Byron Bay or Canberra?

This is where the two differ most. Byron Bay sits on a north-facing bay with everything from the sheltered point at The Pass and the small cove at Wategos to the long empty arcs of Tallow and Belongil. The water is warm enough to swim in all year, though the open surf beaches have strong rips, so swim between the flags.

Canberra is inland, roughly two hours from the coast at Batemans Bay. Locals swim in the Murrumbidgee and Cotter rivers at spots such as Kambah Pool and Casuarina Sands, which have no lifeguards, and Lake Burley Griffin is often closed by algae after warm spells. It is a way to cool off, not a beach trip.

Byron Bay eats better, mainly because of what grows around it. Macadamias, avocados, tropical fruit and grass-fed beef from the hinterland reach the cafés and farmers' markets, seafood comes off the coast, and there are a few ambitious kitchens in town, on hinterland farms and in Bangalow. Coffee and long brunches are the high point.

Canberra's good eating is spread across Braddon, the older strips of Kingston and Manuka, and the Asian kitchens of Dickson's Woolley Street. What it has that Byron lacks is cool-climate wine, with cellar doors around Murrumbateman. Neither city has a cuisine of its own or much depth at the top end.

For sights there is no contest. Canberra was built to house the nation's institutions, and a few days can go on Parliament House, the National Gallery with its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander collection, the National Portrait Gallery, the National Museum and the War Memorial. The view from Mount Ainslie shows Walter Burley Griffin's plan laid out below.

Byron Bay has the lighthouse on Cape Byron, the most easterly point of mainland Australia, and little else to visit. Its deepest heritage is the Arakwal Bumberlin people's connection to the cape, which visitors meet on guided walks rather than in a museum.

Byron Bay has the livelier evenings: sunset drinks, big beer-garden pubs near Main Beach and a couple of late venues full of backpackers, especially on summer weekends. Even so, most nights are over soon after midnight.

Canberra goes out more quietly, in the cocktail bars and small breweries of Lonsdale Street in Braddon and the Civic laneways. Students fill a few venues at weekends, but outside term time and parliamentary sitting weeks the city is very still. In Byron the evenings are barefoot and young, while Canberra suits a drink after dinner.

Both cities have good outdoors, but Byron Bay's is richer because it has the sea as well as the land. The cape track runs through rainforest to the lighthouse, with dolphins below and humpbacks passing from about June to November. Julian Rocks has turtles, rays and grey nurse sharks for divers, and the rainforest of Nightcap and Minyon Falls is within an hour.

Canberra's answer is bush within the city: eucalypt hills such as Black Mountain and Mount Ainslie with walking and mountain-bike trails, and kangaroos on the reserves at dusk. The granite summits of Namadgi, about forty minutes away, have rock-art sites and snow in winter. It suits hikers and cyclists more than swimmers.

Around both cities the day trips are to small towns rather than major sights, and both need a car. From Byron Bay you can visit the heritage main street of Bangalow, counterculture Nimbin and the gallery at Murwillumbah, or go to the theme parks and high-rise beaches of the Gold Coast, about an hour north. That range gives Byron a slight edge.

Canberra's days out are about wine and history: cellar doors in the Yass Valley, the gold-rush town of Braidwood, the Victorian buildings of Goulburn and, further off, the Southern Highlands villages around Bowral and Berrima.

Canberra is the better all-round choice with children. Questacon can fill most of a day, the National Zoo and Aquarium brings them close to big cats, and Tidbinbilla gives a good chance of kangaroos, emus and koalas. The Arboretum playground and the children's galleries at the museums fill the gaps, and nowhere is crowded.

Byron Bay is better for beach days, with rock pools, gentler water at The Pass and Wategos, and whales to spot. But it has few attractions built for children, the rips need close watching, and in peak summer the town is crowded and some streets are loud at night.

Neither is easy without a car, though for different reasons. Byron Bay is a small, flat town where the main beaches are a walk or a bike ride away, but there is no train and buses are infrequent, so the hinterland and villages are out of reach without your own transport.

Canberra is a spread-out planned city with a light rail line into Civic, buses on one tap-on card and a good off-road cycle network around the lake. Walking between its districts takes a long time. Parking there is easy, unlike at Byron's beaches in summer.

Byron Bay is more enjoyable for shopping, with a look of its own: linen, surfwear, swimwear and homewares from local labels in the centre, makers' studios at the Arts and Industry Estate and artisan markets. You can see it all in an afternoon.

Canberra is practical, with the chains in the Canberra Centre and a few independents in Braddon. The best stops are the Sunday Old Bus Depot Markets in Kingston and the national museum shops, which sell Australian design and Aboriginal art prints.

Canberra is the cheaper place to stay. Hotel rates often drop at weekends once the political and business travellers leave, and the big sights, including Parliament House, the War Memorial and the National Gallery, are free. Eating out and taxis still cost what they do anywhere in Australia.

Byron Bay's accommodation costs more than in almost any other Australian beach town, rates climb in summer and on festival weekends, and cafés charge resort prices. The beaches, the cape walk and the waterfalls are free, and hostels and campsites make a backpacker budget possible.

You wouldn't plan a trip to either around a show, but Canberra has more of a formal stage. There are touring plays, dance and musicals at the Canberra Theatre Centre, an orchestra season partly held in Llewellyn Hall, and the National Folk Festival at Easter.

Byron Bay's offer is folk, roots and surf-rock bands in the pubs, buskers in the warmer months and the long-running writers' festival. For an orchestra or professional theatre you have to drive to Brisbane or the Gold Coast.

Byron Bay is made for this kind of trip. There is yoga several times a day, plus spas, massage, breathwork and residential retreats in the hinterland hills, and the days follow the sea from an early swim to sunset. The best retreats are costly, though, and peak season takes away some of the calm.

Canberra has a few day spas and hotel wellness centres, but nothing to plan a stay around. What it does offer is quiet: calm mornings by the lake, uncrowded green space and early evenings.