Aarhus or Malmo?

Neither city is a beach destination. Both look onto cool, shallow water that only suits a swim for a few weeks in high summer. The difference is in the setting. Aarhus has several small beaches tucked below beech woods, Den Permanente and Bellevue to the north and Moesgaard Strand to the south, with the wider sands of Djursland further out.

Malmo has one long city beach, Ribersborg, with dunes and a view of the bridge, a short walk or cycle from the centre. For emptier, finer sand, Skanör and Falsterbo are about half an hour away.

The two eat about equally well, but in different directions. Aarhus is strongest at the top, with tasting-menu kitchens cooking modern Nordic food from Jutland produce and the bay, plus rye sandwiches and good bakeries for everyday meals.

Malmo has more variety at the cheap end. The falafel counters and Middle Eastern grocers around Möllevångstorget reflect its international population, while Skåne traditions such as smoked eel and November goose dinners give it a regional flavour of its own.

Aarhus gives you a lot more to see. Its three big museums would hold their own in a capital: ARoS with its rainbow walkway, the open-air streets of Den Gamle By, and Moesgaard's Viking finds and Grauballe Man. The Latin Quarter and the cathedral add a small but pleasant old core.

Malmo's sights take a day or two: Stortorget, the half-timbered houses of Lilla Torg, St Petri and the museums inside moated Malmöhus. The Turning Torso is the image most visitors take home, but culture lovers usually end up crossing to Copenhagen.

Both have small, student-driven weekend scenes and quiet weeknights, so it comes down to the mood of the night. In Aarhus it means riverside bars on Åboulevarden, cellar bars in the Latin Quarter and a few clubs that keep going past midnight.

Malmo is looser and more multicultural, with late kitchens and small clubs in Möllevången and terrace drinks on Lilla Torg in summer. For a really big night, locals take the train to Copenhagen.

Both sit in gentle, low-lying country without hills of any height, but Aarhus has woods on its doorstep. Beech forest runs down to the bay, the Marselisborg deer park is a short ride out, and Mols Bjerge's heathland and the Silkeborg lakes, good for canoeing, are within an hour.

Malmo is surrounded by open farmland, and its outdoor highlights are further out: the ravine trails of Söderåsen, the sea cliffs and kayaking at Kullaberg, and the autumn bird-of-prey migration over Falsterbo.

Malmo wins clearly here, because a whole capital is half an hour away. Copenhagen, Kronborg Castle, Louisiana and Roskilde's Viking ships are all easy Danish days out, and Lund, Ystad and Ales Stenar fill the Swedish side.

Aarhus has a good spread of Jutland towns: the Tollund Man at Silkeborg, the runestones at Jelling, cobbled Ebeltoft and, a little further, Odense and Ribe. They are rewarding but smaller in scale, with nothing that matches a day in Copenhagen.

Aarhus gives children more to do. Den Gamle By lets them wander into old kitchens and shops, Tivoli Friheden suits younger children, and they can feed deer by hand in Marselisborg. Djurs Sommerland, the Grenaa aquarium and Legoland are all within reach for bigger days out.

Malmo is just as relaxed with prams and small children, but has less to fill the days. Folkets Park, the submarine at the technology museum and a beach afternoon are the main outings, so families staying longer may run short of ideas.

Both are compact, flat cycling cities where you hardly need a car, so the difference is in the transport beyond your feet and a bike. Aarhus has a light rail line that runs out to the university and along the coast towards Djursland.

Malmo has no tram and relies on buses in town, but its underground rail link puts Lund, Copenhagen Airport and Copenhagen itself only a short ride away.

Neither is a shopping destination, and both are best for Scandinavian design. In Aarhus the best of it is in the Latin Quarter's independent ceramics, lighting and vintage shops, at the end of one long chain-store street.

Malmo adds a little more variety: Möllevångstorget's open-air market, design shops around Gamla Väster, and a large mall at Hyllie. Serious shoppers in either city tend to look to Copenhagen.

Malmo is the cheaper of the two, though neither is a bargain. Swedish set lunches, falafel counters and low-cost museums make the daytime affordable, and only evening drinks really eat into a budget.

Aarhus charges high Danish prices all day, for coffee, meals and full museum entry alike. Bakeries, street-food halls and supermarket picnics are the main ways to keep a stay there in check.

Both have more on stage than their size would suggest, but the programmes are built differently. Aarhus brings everything together at Musikhuset, home to the symphony orchestra and the Danish National Opera, and its summer jazz festival and Festuge arts week fill the late-summer calendar.

Malmo splits its offer between Malmö Opera, one of Scandinavia's largest stages and strong on big musicals, and the orchestra at Malmö Live. Its August festival puts free concerts in the streets. In both cities most drama is not in English.

Malmo has the more memorable ritual. Ribersborgs Kallbadhus, an 1890s wooden bathhouse on a pier, is where locals take a wood-fired sauna and climb down into the sea all year round, and it works well as an experience for visitors too.

Aarhus has the same Nordic habit of a sauna followed by a plunge in the bay, at Den Permanente and the harbour saunas. What it lacks is one landmark place, and beyond that you are left with a few hotel spas.