Fukuoka or Nagasaki?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Fukuoka gives swimmers more to work with. Momochi Seaside Park is in the city for an evening paddle, the white sand and clear water of the Itoshima peninsula are under an hour away, and Shikanoshima and Nokonoshima offer quieter days.

Nagasaki's harbour is a working port of docks and shipyards where nobody swims. A beach day means an hour on the bus to Takahama on the Nomo coast, or the ferry to the small resort beach on Iojima. Both cities have the same short summer season, with jellyfish arriving towards the end.

Both cities feed you well, but Fukuoka is the greater eating destination. It is the home of tonkotsu ramen, its yatai stalls in Nakasu are the nearest thing Japan has to street food, and mentaiko, motsunabe, mizutaki and Genkai Sea sashimi cover everything from cheap counters to serious sushi.

Nagasaki's cooking is narrower but more unusual, shaped by centuries of foreign trade: champon, sara udon, castella and the shared shippoku banquet. The fish is just as good, served simply in the izakaya of Shianbashi, but there is little high-end dining and the range runs out sooner.

This is where Nagasaki pulls clearly ahead. Many visitors come for the Atomic Bomb Museum and Peace Park in Urakami alone, and around them are Dejima, the merchant houses of Glover Garden, Oura Cathedral and the Chinese temples of Sofukuji and Teramachi. Together they trace a layered history of foreign contact that is unique in Japan.

Fukuoka's sights are pleasant rather than essential: the Hakata temple quarter with Shofukuji and Tochoji, the castle walls above Ohori Park and the ancient gold seal in the City Museum. Its grander heritage, such as Dazaifu, lies outside the city.

Fukuoka offers far the better night out. Beyond the neon of Nakasu and its riverside stalls, the backstreets of Tenjin and Daimyo hold standing bars, craft beer and whisky bars and a few clubs, and evenings run late.

In Nagasaki, going out means Shianbashi, a compact grid of izakaya, counter bars and karaoke, where many snack bars cater to regulars. It suits a quiet evening of sake and grilled fish, but the streets empty before midnight on weeknights, and many visitors choose the night view from Mount Inasa instead.

There is little to choose between them outdoors, but the scenery differs in character. Fukuoka's is gentler and more spread out: the walking loop round Ohori Park, the flower fields and cycle paths of Uminonakamichi and the slopes of Nokonoshima, then further out the rocky capes and rice terraces of Itoshima and wooded day hikes on Mount Homan and in the Sefuri range.

Nagasaki is steeper and more dramatic right on its doorstep, a deep harbour ringed by green hills with the ropeway up Mount Inasa. About two hours away, Unzen's volcanic peaks, steaming hells and the lava dome of Heisei-shinzan make a wilder day than Fukuoka's hills, and the wooded islands of Kujukushima are best seen from a boat or kayak.

Fukuoka is the stronger base by a wide margin, because the trains from Hakata Station reach much of Kyushu and beyond. Dazaifu is half an hour away and Yanagawa's canals under an hour, and the shinkansen reaches Kumamoto Castle and Hiroshima with Miyajima. Nagasaki itself is an easy day out.

Nagasaki has fewer outings, but they are distinctive. The boat to the ruined mining island of Hashima is unlike anything else in Japan, and Shimabara's samurai houses, Huis Ten Bosch and Hirado are rewarding, though several take most of a day and the Goto Islands need a night.

With a pushchair, the terrain decides it. Fukuoka's centre is compact and flat, and Marine World with its dolphin show, the playgrounds and small zoo of the Uminonakamichi seaside park and the Anpanman Children's Museum will keep children busy for days.

In Nagasaki many lanes turn into stairways, which wears parents down, though children love the trams, the ropeway up Mount Inasa and the Penguin Aquarium, where the birds waddle out onto a little beach. Huis Ten Bosch makes a big day out, and the Atomic Bomb Museum needs some thought with younger children.

Subway against tram sums up the difference. In Fukuoka the airport is on the subway a few minutes from Hakata Station, Hakata, Nakasu, Tenjin and Daimyo are a quarter of an hour apart on foot along the flat, and Hakata Station is the shinkansen hub for the whole of Kyushu.

Nagasaki's old flat-fare trams run along the valley floor from the station to the Peace Park, Dejima, Chinatown and Oura, and could hardly be simpler. Step off the valley floor, though, and the lanes become long flights of steps that no bus reaches, so on the whole Fukuoka is the less tiring city to move around.

Fukuoka is Kyushu's shopping capital. It has the Tenjin department stores above their long underground arcade, independent fashion and vintage shops in Daimyo and Imaizumi, and Canal City near Hakata Station, plus Hakata-ori silk and Hakata dolls to take home.

Nagasaki has the Hamanomachi arcade and a station mall, and is really a place for gifts: boxed castella, local glassware and porcelain from Hasami and Mikawachi. Anyone looking for fashion should save their shopping for Fukuoka.

Costs are much the same in both, and both are among the easier Japanese cities on a moderate budget, with compact business hotels and cheap noodle lunches. The difference is where the money goes: in Fukuoka it is sushi dinners and nights in Nakasu, while in Nagasaki it is the Hashima boat tours and the ropeway, with a cheap tram pass for getting around.

Fukuoka has more on an ordinary evening: touring kabuki and musicals at Hakataza, the Kyushu Symphony Orchestra at the Fukuoka Symphony Hall, and jazz and local bands in the live houses of Tenjin and Daimyo. The Yamakasa float race in July and Dontaku in May are added extras.

In Nagasaki, performance mostly means festivals, above all the Kunchi at Suwa Shrine in October and the Lantern Festival around Chinese New Year. Outside those dates there is little a visitor can plan around.

Fukuoka makes it easier to bathe and unwind without leaving town. There are hot-spring complexes on the city's edge, Futsukaichi Onsen is half an hour south, and Ohori Park offers calm in the centre.

Nagasaki has only a few baths of its own, but the seaside springs of Obama and the mountain spa of Unzen on the Shimabara peninsula reward an overnight ryokan stay. In town, quiet hillside temples and harbour walks offer a slower kind of rest.