Kamakura or Nikko?

This is the clearest gap between the two. Kamakura has a proper summer seaside, with the long curve of dark sand at Yuigahama and Zaimokuza, wooden beach houses and family swimming in July and August. Surfers have the beaches for the rest of the year, and Zushi and Hayama have calmer water. It is a seaside extra to a temple stay rather than a beach resort, but the sea is right there.

Nikko has nothing like it. The sea is hours away, and Lake Chuzenji and Lake Yunoko are cold highland water for boats and fishing. In summer, the water you get in Nikko is a hot-spring bath.

Both towns grew up around a vegetarian temple cuisine, and the speciality tells you which town you are in: shojin ryori in Kamakura, fresh yuba in Nikko. Kamakura has more beyond that, with shirasu whitebait on rice near the beach, snacks along Komachi-dori, soba shops and the farmers' market by the station. For serious evening eating, people still go to Yokohama.

Nikko's restaurants line the road to the shrines and cater to the lunchtime crowd, so the choice narrows sharply after dark. The meal to plan around is the multi-course dinner at your ryokan, which is part of the stay rather than a restaurant scene.

These are two of Japan's great heritage towns, on a similar level but very different in feel. Kamakura carries the austere legacy of the first warrior government: the open-air Great Buddha, the long avenue up to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, and the Zen halls and rock gardens of Engaku-ji and Kencho-ji. Smaller sights such as Hase-dera and the bamboo at Hokoku-ji are spread around the town.

Nikko gathers its treasures in one UNESCO-listed group of shrines and temples among giant cedars, and the mood is the opposite of Zen plainness, since Toshogu is all lacquer, gold leaf and carving. Kamakura rewards two or three days of wandering, while the heart of Nikko is seen in one or two.

Neither is a place for a night out. Kamakura at least has a few izakaya and small bars near the station and the beach, and the seafront is livelier on summer evenings, with Tokyo or Yokohama about an hour away by train. Nikko goes dark early. The night is a ryokan dinner and a bath, and the hotel lounges in Kinugawa Onsen are the only alternative.

Kamakura's nature is gentle and close at hand. Wooded ridges carry trails between the temples, Mount Fuji appears across the bay on clear winter days, and Shichirigahama draws surfers. For real mountains, visitors to Kamakura travel towards Hakone.

Nikko is the stronger choice for landscape. It is the gateway to a national park that climbs fast to Lake Chuzenji under Mount Nantai, with Kegon Falls, the level boardwalks of Senjogahara and steep summits for serious hikers. There is also rafting in the Kinugawa gorge and snow in winter. The autumn colour spreading down from the high marsh is the high point of its year.

Kamakura is much better placed. Yokohama is under half an hour away, Tokyo about an hour and Enoshima a few stops along the Enoden. Hakone and the Miura Peninsula are within easy reach too, so a week here can become a tour of the region.

From Nikko, Tokyo makes a long day at about two hours each way. Utsunomiya's gyoza and the pottery kilns of Mashiko are good outings, and Ouchi-juku is possible. Most places nearby, though, are lakes and mountains rather than towns.

Kamakura gives children more to do within a short distance. They can climb inside the Great Buddha, ride the little Enoden train along the sea, swim gently in summer, and explore Enoshima's caves and the aquarium at Katase. The price is temple steps, weekend crowds and small hotel rooms.

Nikko's family attractions are mostly at Kinugawa: the Edo village with its ninja shows and the park of miniature landmarks. Older children enjoy the lake boats and the falls. The shrine staircases and the bus rides between scattered sights make Nikko harder with small children, and better suited to a short stay.

Kamakura is the easier of the two to get around. The shrine and Komachi-dori are minutes from the station, the Enoden reaches the Great Buddha and the coast, and JR trains link Kita-Kamakura, Yokohama and Tokyo. The problems are weekend traffic and packed trains.

Nikko's town runs along one road about 2km long from the stations to the shrines, which is simple enough. But the lake, the falls and the marshland depend on buses up the Irohazaka road, which can crawl for hours on autumn weekends.

Kamakura is the better place for an afternoon of browsing. Komachi-dori is lined with sweets, pickles, tenugui cloths and chopsticks, and the quieter side streets and Wakamiya-oji hold small craft shops. The thing to look for is Kamakura-bori, the carved and lacquered woodwork that goes back to the Zen temples, and there are good ceramics and knives too.

Nikko has much less, just one main street of souvenir and food shops. Look for carved Nikko-bori trays, Nikko geta sandals with woven straw soles, or packaged yuba and yokan to take home. Neither town has fashion streets or department stores, so for those, plan on Tokyo.

Kamakura's daily costs are fair, with small temple fees, modest train fares and good-value lunches of soba or whitebait. But hotels are few and in demand from Tokyo weekenders, so many visitors stay in Yokohama or Fujisawa instead.

Nikko is the easier place to keep costs down. It has plenty of plain guesthouses and hostels and similarly moderate everyday costs. Only the classic ryokan stay with dinner, and rooms by the lake in autumn, push the bill up.

Neither town has a concert or theatre scene, and in both the performances worth planning around fall on festival days, with yabusame horseback archery in each. Kamakura has a little more on other days: a small Noh theatre with occasional performances and introductions, touring concerts at the Ofuna arts hall, and Yokohama's stages within an hour.

Nikko's highlight is the Toshogu procession of around a thousand men in samurai armour in spring and autumn. Outside those days, live performance means the theme-park shows at Kinugawa.

Kamakura has no hot springs, so its calm comes from the temples. Engaku-ji and Kencho-ji hold zazen sessions open to the public, and the moss gardens of Kita-Kamakura are silent in the morning, though this works best early in the day and on weekdays. For an onsen, visitors take the train to Hakone.

Nikko is far stronger here, with hot springs all around. The riverside inns of Kinugawa, the milky sulphur water of Yumoto by Lake Yunoko and the open-air baths facing forest or river set the pace of a stay. On winter weekdays the snow-covered outdoor baths are deeply quiet.