Aarhus or Gothenburg?

Neither city is a beach destination, and both swim in the same cool Kattegat for a few summer weeks. What differs is the shore. Aarhus has fine sand and calm, shallow water at Bellevue, Den Permanente and Moesgaard Strand, which is easy with toddlers.

Gothenburg swims from smooth granite rocks and small coves at Askim and Hovås, or on car-free islands such as Styrsö and Vrångö. Getting to the islands by tram and ferry makes a swim part of a day out.

The two cities eat about equally well, and both have fine dining and good cardamom buns. Gothenburg has the clearer identity. It is built on shrimp, langoustines, oysters and the autumn lobster catch, which you can see at Feskekôrka and Stora Saluhallen.

Aarhus is at its best in its New Nordic tasting-menu kitchens, which cook with Jutland produce and foraged herbs. Its covered street-food halls are the cheaper way to eat. Below the top end, both cities lack depth and charge Nordic prices.

Here Aarhus is well ahead. You get a major art museum in ARoS, an open-air museum covering four centuries at Den Gamle By, and Viking-age archaeology at Moesgaard. Add the Latin Quarter and the long Gothic cathedral and you have two or three full days.

Gothenburg's sights are pleasant rather than famous. There are the Museum of Art on Götaplatsen, the East India Company building, the wooden houses of Haga and the island fortress of Nya Älvsborg. Its seventeenth-century canals and street grid are worth a walk, but a couple of days covers the essentials.

Nights out are much alike: student-driven, busy at weekends, quiet midweek and expensive. In Aarhus the evening centres on the riverside bars along Åboulevarden and the cellar bars of the Latin Quarter, and you can see it all in two nights.

Gothenburg spreads further. Avenyn has the mainstream clubs, while Järntorget, Linnégatan and Andra Långgatan have dive bars and cocktail bars close together. That gives you a few more nights before you run out of new places.

Gothenburg has the stronger outdoors, because it has the sea. A tram and ferry take you to bare granite islands with heather and coastal paths, ideal for walking, cycling or a sea kayak. The rocky Bohuslän coast and the Delsjön lakes add more.

Aarhus is gentler, wooded country. The beech forests run down to the bay, and tame deer come up to visitors in Marselisborg. The heath-covered hills of Mols Bjerge and canoeing in the Silkeborg lake district are both under an hour away.

The day trips are about equally good, but they differ in kind. From Aarhus they are mostly inland and about history. The Tollund Man in Silkeborg and Andersen's Odense are easy by train, while Jelling's runestones and the Lego House at Billund take longer and are simplest by car or bus.

From Gothenburg, most trips run along the coast. Seaside Varberg is an easy train ride, and Marstrand, the island town under its fortress, is about an hour away by bus or car and then a short ferry. The Tanum rock carvings and fishing villages such as Smögen are harder to reach without a car.

Gothenburg is the easier city with children, mainly because the big draws are in town. Liseberg is a short walk from the centre, Universeum's aquarium and rainforest saves a rainy day, and the free animal park in Slottsskogen has seals and penguins.

Aarhus still works well with smaller children. They can feed deer by hand, walk into the old kitchens of Den Gamle By and ride at the small Tivoli Friheden. For Legoland or Djurs Sommerland, though, you need a car or a long bus ride.

Both centres are compact and flat, and neither needs a car in town. The difference is in how you get about. Aarhus is a cycling city with wide separated lanes, and a light rail runs out along the coast.

Gothenburg relies on its large tram network. One ticket also covers the river ferries and the boats to the archipelago, though the trams slow down where lines converge in the centre.

Shopping is about the same, chain stores and Nordic design with no luxury depth in either city. Aarhus comes down to one long pedestrian street and the independent design and vintage shops of the Latin Quarter, which is enough for a morning.

Gothenburg has more neighbourhoods to browse. You can move from Haga's craft shops to the vintage and record shops of Linnéstaden, Majorna and Andra Långgatan, with Nordstan for the chains.

Both are expensive, but Aarhus costs more. Meals, beer, coffee and taxis all come at high Danish prices, and the major museums charge full admission, so bakeries and picnics do much of the saving.

Gothenburg is a little easier on the wallet. The weekday set lunch is a real Swedish institution, many museums are good value, and the transport ticket includes the island ferries. Alcohol in bars is still dear.

The two are closely matched, each with a full orchestra and opera company. In Aarhus both play at Musikhuset, and the city's calendar peaks with its summer jazz festival and the late-summer Aarhus Festuge.

Gothenburg has Sweden's national orchestra in the 1930s Konserthuset, plus a harbour-side opera house with a well-known contemporary dance company. Its pop, indie and metal stages lead up to Way Out West in August. Theatre in both cities is mostly in the local language.

Relaxing works the same way in both: a sauna, a cold plunge into the bay and an unhurried pace, with no thermal springs. Aarhus has wood-fired saunas by the harbour and at Den Permanente. Gothenburg adds Valhallabadet, a large municipal bath, and a slow ferry ride out to the islands.