two-hour trip, often combined with a stop in Valladolid itself. What Tulum adds is the coast: Playa del Carmen, the ferry to Cozumel and, a little farther, the lagoon at Bacalar.

Valladolid is the better base for the Maya sites. Chichén Itzá is near enough to reach at opening, Ek Balam is half an hour away and Cobá about an hour. The yellow town of Izamal and the flamingo village of Río Lagartos add two more good outings.

Tulum gives children more to do. There is warm sea, turtles in the shallows at Akumal, calm cenotes with wooden steps, and the eco-parks at Xel-Ha and Xcaret with their lazy rivers and snorkelling lagoons. Because many hotels are adults-oriented and the party nights run late, families do best in a resort or rental with a pool.

Valladolid is calm and welcoming, with a small centre and a square where children can run about in the evening. Older children enjoy the cenote rope swings and climbing the ruins. Nothing is built for children, though, and the inland heat is harder on little ones.

Tulum is spread thin: the town is on the highway, the beach a few kilometres away and the hotel strip stretches far to the south. Bicycles work well by day on the flat ground, but the roads are narrow and unlit after dark. Taxis are dear and colectivos only run along the highway, so most visitors end up hiring a car.

Valladolid's historic centre is small and flat. The square, the Calzada and the convent are all a short walk apart, and a cycle path runs out to the nearer cenotes. Buses reach Chichén Itzá, but the outlying sites mostly need a car or a driver.

Neither town is a shopping destination, and they differ mainly in style. Tulum's beach road sells one airy look of linen, macramé and woven bags at high prices, while the town's main avenue has cheaper silver, huipiles and hammocks. Valladolid keeps to Yucatecan crafts: embroidered blouses, sandals made in town, local honey and Xtabentún liqueur by the Zací cenote, plus a working municipal market for spices.

In Tulum the high prices sit where most visitors want to be. The boutique hotels on the beach road and in the jungle strip charge resort rates, and the restaurants beside them price their menus for foreign visitors. Even the landscape costs extra, because the cenotes and the national park areas each charge their own entry, so a few days of cenote hopping soon adds up.

Valladolid's splurge is a boutique hotel in a restored colonial house, and even those cost far less than comparable rooms on the Caribbean coast two hours away. Here your sightseeing, more than your room, decides the budget. Chichén Itzá has the highest entry fee of the Maya sites nearby, and the cenotes outside town each charge separately.

Neither town has a theatre or concert hall. Tulum's live music means bar bands, acoustic sets and saxophone and drums over the DJ nights. Valladolid's evenings are more traditional: jarana dancers perform the vaquería on the main square, light shows are projected onto the San Bernardino convent, and trova singers play in restaurants.

Tulum is built for this. Yoga shalas, retreat hotels, open-air spas, sound baths and Maya temazcal sweat lodges line the beach road and the jungle behind it. For a slow, barefoot pace, stay on the quieter southern strip, well away from the clubs.

Valladolid relaxes you through its pace instead. Afternoons are shuttered and slow, courtyard hotels have hammocks and small pools, and a massage or temazcal can be arranged nearby. It makes a calm base, but you would not plan a wellness stay around it.