Fukuoka or Hiroshima?

Fukuoka is the better choice for a swim. Momochi Seaside Park is a beach right in the city for an evening paddle, and within the hour the Itoshima peninsula offers white sand, clear water and surf-shack cafés, with Shikanoshima and Nokonoshima as quieter options.

Hiroshima's shore is all port, so swimming means taking a ferry to the small beaches on Miyajima, Ninoshima or Etajima. The calm, sheltered water there suits small children, but the beaches are modest. In both cities the season is only July and August, and jellyfish arrive towards the end of it.

Few cities in Japan eat as well as Fukuoka, and it offers the wider range. It is the home of Hakata-style tonkotsu ramen, its yatai stalls in Nakasu and Tenjin are the nearest thing Japan has to street food, and motsunabe, mizutaki and very fresh Genkai Sea squid give plenty to try beyond noodles.

Hiroshima's food centres on okonomiyaki, layered on the griddle in whole buildings of small stalls, along with oysters from the bay, best in winter on Miyajima. A sake-tasting afternoon in Saijo is its strongest extra. Neither city has much international cooking.

This is where Hiroshima clearly leads. The A-Bomb Dome and the Peace Memorial Museum make for a half-day few visitors forget, and Shukkeien and the castle's moats and original stone walls round out the city's sights.

Fukuoka's sights are pleasant rather than profound. The old temple quarter of Hakata, with Shofukuji, Tochoji's wooden Buddha and the Kushida Shrine, is the best walk, and the City Museum holds the ancient gold seal from China. The region's grander heritage, such as Dazaifu, lies outside the city.

Fukuoka has more going on after dark. Nakasu is western Japan's most famous entertainment district, but visitors do better in Daimyo and Tenjin, with their standing bars, craft-beer and whisky bars and a few clubs, or on the student strip of Oyafuko-dori.

Hiroshima's Nagarekawa is a large grid of tiny bars, karaoke boxes and izakaya, at its busiest after a home baseball game. An evening there is slower and more local, usually ending at a counter bar with the owner pouring sake.

The two are evenly matched outdoors, but the landscapes differ. Fukuoka's green space is coastal and close at hand: the loop around Ohori Park, the flower fields and cycle paths of Uminonakamichi, the rocky capes and rice terraces of Itoshima, and hikes in the Sefuri hills.

Hiroshima looks out on the island-studded Inland Sea. The best of it is the climb up Mount Misen on Miyajima among wild deer, the riverside walk through Sandankyo Gorge in autumn, and the Shimanami Kaido cycling route across the islands from Onomichi.

Both are excellent bases, and the real difference is direction. Fukuoka opens up Kyushu: Dazaifu's shrine and national museum within half an hour, punting in Yanagawa, Kumamoto's castle, and Nagasaki's layered harbour history, with Hiroshima itself about an hour away by shinkansen.

Hiroshima faces the Inland Sea and east towards Kansai. Miyajima is an easy half-day rather than a full outing, and Onomichi, Tomonoura, rabbit-filled Okunoshima, Kurashiki and Himeji Castle are all in reach.

With young children, Marine World on the Uminonakamichi peninsula is the single best day out in either city: a good aquarium and dolphin show beside playgrounds, a small zoo and flower fields. In Fukuoka the Anpanman Children's Museum adds a sure hit for toddlers, and the science museum and Fukuoka Tower cover a rainy day.

Hiroshima has charming moments: feeding the deer on Miyajima, the rabbits of Okunoshima and a noisy evening at the baseball. But it has no large aquarium, and parents have to judge how much of the Peace Memorial Museum younger children should see.

Fukuoka is the smoother city to move around. The airport sits on the subway a few minutes from Hakata Station, three subway lines run along the main axis, and Hakata, Nakasu, Tenjin and Daimyo are all within short walks of each other.

Hiroshima's centre is just as flat and walkable, with the Peace Park, Hondori and the castle close together. Its large tram network is easy for visitors to use but slow at busy times, so JR trains are the quicker way to Miyajima.

Tenjin is Kyushu's main shopping district, and it gives Fukuoka the edge. Department stores stand above a long underground arcade, Daimyo and Imaizumi hold independent fashion and vintage shops, and Canal City and the station complex cover the big brands. Hakata-ori silk and Arita porcelain are the crafts to look for.

Hiroshima's shopping centres on the covered Hondori arcade and is more a pleasant browse. Its best buys are small and specific: Kumano brushes, Miyajima rice paddles, momiji manju cakes and Saijo sake.

Both are among the cheaper big cities in Japan, with fairly priced business hotels and filling meals of ramen or okonomiyaki. Where the money goes differs. In Fukuoka it is sushi dinners and nights in Nakasu, though the airport subway is a real saving.

In Hiroshima the costs come from shinkansen fares for day trips and a night on Miyajima, while the Peace Park itself is free to walk.

What sets the two apart is their own traditions. In Fukuoka it is the street festivals, above all the Hakata Gion Yamakasa float races at dawn in July and the Dontaku parade in May. Its stages are also a little larger, with touring kabuki and musicals at Hakataza and the Kyushu Symphony Orchestra at the Acros hall.

Hiroshima's distinctive offering is kagura, the masked, drum-driven Shinto dance-drama, put on in regular evening shows for visitors. Beyond that, its concert halls and live houses are modest.

Fukuoka is better for a bath. Futsukaichi Onsen, one of Kyushu's oldest hot-spring towns, is about half an hour away near Dazaifu, there are large hot-spring complexes on the city's edge, and Beppu and Yufuin are within a long day's reach.

Hiroshima has no hot springs of its own, so a true onsen means an hour's journey into the hills. Its gentler pleasures are a ryokan night on Miyajima after the day-trippers leave and the ponds of Shukkeien.