Fukuoka or Hakone?

Fukuoka has a city beach at Momochi Seaside Park, handy for an evening paddle, and much better sand under an hour west on the Itoshima peninsula, with Nokonoshima and Shikanoshima as quieter options. In July and August a swim fits easily into a city stay.

Hakone has nowhere to swim. Lake Ashi is off limits and the shore at Odawara is steep pebble, so the nearest proper sand is at Atami, a summer excursion rather than part of the stay.

Fukuoka is one of Japan's best eating cities: tonkotsu ramen in Hakata and Nagahama, the yatai stalls in Nakasu and Tenjin, mentaiko, motsunabe, and very fresh fish from the Genkai Sea. You can eat cheaply or well on every block, and the yatai give it a street-food life rare in Japan.

In Hakone the meal that matters is the kaiseki served at your ryokan, often superb but eaten where you sleep. Beyond that it comes down to soba and tofu shops in Hakone-Yumoto and black eggs at Owakudani, and little is open outside the inns after early evening.

The two are not far apart, though Fukuoka edges ahead on history. Its old Hakata temple quarter puts Shofukuji, Tochoji's wooden Buddha and the Kushida Shrine within a short walk of each other, and the City Museum holds the ancient gold seal from China.

Hakone's strength is art set in landscape, from sculpture on the lawns of the Open-Air Museum to the Pola Museum in beech forest, along with relics of the Tokaido road such as the Sekisho checkpoint and the torii standing in Lake Ashi. Its sights are scattered around the caldera rather than grouped together.

Fukuoka is known in Japan as a drinking city. Evenings start at the riverside yatai under the Nakasu neon and move on to standing bars, craft beer and whisky bars in Tenjin and Daimyo. Clubs are few, so think long dinners and bar-hopping.

Hakone has almost nothing after dinner beyond a handful of izakaya in Hakone-Yumoto. The night means a last bath and an early bed, which is exactly what most visitors come for.

Hakone is the stronger pick, because the landscape is the destination. You stay inside a volcanic caldera in a national park, with steaming vents at Owakudani, Lake Ashi on the crater floor, Fuji behind it on clear days, and trails to Mount Kintoki and through the Sengokuhara pampas grass.

Fukuoka's nature means going out from a city: Ohori Park's pond loop, flower fields on Uminonakamichi and Nokonoshima, the rocky Itoshima coast and day hikes on Mount Homan. Pleasant, but less dramatic.

Both make good bases, but they look in different directions. From Hakata Station fast trains cover Kyushu and beyond: Dazaifu in half an hour, Kumamoto's castle, Nagasaki's layered port history and Hiroshima with Miyajima.

Hakone looks towards Tokyo and the Izu coast. Kamakura's Great Buddha, Yokohama and Tokyo itself are all within reach, along with Odawara Castle and the Fuji lakes over the ridge, though the journeys are generally slower than on Fukuoka's shinkansen.

Fukuoka is the easier place with children. It is compact and calm, with nursing rooms in stations and stores, and has Marine World's dolphin show, a city zoo, the Anpanman Children's Museum and Fukuoka Tower for rainy days. The summer heat is the main drawback.

Hakone's fun for children lies in getting about: the zigzag railway, the ropeway over Owakudani and the pirate ship on Lake Ashi, plus the seal shows at Hakone-en. Formal inns, nude communal baths and steep paths unsuited to pushchairs limit it to a short stay.

Fukuoka is about as simple as cities get. The airport is a few subway stops from Hakata and Tenjin, the centre is flat and walkable, and three subway lines plus buses cover the rest.

In Hakone one regional pass covers the mountain railway, cable car, ropeway, lake boats and buses, and the loop they form is a sight in itself. It is slow, though. The villages are kilometres apart on winding roads, and at weekends and in the autumn-colour season the queues at the ropeway and on the buses build up.

Fukuoka is Kyushu's main shopping city. Tenjin has department stores such as Iwataya above a long underground arcade, Daimyo and Imaizumi have vintage and independent shops, and Canal City covers the big brands. Hakata-ori silk, Hakata dolls, Arita porcelain and boxed mentaiko make good gifts.

Hakone offers one real craft, yosegi-zaiku wood marquetry from the Hatajuku workshops, plus souvenir streets in Yumoto and good museum shops. For anything more you have to go to the outlet mall over the ridge at Gotemba.

Fukuoka is easier on the budget. Business hotels near Hakata and Tenjin are good value, ramen and yatai food cost little, and most temples and parks are free, so a modest budget still gets you the best of the city. Costs climb mainly with serious sushi and nights in Nakasu.

In Hakone the thing you come for, a ryokan night with dinner, breakfast and a private bath, is the expensive part, especially at weekends and in autumn. Simple inns in Hakone-Yumoto, public day-bathhouses and the transport pass keep costs down.

Fukuoka has a proper regional stage: touring kabuki and musicals at Hakataza, the Kyushu Symphony Orchestra in the Acros building, and small jazz and band venues around Tenjin. Its festivals are the most memorable performances, with the dawn float races of the Hakata Gion Yamakasa in July and the Dontaku parade in May.

Hakone has no theatre or concert hall at all, only the odd museum concert or show laid on at an inn.

This is Hakone's great strength. Seventeen hot-spring areas, from riverside Hakone-Yumoto to the milky sulphur waters of Sengokuhara, offer outdoor baths under maples and cedars, private baths on many inn balconies and day-bathhouses in the woods. A midweek stay in winter or autumn is the most restful.

Fukuoka is calm for its size, with neighbourhood sento and bath complexes on the city's edge, and Futsukaichi Onsen half an hour away. For Beppu or Yufuin you need a long day out.