Hiroshima or Kyoto?

Neither is a beach destination, but Hiroshima at least has salt water close at hand. A ferry to Miyajima, Ninoshima or Etajima leads to small sandy beaches in a calm, sheltered sea that is warm in high summer, and that makes a good add-on to an island day.

Kyoto is inland, in its basin among the hills. The nearest swim is in fresh water on the western shore of Lake Biwa, and the Sea of Japan coast is too far away for anything less than an overnight trip.

Hiroshima eats well but narrowly. Its meals revolve around okonomiyaki layered on the griddle at counter stalls, winter oysters from the bay and sake tastings in Saijo, and once you have had those the range of cooking thins out.

Kyoto goes much deeper. Kaiseki in old wooden houses in Gion, temple shojin ryori at Daitokuji and Tenryuji, tofu, yuba and tea sweets give it a level of refinement Hiroshima cannot match. Nishiki Market and the breweries of Fushimi cover the everyday side just as well.

Hiroshima's cultural core is a single, profound visit. The A-Bomb Dome and the Peace Memorial Museum need half a day and some emotional space, and beyond them come Shukkeien garden and the castle grounds in a largely modern city.

Kyoto is on another scale entirely, precisely because it was spared the bombing that erased old Hiroshima. Kinkaku-ji, Ryoan-ji, Fushimi Inari, Nijo Castle and over a thousand other temples and shrines sit among intact machiya lanes, and a week there still leaves plenty unseen.

Hiroshima has the livelier evenings. Nagarekawa is a dense grid of small bars, izakaya and karaoke that stays busy past midnight, especially after a home baseball game.

Kyoto winds down early. Pontocho and the Kiyamachi canal are lovely for a sake by the river, with terraces in summer, but anyone wanting a late night usually takes the train to Osaka.

Kyoto's countryside starts where the city stops. You can walk from the eastern temples up to Daimonji, take the cedar path between Kurama and Kibune, wander Arashiyama's bamboo slopes or follow the Kamo River banks, all reached by short trips on foot, bus or train, and the autumn maples are spectacular.

Hiroshima's finest scenery is maritime. The forested islands of the Inland Sea, seen from the top of Mount Misen, are its great view, but they need a ferry, and Sandankyo Gorge and the Shimanami Kaido bike route take a long day each.

Hiroshima makes a fine base for western Japan's coast. Miyajima's floating torii, Iwakuni's arched bridge, Onomichi's hillside temples and Okunoshima's rabbits are all easy to reach.

Kyoto does even better, because Nara, Osaka and Uji are each under an hour, and Himeji, Kobe and Arima are not much further. That gives you ancient capitals, a major city and Japan's finest castle without changing hotels. Both cities reach Himeji, but from Kyoto it is one option among many.

Both cities are safe and easy with children, but Kyoto has more made with them in mind. The Railway Museum with its steam roundhouse, the aquarium, the zoo and the samurai shows at Toei Studio Park are all there, and Osaka's theme park is within an hour.

Hiroshima's highlights for children lie mostly out of town: the deer and ropeway on Miyajima and the rabbits of Okunoshima. Parents also have to judge how much of the Peace Memorial Museum's graphic material young children should see.

Both are easy without a car, but they work differently. Hiroshima's flat, compact centre puts the Peace Park, castle and Hondori within walking distance, and its trams, the largest network in Japan, run all the way to the Miyajima ferry.

Kyoto's central grid is ideal for cycling, but the big temples are scattered around the edges of the basin, out of reach of its two subway lines. That means juggling private railways, the Randen tram and buses that crawl when the blossom and maple crowds arrive.

Kyoto is the better place to buy something lasting. Family-run shops sell Kiyomizu-ware, Nishijin silk, fans, incense, lacquer and hand-forged knives, and the monthly flea markets at To-ji and Kitano Tenmangu are worth planning a day around.

Hiroshima's shopping is mainly the Hondori arcade and the station malls. Its distinctive buys are smaller: Kumano brushes, Miyajima rice paddles and boxes of momiji manju.

Hiroshima is the easier city on a budget. Its business hotels stay reasonably priced all year and its staple meals are cheap, so the costs that add up are mainly shinkansen day trips and a night on Miyajima.

Kyoto's everyday eating and temple fees are modest too, but rooms get scarce and expensive during cherry blossom and autumn colour, and a kaiseki dinner is a real splurge.

Kyoto holds Japan's classical stage traditions. Minamiza, the country's oldest kabuki house, Noh stages and the spring dances of the geisha districts offer things you cannot easily see elsewhere, though the calendar is seasonal.

Hiroshima's own offering is kagura, a loud, masked and drummed Shinto dance-drama staged in the evenings with visitors in mind. Past that it has a solid regional programme of orchestra and touring shows.

Kyoto offers more ways to slow down. Old tiled sento, hot springs at Kurama, Ohara and Arashiyama, zazen sessions and nights in temple lodgings sit alongside its contemplative gardens, best enjoyed early before the crowds.

Hiroshima has no onsen of its own, so bathing means super-sento or a drive into the hills. Its calm comes instead from the city's easy pace and from a ryokan night on Miyajima after the day-trippers leave.