Kanazawa or Nara?

Neither city is a beach destination, but only Kanazawa has a coast at all. Uchinada's long sands are a few kilometres from the city and the drive-on beach at Chirihama is under an hour away, which makes a pleasant half-day in July or August.

Nara sits inland in a basin. The nearest sea is the industrial shore of Osaka Bay, so a swim there means a pool.

Kanazawa is one of Japan's serious regional food cities, and Nara is not. Omicho Market's seafood bowls and winter snow crab, Kaga dishes such as jibuni and nodoguro, kaiseki tables and a deep tradition of wagashi with matcha give you several days of good eating.

Nara's table is smaller. It has persimmon-leaf kakinoha-zushi, narazuke pickles, fine Miwa somen and sake from the region that claims to have started it all. Near the park much of the food is quick lunch for day visitors, and keen eaters often take the train to Osaka or Kyoto.

Both cities kept their old fabric, but Nara's is far older and grander. The eighth-century capital gives you Todai-ji's Great Buddha, Kofuku-ji's pagoda, Kasuga Taisha and the National Museum's Buddhist sculpture, then Toshodai-ji, Yakushiji and the Heijo Palace site to the west.

Kanazawa's heritage is Edo-period and more domestic: Kenroku-en, the samurai lanes of Nagamachi and the latticed teahouses of Higashi Chaya. It adds a modern side that Nara does not offer, with the 21st Century Museum and the D.T. Suzuki Museum. Both reward two or three unhurried days.

Neither city has much in the way of clubs, but Kanazawa gives an evening more to work with. Katamachi and Kigura-machi pack izakaya, sake bars, snack bars and whisky bars into a few streets, and they stay busy late at weekends.

Nara empties once the day visitors leave. What remains is a few izakaya and sake counters near Kintetsu Nara station, and they close early. A bigger night means Osaka, with the last train home setting the limit.

Nara's green space starts in the middle of town. There are deer roaming Nara Park, the ancient Kasugayama Primeval Forest and an easy climb up Mount Wakakusa, with the Yamanobe-no-michi trail and Yoshino's blossom hills further out.

Kanazawa's own outdoors are gentler: riverside paths along the Sai and Asano. Its bigger landscapes, Mount Hakusan and the Noto coast, are far off and hard to reach without a car. Its snowy winters do bring skiing, which Nara cannot offer.

Both are good bases, but Nara's position is exceptional. Kyoto and Osaka are each under an hour away by train, Horyu-ji is a short ride, and Asuka, Uji and the white castle at Himeji fill further days.

Kanazawa's outings are longer and more rural. The thatched farmhouses of Shirakawa-go are a bus ride away, Takayama makes a long day, and the Shinkansen reaches Toyama and Takaoka. Eihei-ji in Fukui and the lacquer town of Wajima are further still.

Both are safe, clean and easy with children, and in both the core sights are aimed mostly at adults. Nara has the stronger single draw: feeding the deer and squeezing through the pillar at Todai-ji. Small children need watching around hungry deer.

Kanazawa spreads its appeal more widely, with the playful installations of the 21st Century Museum and the trick doors of the ninja temple. Within a short drive are summer beaches and a zoo, and the dinosaur museum in Fukui is further out. Families in Nara usually go into Osaka for an aquarium or theme park.

Nara is the easier city on foot. Todai-ji, Kasuga Taisha, the museum and Naramachi all lie close to Kintetsu Nara station. A short train covers the western temples and Horyu-ji, and the flat basin suits rented bicycles.

Kanazawa's sights also sit in a compact band near the station. With no metro or tram, though, you rely on loop buses that crowd at busy times, and winter snow makes walking harder. The bike-share scheme helps outside winter.

In both cities shopping centres on crafts, but Kanazawa has more of them and more besides. Its gold leaf, Kutani porcelain, Kaga yuzen silk and Wajima lacquer are serious work, and Korinbo and Tatemachi add department stores and boutiques.

Nara's crafts are quieter: sumi ink and brushes, Nara-zarashi linen, Akahada pottery and Ittobori dolls, sold in Naramachi and the covered arcades. Beyond those there is little, and keen shoppers head to Osaka.

Day-to-day costs are much the same. Both have fairly priced business hotels near the stations, cheap set lunches and noodle counters, and modest entry fees at temples and gardens.

They differ in what tempts you to spend. In Kanazawa it is the food, from kaiseki dinners to winter crab, plus ryokan nights in the Kaga onsen towns. In Nara the free park keeps sightseeing cheap, but rail fares mount up if you use the city as a base for day trips.

Kanazawa has the steadier programme. Noh is staged regularly at the prefectural Noh theatre, some chaya teahouses open their geisha dance and shamisen performances to visitors, and the Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa plays a season beside the station.

Nara's performing arts are tied to the shrine and temple calendar. Kasuga Taisha keeps gagaku music and bugaku dance alive, above all at the winter On-matsuri, and Todai-ji holds the Omizutori fire rites in early spring. Outside those dates there is little to see, and Osaka fills the gap.

Kanazawa is the place for a proper soak. Yuwaku Onsen is about half an hour away in the hills, the Kaga hot-spring towns make a fine overnight stay, and many city hotels have their own hot-spring baths.

Nara has no notable hot springs, only neighbourhood bathhouses and bathing complexes on the outskirts. Its calm comes instead from early mornings among the deer and the quiet old town after the day visitors leave. That makes it a good pause between Osaka and Kyoto.