Auckland or Sydney?

Auckland's best swimming is in the sheltered sandy bays along Tamaki Drive and on the North Shore, where the water is calm and good for children. They are pleasant local beaches rather than a draw in their own right, and the sea is cool outside the late-summer months. The black-sand west coast at Piha and Muriwai is wilder and better for watching than for swimming.

Sydney's beaches are a main reason to go. A chain of real surf beaches runs from Bondi through Bronte to Coogee, Manly and the Northern Beaches go on beyond the harbour, and calm coves such as Balmoral and Camp Cove sit inside it. The water is warmer and stays swimmable well into autumn.

Both cities eat best through their immigrant communities and their seafood, and neither has a cuisine of its own. Auckland's strengths are the regional Chinese, Korean and Malaysian cooking along Dominion Road, Pacific Island food stalls and green-lipped mussels, with Waiheke wine never far away.

Sydney has more of everything and covers more ground. Each suburb has its own speciality: Vietnamese in Cabramatta, Lebanese in Lakemba, Italian in Leichhardt. Add the Pyrmont fish market and a serious fine-dining scene in Surry Hills and Potts Point, and it is the better city to plan meals around.

Auckland's sights are few, but one is outstanding: the War Memorial Museum on the Domain holds a carved meeting house, a war canoe and some of the finest Māori and Pacific treasures anywhere. Beyond that there are pā earthworks on the volcanic cones and Devonport's villas, and little old streetscape.

Sydney has more to see. The Opera House and Harbour Bridge are world landmarks, and you can climb the bridge. The Rocks keeps the colony's oldest streets, and Hyde Park Barracks tells the convict story. The Art Gallery of New South Wales is the place for Aboriginal art.

Both cities lean towards bars over clubs, but Sydney gives you more choice. Its evenings move between laneway cocktail bars in the CBD, the old pubs of The Rocks, Oxford Street's LGBTQ scene and the later, scruffier inner west around Newtown and Enmore. Auckland's going-out is spread across Ponsonby Road, Karangahape Road and the Viaduct. It runs late on K Road at weekends, but much of the city is quiet by midnight during the week.

The two are well matched outdoors, but the landscapes are very different. Auckland is volcanic: grassy cones to climb inside the city, Rangitoto's lava fields a ferry away, takahē walking in the open on Tiritiri Matangi and kauri rainforest in the Waitākere Ranges. The Hauraki Gulf is among the great sailing waters.

Sydney's setting is sandstone and bush. Clifftop walks such as Bondi to Coogee start in the suburbs, the Royal National Park has wild coastal trails, and the Blue Mountains' eucalyptus valleys are about two hours west. Add surfing at Manly and humpback whales passing the heads in winter and spring.

The day-trip lists are about the same length, but you reach them differently. Auckland's best outings are by boat: Waiheke's vineyards and beaches are about forty minutes away by ferry, and Devonport is a short crossing. Matakana's wineries lie to the north, and Hobbiton makes a long day to the south. Sydney's outings mostly mean a drive of a couple of hours, to the Hunter Valley's cellar doors, the Blue Mountains towns of Katoomba and Leura, or the Southern Highlands. Newcastle and Wollongong are easy by train.

Both cities are easy with children, and each has a zoo, an aquarium and calm beaches. In Auckland, MOTAT's trams and planes and the gentle Rainbow's End theme park stand out, but you often have to drive between attractions.

Sydney links its outings by water. The ferry ride to Taronga Zoo is part of the fun, and Luna Park, the koala parks and the netted harbour beaches fill the other days. The fierce summer sun means hats and sunscreen all day.

Sydney is far easier without a car. Trains, metro, light rail, buses and ferries all take one card or a contactless bank card, and a base near the harbour puts most of the city within reach, though Bondi needs a bus.

In Auckland, the central streets and the harbour ferries work well, but buses and a thin train network are all you have on land. Getting to the west-coast beaches, the Waitākere Ranges and the wineries usually means hiring a car or booking a tour.

Sydney is the better city for shopping. International flagships line Pitt Street Mall, the restored Queen Victoria Building and Strand Arcade hold Australian designers, and Paddington adds local fashion and a weekend market. Australian swimwear and resort clothing are worth looking for.

Auckland's shopping is smaller and more local: New Zealand labels in Ponsonby and Newmarket, merino knitwear and pounamu carvings to take home, and the Pacific stalls of the Ōtara market.

Neither city is cheap, but Auckland is easier on the budget. Hotel rooms, restaurant meals and drinks in Sydney cost noticeably more, especially near the harbour and the beaches in summer.

Both cities make up for it with free outdoor pleasures, the volcanic cones and bays in Auckland, the coastal walks and main galleries in Sydney. Sydney's fare caps help on transport, while in Auckland, ferries and car hire add to most itineraries.

Sydney has the deeper arts scene. The Opera House has performances in its halls nearly every night, home to Opera Australia and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and Belvoir, Sydney Theatre Company, Bangarra and the Australian Chamber Orchestra mean there is serious theatre, dance and music on most evenings.

Auckland's calendar is steadier and smaller: the Philharmonia in the fine-sounding Town Hall, touring shows under the starry ceiling of the Civic, and the Pasifika Festival with Pacific Island music and dance.

Auckland's best way to unwind lies outside the city. The hot-spring pools at Parakai, about an hour northwest, make an easy half day, and Sydney has nothing like them. In town, though, rest comes down to day spas, yoga studios around Ponsonby and the slower rhythm of Waiheke's retreats, and proper geothermal bathing means an overnight stay in Rotorua.

Sydney is the better city for relaxing, because the coast is part of every day. Saltwater pools, topped up by the waves, sit on the headlands from Bondi to Coogee and are open for a morning swim in any season. The old Wylie's Baths and the women-only McIver's keep a gentle, old-fashioned pace, and Korean-style bathhouses offer steam and a hot soak on cooler days.