Brisbane or Gold Coast?

The Gold Coast is where the beaches are, and Brisbane is where people drive from to reach them. From a coastal base you walk out to patrolled surf at Burleigh or Surfers Paradise, or to the sheltered southern points such as Rainbow Bay, as often as you like.

In town, Brisbane swims at the sandy lagoon at South Bank and in its outdoor pools, and its bayside at Redcliffe and Wynnum is calm but muddy. North Stradbroke and Moreton islands have emptier sand across the bay, but every proper beach day from Brisbane takes an hour or more each way.

Brisbane eats better and has more range. West End's Greek and Vietnamese cooking, the polished dining rooms around James Street and the breweries in the Newstead and Teneriffe warehouses give a visitor several distinct areas to work through.

The Gold Coast has the same prawns, Moreton Bay bugs and brunch habit, and Burleigh Heads has good cafés. Away from there and Broadbeach, though, the choice drops to chains and tourist menus in Surfers Paradise. Its best meal is fish and chips on the sand.

Culture is one of the clearest differences between the two. At Brisbane's South Bank, the Queensland Art Gallery, the Gallery of Modern Art and the Queensland Museum are a few minutes' walk apart, with strong rooms of Asia-Pacific and Aboriginal art. Across the river, the sandstone Treasury, the domed City Hall and the timber Queenslanders on stilts in Paddington and New Farm give the city a past to look at.

The Gold Coast is a young resort city, and its sightseeing is HOTA's gallery of Australian art by the Nerang River, the view over towers and canals from SkyPoint, and little more. Even its own visitors go to Brisbane for museums, so if sightseeing matters to you, stay in Brisbane.

Both offer a decent night out, but of different kinds. Brisbane's nights centre on Fortitude Valley, where pubs, rooftop bars and clubs fill with locals at weekends, but licensing rules close most of them well before dawn. West End and Paddington add neighbourhood pubs and craft beer.

On the Gold Coast, Cavill and Orchid Avenues in Surfers Paradise form a loud party strip of big clubs and backpacker crowds that runs into the small hours. Burleigh and Miami are for a sunset drink instead. Brisbane suits a city bar crawl, and the coast suits either a late, rowdy night or a quiet one.

Both share the World Heritage rainforest of Lamington and Springbrook, but the Gold Coast is a little closer to it and adds the ocean as a playground. The point breaks at Snapper Rocks, Kirra and Burleigh are world-famous surf, and humpbacks pass close inshore in winter.

Brisbane's strength is green space at the edge of town, with the tracks of Mount Coot-tha and D'Aguilar National Park, kayaking on the river, and Moreton Island's dunes and wreck snorkelling across the bay. It suits a quick bush walk between city days, while the Gold Coast suits surfers and anyone who wants rainforest and ocean in one stay.

Neither is a great base for excursions, and the best day out from each is mostly what the other does well. From Brisbane the outings run to the Gold Coast's beaches, north to Noosa and the hill villages of Montville and Maleny, or inland to the garden city of Toowoomba.

From the Gold Coast the obvious trip is Brisbane for its galleries and parklands. Across the border, Byron Bay and its hinterland villages are about an hour's drive. Tamborine Mountain is within reach of both.

Brisbane is a very good city for children, with the free South Bank lagoon, the Queensland Museum's science centre, Lone Pine's koalas and river ferry rides. The Gold Coast, though, is built for exactly this trip.

There, Dreamworld, Movie World, Sea World and the water parks are close by rather than an hour's drive away, the beaches have flags and calm creek mouths, and self-catering apartments with pools are everywhere. Brisbane makes sense if you want only one or two park days without staying on the strip.

Brisbane is the easier place without a car. Its compact centre is linked by bridges and riverside paths, the CityCat ferries double as a sightseeing ride, and suburban trains and busways share one fare system.

The Gold Coast stretches along the shore, so getting around works well only if you stay on the G:link light rail through Southport, Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach. Elsewhere you rely on buses. In both places the rainforest really calls for a hire car.

Neither is a reason to travel for shopping, but they shop differently. Brisbane has street shopping: Queen Street Mall and its heritage arcades, local labels on James Street, and the antique and vintage shops of Paddington. The Gold Coast has malls and surfwear: Pacific Fair, the Harbour Town outlets for discounted brands, board shops all along the coast and beachfront night markets.

Both charge full Australian prices for meals and drinks, and neither ever feels cheap. Where you save differs. In Brisbane the main galleries and museums are free and public transport is cheap.

On the Gold Coast, the large number of vacation apartments keeps rooms reasonable outside the peak weeks, and self-catering cuts the food bill. Theme-park tickets are the coast's big extra cost for families.

Brisbane has the serious stage. The Queensland Performing Arts Centre at South Bank is home to the state orchestra, opera, ballet and theatre companies, and the Brisbane Powerhouse adds cabaret and comedy. Fortitude Valley keeps up a steady circuit of live bands, and the Brisbane Festival fills each September.

The Gold Coast relies on HOTA for touring shows and on pubs, surf clubs and brewery venues for music, with extra life on festival weekends such as Blues on Broadbeach. For opera or an orchestra, visitors on the coast go up to Brisbane.

Neither has a bathing tradition, so both rely on spas and an unhurried pace. In Brisbane that means swimming in heritage outdoor pools such as the Spring Hill Baths and slow café mornings by the river.

The Gold Coast has more resort day spas, and its southern suburbs around Burleigh and Palm Beach suit dawn yoga and long beach walks. For a proper retreat, both send you to the rainforest hinterland, which is a little closer from the coast, at Tamborine Mountain and Currumbin Valley.