Helsinki or Stockholm?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Stockholm makes summer swimming more a part of city life. Its clean water means locals swim from Långholmen's rock slabs, the Smedsuddsbadet beach on Kungsholmen and the freshwater lakes at Hellasgården, and the archipelago has coves and jetties beyond them.

Helsinki has the sandier town beach at Hietaniemi and island beaches such as Pihlajasaari a boat ride out, but its season is shorter and cool, windy days are common even in July. Out of season, swimming in Helsinki mostly means a winter dip after a sauna.

Stockholm eats better. It pairs a serious Nordic tasting-menu scene with husmanskost, the traditional dining rooms serving meatballs with lingonberries and toast skagen, and Östermalms Saluhall shows the full range in one place.

Helsinki's cooking is simpler and narrower: salmon soup, Baltic herring, Karelian pies and late-summer chanterelles from the harbour stalls, best tasted at the Old Market Hall. Both cities share a deep coffee habit, with Swedish fika and Finnish cinnamon buns, and in both the weekday lunch is the sensible way to eat out.

Stockholm has the deeper set of sights. Its medieval old town on Gamla Stan, the Royal Palace, the almost complete 1628 warship in the Vasa Museum and Skansen's open-air museum on Djurgården give it a historic core that Helsinki, a much younger capital, cannot match.

Helsinki's strength is architecture: Engel's Senate Square, the Jugend streets of Katajanokka and Eira, and Aalto's Finlandia Hall and the rock church. With the Suomenlinna sea fortress and the Ateneum, it is a rewarding two or three days, while Stockholm can fill longer.

Stockholm offers a little more after dark and a clearer choice of styles: polished clubs with strict doors around Stureplan, or the looser bars and small dance floors of Södermalm. Helsinki's going out centres on Kallio's unpretentious bars and karaoke rooms, with a few serious clubs in the centre.

In both, summer is the high point, with terraces by the water in light that barely fades, while winter weeknights are quiet and drinks are expensive.

Stockholm has the better outdoors, chiefly because of its archipelago, tens of thousands of granite islands reached by ferry for kayaking, sailing and island hikes. Djurgården's parkland is a walk from the centre, and Tyresta's old-growth forest is within easy reach.

Helsinki works on a smaller scale: island ferries to the skerries, the Central Park forest belt and Nuuksio's lakes and trails under an hour away. Both are flat, and both turn to skiing or skating on the ice in a cold winter.

Stockholm has a slightly wider choice, much of it by boat across Lake Mälaren: Drottningholm Palace, Viking Birka, Gripsholm Castle, plus Uppsala's cathedral and royal mounds by train. Many of these outings are summer-only, though.

Helsinki's best outing is international: Tallinn's walled medieval old town is about two hours away by fast ferry, all year round. Wooden Porvoo and the former capital Turku round out a shorter list.

Both are safe, calm cities that make room for children, but Stockholm has a little more for them to do. Djurgården alone covers several days: Skansen's moose and bears, Junibacken's Astrid Lindgren train ride and the Gröna Lund rides by the water, with the Vasa Museum and the natural history museum for rainy days.

Helsinki answers with Linnanmäki amusement park, the island zoo at Korkeasaari, the Heureka science centre and Suomenlinna's tunnels. In winter both lean on indoor attractions through long dark afternoons.

Both are easy to manage without a car, with one ticket covering trams, metro, trains and ferries. Helsinki is the more compact of the two, a single walkable centre with green trams and one metro line, and the airport is about half an hour by train.

Stockholm spreads over fourteen islands, so walks cross bridges and climb Södermalm's hills, but its Tunnelbana is more extensive, with stations carved from bedrock that are a sight in themselves.

Both are design cities, but Stockholm offers more range. It adds minimalist Swedish fashion labels and international luxury around Biblioteksgatan and Norrmalmstorg, NK as its classic department store, and the vintage and independent boutiques of SoFo.

Helsinki is more focused: Finnish printed textiles, Aalto glass and ceramics in the Design District, the best-known Finnish brands along the Esplanadi, and Stockmann. There is little fashion or luxury to choose from, but in summer the market square and the Hietalahti flea market play a bigger part in shopping here than markets do in Stockholm.

Both are expensive, and alcohol hurts most in each. The ways round it are similar too: weekday lunch menus, public transport, and free pleasures such as parks, shorelines and churches.

The difference is in the hotels. Stockholm's rooms follow the business calendar and are noticeably cheaper at weekends and in July, while Helsinki's are dearest in summer.

The two are evenly matched on stage, with differences in emphasis. Helsinki leans on classical music, with the Music Centre's two major orchestras, the National Opera by Töölö Bay and the legacy of Sibelius, plus a strong rock and metal club circuit.

Stockholm has the Royal Opera, the Konserthuset and a long-running jazz scene, and the rare summer baroque opera at Drottningholm's eighteenth-century theatre. In both cities, most theatre is in the local language.

This is where Helsinki clearly leads. Sauna is the core of Finnish life, and visitors can go from wood-heated public saunas in Kallio to harbour complexes with a Baltic plunge, or to the 1920s Yrjönkatu swimming hall.

Stockholm's bathing is more spa-like and occasional: the Art Nouveau Centralbadet, the older Sturebadet and waterside spa hotels in Nacka. Its slow daily fika is restful, but the sauna is not part of the city's identity the way it is across the Baltic.