Hiroshima or Nagoya?

Neither city has a beach in town, so swimming is a day out in both. The difference lies in how you get there. From Hiroshima you take a ferry to small sandy coves on Miyajima, Ninoshima or Etajima in the calm Inland Sea, and the swim becomes part of an island day.

From Nagoya a train ride of about an hour reaches the wider beaches of the Chita Peninsula, such as Utsumi. These are crowded with local families at summer weekends, and the bay water is not especially clear. Hiroshima's coves are smaller but more scenic, though jellyfish arrive late in the season.

Nagoya gives a food lover more to work through. Its Nagoya meshi repertoire runs from hitsumabushi eel and miso katsu to tebasaki wings, kishimen noodles and misonikomi udon, each with its own specialist restaurants. Breakfast comes free with your coffee under the morning service custom, the station and Sakae department stores have deep food halls, and Osu adds cheap street snacks.

Hiroshima's table is narrower and revolves around layered okonomiyaki eaten off the griddle at a counter, with bay oysters at their best in winter. Its distinctive extra is Saijo, a sake town a short train ride away where breweries along one street offer tastings.

These two are evenly matched, but the experience is very different. Hiroshima is dominated by one profound site: the A-Bomb Dome and the Peace Memorial Museum, which demand half a day and leave a lasting mark. Shukkeien garden and the castle grounds round out a short, sobering itinerary.

Nagoya spreads its interest across separate sights in a modern grid. The reconstructed Honmaru Palace, Atsuta Shrine in its forest and the Tokugawa Art Museum's samurai treasures cover the Edo past. The Toyota and railway museums tell the story of industrial Japan, an angle Hiroshima does not offer.

Both cities offer pleasant evenings rather than big nights out. Hiroshima's Nagarekawa is a dense grid of counter bars and izakaya that fills after a home baseball game, and slow sake-led evenings suit it best. Nagoya's Sakae and Nishiki have a handful of dance clubs and some bars open until morning, but the city's early-to-bed reputation means quiet weeknights.

Hiroshima has the more attractive landscape close at hand. The forested islands of the Inland Sea are a ferry ride away, Mount Misen on Miyajima looks over dozens of them, and the rivers and green hills are visible from the city itself. Sandankyo Gorge and the Shimanami Kaido cycling route add longer outings.

Nagoya sits on a flat, built-up plain, so real scenery takes an hour or more. The rewards are mountain and forest rather than sea: Mount Gozaisho's trails and ropeway, Korankei's autumn maples and the Nakasendo walking road through the Kiso Valley.

Both are fine bases, but Nagoya's central position on the shinkansen line gives it the edge. Kyoto is about 35 minutes away, Osaka under an hour and Ise Jingu an easy run by Kintetsu train. Closer to the city, Inuyama and Hikone have rare original castle keeps, and Tsumago and Magome preserve the Edo-period post road.

Hiroshima's trips are mostly coastal and island-based. Miyajima's floating torii, Iwakuni's arched bridge, Onomichi's hillside temples and Okunoshima's rabbits are all close, and Himeji Castle and Kurashiki are reachable by shinkansen. It is an excellent list, just shorter on headline names than Kyoto and Ise.

Nagoya is far stronger for children. The port aquarium with orcas and belugas, the huge Higashiyama Zoo, the Science Museum's planetarium, Legoland, Ghibli Park and the rides at Nagashima Spa Land could fill a week. The main cost is time, as these sights sit in different corners of the city.

Hiroshima is safe and easy, and feeding Miyajima's deer or meeting Okunoshima's rabbits delights children. Beyond that the choice is thin, with no theme parks or large aquariums nearby. The Peace Memorial Museum's graphic material also needs careful judgement with young children.

Both are easy without a car, but in different ways. Hiroshima's centre is flat and compact, with the Peace Park, castle and Hondori all walkable beside the rivers, and Japan's largest tram network continues to the Miyajima ferry, though it crawls at busy times. Nagoya's wide postwar avenues are simple to navigate but tiring to walk, so the punctual subway and a single IC card do most of the work.

Nagoya offers the bigger shopping trip. Large department stores cluster around Sakae and in the towers above the station, luxury and international brands line the avenues between them, and Osu's arcades mix secondhand clothes, anime and a temple flea market. Craft buyers can find Arimatsu shibori and Seto pottery.

Hiroshima's Hondori arcade is pleasant for an afternoon but holds little luxury. Its strength is local craft: Kumano brushes, Miyajima rice paddles, Saijo sake and lemon products make good gifts.

Costs are much the same in both cities, with plenty of fairly priced business hotels and cheap set lunches. The difference lies in where the money goes. In Hiroshima the Peace Park is free and okonomiyaki is filling and cheap, while oysters, sake and a Miyajima ryokan push the bill up. In Nagoya the morning service breakfast helps, but eel dinners and theme park tickets are the big costs.

Nagoya has the deeper programme. The Misono-za stages kabuki with visiting Tokyo stars, the Noh theatre near the castle puts on Noh and kyogen, and the Aichi Arts Center hosts opera, ballet and touring orchestras. Most of it, though, is not aimed at visitors who don't speak Japanese.

Hiroshima's programme is smaller, but kagura is a real draw. This masked, drum-driven Shinto dance-drama is performed in the centre with visitors in mind, and it needs no language to enjoy.

Nagoya makes a proper soak easier. The big hot-spring complex at Nagashima is under an hour away, and Gero Onsen, one of Japan's classic spa towns, makes a worthwhile overnight trip into the mountains. The gardens of Tokugawaen and Shirotori give the city its quiet corners.

Hiroshima has no hot springs of its own, so a true onsen means a trip of about an hour. It makes up for that with its pace: unhurried riverside walks, Shukkeien's ponds and a night on Miyajima once the day-trippers have left.