Christchurch or Wellington?

These are two equally modest beach cities, and the difference is in the kind of shore. Christchurch has open ocean beach: the long grey strand of New Brighton facing Pegasus Bay, sheltered Sumner for an evening swim, and surf at Taylors Mistake.

Wellington's beaches are harbour beaches. Oriental Bay has a promenade and diving platform a short walk from the centre, and Scorching and Worser Bays are calm coves on the Miramar Peninsula. In both cities the sea stays cold, and a beach day is a walk more than a swim.

Wellington is the better place to eat and drink. Its café culture is unusually dense, with serious roasters, and its brewery taprooms around Cuba Street and Te Aro make a casual evening an occasion. Courtenay Place and the waterfront cover smarter meals, and Asian and Pacific cooking runs through the city.

Christchurch's strength is the farmland around it: Canterbury lamb, Akaroa salmon, and Waipara pinot noir and riesling less than an hour north. Its riverside food market and laneway dining are good, but a few evenings cover the choice.

Wellington has the slight edge, mostly because of Te Papa, the free national museum with strong Māori and Pacific collections. The capital adds Parliament with its Beehive, the wooden church of Old St Paul's and the huge timber Government Buildings.

Christchurch offers something else: a once very English city still dealing with its earthquakes. The Gothic Revival quadrangles of the Arts Centre, the cardboard Transitional Cathedral and the earthquake museum tell that story, and the Art Gallery holds the South Island's best New Zealand collection. Each city takes two days or so.

Christchurch keeps its evenings low-key. The bars along Oxford Terrace are good for a relaxed drink beside the Avon. Away from the river, the lanes of the rebuilt centre and Victoria Street, just north of it, add craft-beer pubs and wine bars. Outside Friday and Saturday the city goes quiet early.

Wellington gives you more of a night out. Everything is within walking distance, so you can start in the craft-beer and cocktail bars off Cuba Street and finish in the late bars and few clubs of Courtenay Place. Midweek is quiet there too, but at weekends you have more places to choose from and more of them stay open late.

Both cities are excellent for the outdoors, and Christchurch reaches the bigger landscapes. Arthur's Pass and the Southern Alps are about two hours west, for alpine walking in summer and skiing in winter. The drowned volcanic bays of Banks Peninsula offer kayaking among Hector's dolphins, and the crater-rim tracks of the Port Hills start from the suburbs.

Wild country is closer in Wellington. You can hear native birds at Zealandia a bus ride from the centre, walk the south coast to the Red Rocks seal colony, and ride the mountain-bike trails at Makara Peak, though the wind often decides the plan.

Neither city has a long list of outings, and Christchurch's best is slightly better. Akaroa, the harbour village of French origin on Banks Peninsula, is a lovely day. Hillside Lyttelton is twenty minutes away, and Hanmer Springs and the Waipara vineyards lie to the north.

From Wellington, the trip worth making is over the Remutaka hills to the Wairarapa. There you can cycle between Martinborough's vineyards and browse the colonial main street of Greytown. The Kāpiti Coast is an easy train ride.

Both cities are easy and safe with children, and they work in different ways. Christchurch is flat, so pushchairs are easy, and it has one of the country's largest playgrounds by the river. Its big draws are on the edges of the city: penguins at the Antarctic Centre, kiwi at Willowbank and open-range animals at Orana, all much easier with a car.

Wellington puts its best attraction in the centre: Te Papa, with its earthquake house and giant squid. The cable car to the Space Place observatory and the zoo are short trips. Steep streets and wet days take more planning there.

Wellington is much easier without a car. Most sights sit along a flat strip you can walk in under half an hour. The cable car, suburban trains and the Days Bay ferry cover the rest, and a car is only worth having for the Wairarapa.

Christchurch's centre is just as flat and has good cycleways and e-scooters. But the wildlife parks, the gondola and Banks Peninsula are hard to reach by bus, and most visitors hire a car for part of their stay.

Wellington is better for browsing. Cuba Street's vintage clothing, record shops, second-hand books and design stores give it a character that Lambton Quay's chain stores don't.

In Christchurch, shopping is a small rebuilt precinct with Ballantynes, a department store since the 1850s, and suburban malls. For merino, pounamu or crafts, its weekend markets are better than its shops.

Both cities follow New Zealand's high prices, with Christchurch a little gentler on rooms. Its hotels and motels cost less than the capital's, though restaurant meals, drinks and the car most visitors hire eat into that saving.

In Wellington, central hotels are expensive, especially when events fill the city. On the other hand, the walkable centre means you don't need a car, and Te Papa and the town belt walks are free.

Wellington has much more on stage because the national companies are based there. The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra plays at the Michael Fowler Centre and the Royal New Zealand Ballet at the St James. There are black-box theatres, jazz and band rooms around Cuba Street, and the late-summer arts festival brings international work.

Christchurch has a respectable programme for its size: its own symphony orchestra in the acoustically admired Town Hall, the Court Theatre, and touring shows at the Isaac Theatre Royal. Still, on many nights there is little on.

Christchurch is clearly better for a restful stay, thanks to hot water. The saltwater pools on the New Brighton beachfront let you soak while watching the surf. Hanmer Springs, with its forest mineral pools, is about an hour and a half away.

Wellington has no bathing tradition. Relaxing there means the heated harbourside pool at Oriental Bay, a hotel spa, or a long coffee followed by a walk in the Botanic Garden.