Brisbane or Noosa?

Brisbane is a river city, so in town you swim in the man-made lagoon at South Bank or in the outdoor public pools. Moreton Bay's suburban shore is calm but often murky. The good beaches are about an hour away on either coast, or a ferry ride out to the bay islands.

Noosa is one of those beaches. It sits at the northern end of the Sunshine Coast that Brisbane visitors drive to, and Main Beach is a rare north-facing bay with gentle waves at the foot of Hastings Street. Coves line the national park, and wilder sand stretches south past Sunshine and Peregian, so a beach is always a short walk away.

The two share a menu of Moreton Bay bugs, prawns, hinterland produce and serious brunches, but Brisbane gives you far more choice. West End has cheap Greek and Vietnamese cooking, Fortitude Valley and James Street have the polished dining rooms, and there are warehouse breweries at Newstead and night food markets.

Noosa eats well for a small town, especially at a riverside table in Noosaville at sunset. Beyond that, the menus soon start to look alike, and there is little cheap food apart from fish and chips.

Brisbane has the only real cultural sights of the two. The Queensland Art Gallery and the Gallery of Modern Art at South Bank hold strong Asia-Pacific and Aboriginal collections, and the sandstone Treasury, City Hall and Story Bridge stand across the river. The streets of timber Queenslander houses in Paddington and New Farm are worth a walk.

Noosa is a resort built in the late twentieth century, with only a small regional gallery at Tewantin. If you are staying there and want a museum, the answer is a day trip to Brisbane.

Fortitude Valley gives Brisbane an actual night out: pubs, rooftop bars and clubs around the Chinatown and Brunswick Street malls, full of young locals at weekends. It is still mainstream, and closing time comes before dawn. Noosa offers cocktails on Hastings Street, a drink on the surf club deck and a few pubs at Noosa Junction, and most of the town is asleep before midnight.

Brisbane has good bush close by. There are the trails on Mount Coot-tha and in D'Aguilar National Park, paddling on the river, and the Gondwana rainforest of Lamington and Springbrook about an hour and a half south.

Noosa has its wild country even closer. The national park headland starts at the end of Hastings Street, with koalas in the trees and whales passing in winter, and its point breaks draw longboarders from along the coast. North of the river, you can canoe the tea-tree channels of the Everglades or follow the Cooloola sand coast to Rainbow Beach.

Neither place has much heritage within reach, and both share the hinterland villages of Montville and Maleny. Brisbane has a slightly wider spread of outings: the Gold Coast to the south, Noosa itself up the coast, Tamborine Mountain and the garden city of Toowoomba over the range.

From Noosa, the trips are shorter and more local. There is the Eumundi craft market half an hour away, Mooloolaba's harbour, and the big landscapes of K'gari, with Brisbane as the city day.

Brisbane has more to fill a children's itinerary. The free South Bank lagoon, the hands-on science centre at the Queensland Museum, the koalas at Lone Pine and the CityCat ferries are all in town. The Gold Coast theme parks and Australia Zoo are each about an hour away.

Noosa gives you the gentlest water for small children, in sheltered Main Beach and the shallows at Noosaville, plus a koala walk on the headland. It has few attractions built for kids, though, so zoo and aquarium days mean a drive.

Brisbane works well without a car. The CityCat ferries run up and down the river through the inner suburbs, and suburban trains and dedicated busways share one fare system with them. You can even reach the Gold Coast by rail.

Noosa is easy on foot only within its small core, where a boardwalk joins Hastings Street, Main Beach and the park entrance. Local buses and a slow river ferry cover the rest of town, but the Everglades, Cooloola and the hinterland really call for a car or a tour.

Brisbane offers the broader range, though neither place is a shopping destination. It has department stores on the Queen Street Mall, heritage arcades, a few luxury labels on Edward Street, local designers on James Street and antiques along Paddington's ridge. Noosa means boutiques of swimwear, linen and resort clothes on Hastings Street. Its best shopping is the makers' market at Eumundi, which Brisbane visitors can also reach in a day.

Both are expensive by international standards, but Brisbane is easier on the budget. The main galleries and the lagoon are free, public transport is cheap, and cafés and food markets give you good casual meals.

Noosa is priced as a premium resort, especially near the beachfront and Hastings Street, and minimum stays are common in peak season. Cheap food is scarce. Self-catering in Noosaville or Sunshine Beach and visiting out of season both help.

Brisbane has a complete formal scene at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, home to the state's symphony orchestra, opera, ballet and theatre companies. Add comedy and cabaret at the Powerhouse in New Farm, the Brisbane Festival every September and a live-music circuit in Fortitude Valley that has long produced bands.

Noosa has a small community theatre in Noosa Junction and the short Noosa Alive festival each year. Otherwise, live music means an acoustic set at the surf club.

Noosa is built for unwinding. Days run on swims, walks and long breakfasts, day spas and yoga classes fill Hastings Street and Noosaville, and health retreats in the hinterland run multi-day programmes.

Brisbane's version is quieter. You get laps in heritage pools such as the Spring Hill Baths of 1886, hotel spas and slow café mornings by the river. For a proper retreat, people from Brisbane head into the same Sunshine Coast hinterland that sits behind Noosa.