Hiroshima or Nikko?

Neither is a beach destination, but Hiroshima at least has the sea. In July and August a ferry to Miyajima, Ninoshima or Etajima brings you to small sandy beaches and calm, warm water for an afternoon swim.

Nikko is far inland. Its highland lakes, Chuzenji and Yunoko, are for boating and fishing rather than bathing, so in summer the hot springs are where people get into the water.

Hiroshima eats far better. Layered okonomiyaki cooked on the griddle in front of you, Inland Sea oysters in winter, izakaya all across Nagarekawa and the sake breweries of Saijo give you several evenings of good eating.

Nikko has one real speciality, yuba from the temple kitchens, along with soba and river fish. Most places serve lunch to day visitors and close early, so the best meal is usually the ryokan dinner that comes with your room.

Hiroshima's sightseeing centres on one visit of great weight rather than a spread of fine buildings. The A-Bomb Dome and the Peace Memorial Museum make a profound and demanding half day. Beyond them come Shukkeien garden and the castle grounds with their moats and rebuilt keep, in a largely modern city where little older architecture survived the bombing.

Nikko has the richer historic ensemble. Toshogu's lacquer, gold leaf and carving go well beyond anything left standing in Hiroshima, and with Rinnoji's hall of Buddhas, Futarasan Shrine and the quieter Taiyuinbyo it forms a UNESCO-listed group in a cedar forest. The red Shinkyo bridge and the moss-covered Jizo of Kanmangafuchi add enough to fill a day or two.

Hiroshima has a night out and Nikko does not. Nagarekawa's stacked buildings of counter bars, izakaya and karaoke stay busy past midnight. The scene is modest by big-city standards but easy to explore.

In Nikko the day visitors leave by late afternoon and the main street goes dark early. Evenings mean a ryokan dinner, a bath and perhaps a drink in a Kinugawa hotel lounge.

Nikko is the real mountain trip. The Irohazaka road climbs to Lake Chuzenji beneath Mount Nantai, Kegon Falls drops from the lake's outlet, and the Senjogahara boardwalks lead on to more waterfalls and Lake Yunoko. Steep summit hikes, rafting and winter snow are there for anyone who wants more.

Hiroshima's outdoors is gentler and on the coast: the forested islands of the Inland Sea, the ropeway and trails up Mount Misen, the Sandankyo Gorge walk and the Shimanami Kaido cycling route. Its hills are modest, and what it offers instead of height is views over the sea.

Hiroshima is the stronger base. Miyajima's floating torii is under an hour away, and the shinkansen puts Himeji Castle, Kurashiki and Korakuen within about an hour. Onomichi, Takehara, Iwakuni's arched bridge and Okunoshima's rabbits make smaller outings.

From Nikko the big excursion is Tokyo, a long day at about two hours each way. Utsunomiya's gyoza, the pottery town of Mashiko and the thatched post town of Ouchi-juku are also within reach. Beyond those, most of what lies nearby is more mountains and lakes.

Both are safe and clean, but Hiroshima keeps children busy for longer. Flat pavements, simple trams, the deer on Miyajima, Okunoshima's rabbits, a free science museum and a noisy baseball evening fill a stay. The Peace Memorial Museum needs care with young ones.

Nikko's child-friendly side is at Kinugawa, with an Edo theme village and a park of miniature landmarks, and older children enjoy the lake boats and boardwalks. The shrine staircases and long bus rides wear toddlers out, so Nikko suits two or three days rather than a week.

Hiroshima's centre is flat and easy to walk. Japan's largest tram network links the station, the Peace Park and the Miyajima ferry, and the shinkansen stop makes onward travel easy.

Nikko is simple at its core: one road leads from the stations up to the shrines on a gentle uphill walk. The lake, the falls and the marshland all depend on buses up the Irohazaka road, though, and these can crawl for hours on autumn foliage weekends.

Hiroshima has proper shopping along the covered Hondori arcade, with department stores, fashion and station malls. It also has distinctive crafts in Kumano brushes, Miyajima rice paddles and Saijo sake.

Nikko is a single street of souvenir shops. The buys worth having are Nikko-bori wood carving and straw-soled Nikko geta, and anything more has to wait for Tokyo.

Overall costs are close, and the difference lies in where the money goes. In Hiroshima, plentiful business hotels and cheap okonomiyaki keep daily spending modest, and the bills come from shinkansen day trips and evenings of oysters and sake.

Nikko's soba, buses, shrine entry and hostels are also reasonably priced. The classic stay, though, is an onsen ryokan with dinner and breakfast, which costs considerably more, especially by the lake and in autumn.

Hiroshima has more to see on an ordinary evening. Regular kagura performances in the centre bring masks, demons and drumming, and the city also has a resident symphony orchestra and touring shows in its concert halls.

Nikko has no theatre or concert life, but the Toshogu festival in spring and autumn is a spectacle of its own, with around a thousand men in samurai armour and displays of horseback archery. It is worth timing a visit around, but on other days there is little to see.

Nikko is built for a hot-spring stay. Kinugawa Onsen's riverside inns, the milky sulphur water of Yumoto beside Lake Yunoko and open-air baths looking onto forest make the soak the centre of the day. In winter there is snow around the outdoor pools.

Hiroshima has no springs of its own. Relaxing there means a neighbourhood sento or a larger suburban bathhouse, a hotel's rooftop bath or a ryokan night on Miyajima, and a true onsen is about an hour away.