Fukuoka or Kyoto?

Fukuoka is on the coast and Kyoto is not, which settles this one. Fukuoka has its own city beach at Momochi. Better still, the clear water and white sand of the Itoshima peninsula are under an hour west, and the islands of Shikanoshima and Nokonoshima offer quieter swims. The season is short, though, roughly July and August.

From Kyoto, the nearest swimming is on the freshwater shore of Lake Biwa, and the sea beaches of the Tango coast need an overnight stay. Neither is a beach destination, but only in Fukuoka can a swim fit into an ordinary afternoon.

Both are among Japan's best places to eat, but they feed you in opposite ways. Fukuoka is hearty and informal: tonkotsu ramen in Hakata and Nagahama, motsunabe and mizutaki hotpots, spicy mentaiko, and beer on a stool at a riverside yatai beside strangers.

Kyoto is about precision and ceremony, with kaiseki in old wooden houses in Gion, shojin ryori in temple precincts, tofu and yuba, and sweets made for tea. Fukuoka is the place for very fresh raw fish from the Genkai Sea. Kyoto has Nishiki Market and the sake breweries of Fushimi for an afternoon of grazing and tasting.

This is the widest gap between the two. Kyoto escaped wartime bombing and keeps a thousand years of imperial heritage: seventeen UNESCO-listed sites from Kiyomizu-dera to the moss garden of Saiho-ji, well over a thousand temples and shrines, and whole lanes of wooden machiya in Higashiyama and Gion. A week only begins to cover it.

Fukuoka is a largely rebuilt modern city. Its old Hakata temple quarter, with Shofukuji and Tochoji's great wooden Buddha, the castle walls above Ohori Park and the ancient gold seal in the City Museum make for a pleasant two days. The region's grander heritage, Dazaifu included, lies outside the city.

Fukuoka is the city for a night out. Nakasu is western Japan's best-known entertainment district, and its yatai stalls are an easy place to start. The standing bars, craft beer and whisky bars and handful of clubs in Daimyo and Tenjin keep going late.

Kyoto's evenings centre on Pontocho and Kiyamachi, with small sake bars and izakaya by the Kamo River and terraces over the water in summer. The city winds down early. It suits a quiet drink after a day of temples, and anyone wanting more takes the train to Osaka.

Kyoto has the more rewarding landscape on its doorstep. Forested hills wrap around the basin, and a short ride reaches the cedar path between Kurama and Kibune, the bamboo groves of Arashiyama, the Daimonji trail and the Hozu gorge. Cherry blossom and maple colour turn the whole city into scenery.

Fukuoka's outdoors leans towards the sea: the seaside park on the Uminonakamichi sandbar, the flower slopes of Nokonoshima, and the rocky capes and rice terraces of Itoshima, with hikes on Mount Homan inland. It is good for coast walks and cycling, while the volcanic country of Aso is a long day away.

Both are excellent bases, but Kyoto sits at the centre of a closer and richer cluster. Nara is under an hour away, Osaka about half an hour, Uji twenty minutes and Himeji Castle under an hour by bullet train. That puts a different major sight within reach every day with little planning.

Fukuoka opens up Kyushu instead. Dazaifu and its Tenmangu shrine are half an hour away, followed by the canals of Yanagawa, Kumamoto Castle and the port history of Nagasaki, with Hiroshima and Miyajima about an hour off by shinkansen. Its range is wide, but its highlights are spread further apart.

Fukuoka is the easier place to bring children. It is compact and calm, and the airport subway takes the strain out of arriving. Marine World, with its dolphin show, stands beside a seaside park with playgrounds and a small zoo, and the Anpanman Children's Museum is a treat for toddlers.

Kyoto is just as safe and has the excellent Railway Museum, an aquarium and the Edo-period film set at Toei Studio Park. Its days, though, revolve around temple steps, crowded buses and a lot of walking, and many families go to Osaka for a day at the theme park.

Fukuoka is the simpler city to move around. The airport is on the subway, a few minutes from Hakata Station, and Hakata, Nakasu, Tenjin and Daimyo are joined by short walks along one compact axis.

Kyoto's flat grid centre is lovely on foot or by bicycle along the Kamo River. Its great temples, however, are spread around the edges of the basin, mostly out of reach of the two subway lines. Getting to them means juggling JR trains, private railways, the little Randen tram and city buses, which are slow and packed in the busy seasons.

Kyoto is the better place to shop for things worth keeping. Shops run by the same families for generations sell Kiyomizu ceramics, Nishijin silk, fans, incense, washi paper, lacquer and hand-forged knives, and tea merchants sell matcha by weight. The monthly flea markets at To-ji and Kitano Tenmangu are worth planning a visit around.

Fukuoka is stronger on everyday fashion. It has Tenjin's department stores and long underground arcade, independent and vintage shops in Daimyo and Imaizumi, and Canal City near Hakata Station. Its own crafts, Hakata-ori silk and painted Hakata dolls, are fine but fewer.

Fukuoka is the cheaper of the two. Compact business hotels near Hakata and Tenjin are good value, ramen and set lunches cost little, and the subway ride from the airport is an easy saving.

Kyoto's everyday food and transport are also reasonable, but its hotels and ryokan are expensive, and rooms become scarce and costly in the cherry blossom and autumn colour seasons. A kaiseki dinner is a real splurge. Staying near Kyoto Station and eating at good restaurants at lunch rather than dinner narrows the gap.

Kyoto has the deeper traditional stage. The spring dances of the five geisha districts, kabuki at Minamiza (Japan's oldest kabuki house), regular Noh performances and the short samplers at Gion Corner offer things that are hard to see anywhere else. Much of it is seasonal, though, so a random evening can be thin.

Fukuoka's programme is regional, with touring kabuki and musicals at Hakataza and the Kyushu Symphony Orchestra in the Acros building. Its standout show is in the streets: the Hakata Gion Yamakasa in July, when teams race huge floats through the city at dawn.

Kyoto offers the more restorative stay. It has century-old neighbourhood sento, hot spring baths at Kurama and Ohara, and ryokan with deep wooden tubs. Zazen, a tea ceremony or a night in a temple lodging make slowing down part of the trip itself, best early in the morning or in winter.

Fukuoka relies on large bath complexes on its edges and Futsukaichi Onsen, half an hour south, while Beppu and Yufuin take a long day out. What it offers instead is a relaxed everyday pace, with sea air and the calm of Ohori Park.