Kyoto or Sapporo?

Neither city is a place for a beach trip, but Sapporo has a little more to offer. The Sea of Japan at Ishikari and around Otaru is within an hour, with wide sand where you can swim for a few weeks in late July and early August.

Kyoto's nearest bathing is freshwater, on Lake Biwa's sandy western shore, or the urban strand at Suma. The fine white sand of the Tango coast is far enough away to need an overnight stay.

Both are among Japan's best places to eat, but in different ways. Kyoto is precise and seasonal: kaiseki in old wooden houses, temple vegetarian meals at Daitokuji and Tenryuji, yuba, pickles and sweets made for tea, and sake tasting in Fushimi.

Sapporo eats more heartily from Hokkaido's sea and farms. That means miso ramen, soup curry, lamb grilled at the table, seafood rice bowls at breakfast in Nijo Market, and beer halls in the old red-brick brewery. Neither has much range beyond Japanese food.

This is the biggest gap between the two. Kyoto escaped wartime bombing and has seventeen UNESCO-listed sites, from Kinkaku-ji and Ryoan-ji to Nijo Castle, plus more than a thousand temples and shrines, the gates of Fushimi Inari and whole quarters of wooden townhouses.

Sapporo was only laid out in the 1870s. Its sights are the pioneer Clock Tower, the red-brick government building, Ainu history at the Hokkaido Museum and Noguchi's sculpted Moerenuma Park, which are pleasant but quickly seen.

Sapporo is clearly the better city for a night out. Susukino is a neon district of towers packed with thousands of small counter bars, karaoke and late ramen, and it stays busy even in deep winter. It suits bar-hopping more than clubbing.

Kyoto's evenings centre on the lantern-lit alley of Pontocho and the Kiyamachi canal, with sake bars and summer river terraces. The city winds down early, so anyone wanting a long night takes the train to Osaka.

Sapporo has bigger, wilder country on its doorstep. Reliable deep snow falls from December to March, ski hills sit within the city, Niseko is not far, and in summer the caldera lake and volcanoes of Shikotsu-Toya, the flower fields of Furano and Biei, and the Jozankei gorge are all within reach.

Kyoto's nature is gentler and closer. You can walk to Daimonji in the Higashiyama hills, take the cedar-forest path between Kurama and Kibune, wander the bamboo of Arashiyama or ride a boat down the Hozu gorge. Cherry blossom and maple colour are its great seasons.

Kyoto has much the stronger list of day trips. Nara's deer and great Buddha, Osaka, Uji's Byodo-in, Himeji Castle and Kobe are all under an hour by train, so several can fit into one stay without much planning.

From Sapporo the classic outing is the canal port of Otaru, with the Yoichi whisky distillery, Upopoy's Ainu museum at Shiraoi and the volcanic springs of Noboribetsu as other good choices. Beyond those, trips lead mainly to lakes and mountains rather than towns.

Both are safe, clean and easy with children, but each has its own season. Kyoto offers the Railway Museum's steam roundhouse, ninja shows at Toei Kyoto Studio Park and deer to feed in nearby Nara, but temple stairs, crowds and draining summer heat make it harder going.

Sapporo is best for children in winter, with the Snow Festival's ice slides and beginner ski lessons in town, and in summer with Moerenuma Park's fountains and polar bears at Maruyama Zoo. The catch is January cold, which needs proper winter gear.

Kyoto's two subway lines miss most of the temples around the edges of the basin, so a day of sightseeing means stitching together JR, private railways such as the Keihan and Hankyu, the little Randen tram to Arashiyama and city buses that crawl and fill up in the blossom and maple seasons. The flat grid of the centre, and the paths along the Kamo River, are a pleasure on foot or by bicycle.

Sapporo's three subway lines, by contrast, reach most of what a visitor wants on a single card, and a streetcar loop runs out to the ropeway at the foot of Mount Moiwa. The numbered grid makes any address easy to place, and an underground walkway from the station to Susukino keeps winter journeys off the ice, so moving around here takes less effort. Only Moerenuma Park and Jozankei need a bus.

Kyoto is the more rewarding place to shop, especially for crafts. Old family shops sell Kiyomizu-ware ceramics, Nishijin silk, fans, incense, washi and hand-forged knives, and the flea markets at To-ji and Kitano Tenmangu are worth planning around.

Sapporo's shopping is mostly in department stores, station malls and the long Tanukikoji arcade. The best things to take home are edible, such as chocolate, cheese and dried seafood, along with Ainu woodcarving.

Sapporo is the cheaper of the two. Business hotels are good value, its parks and historic buildings cost nothing to visit, and ramen or soup curry makes for cheap meals. Prices go up for crab dinners, ski passes and rooms during the Snow Festival.

Everyday eating and transport are also cheap in Kyoto, but rooms and ryokan cost more, and they become scarce and pricey in the cherry blossom and autumn colour seasons.

Kyoto has more to see on stage, and much of it you cannot see anywhere else. The geiko and maiko spring dances, kabuki at the Minamiza and regular Noh performances sit alongside a symphony orchestra and ROHM Theatre, although the traditional programme follows the seasons.

Sapporo's strength is classical music at Kitara, home of its symphony orchestra and of the Pacific Music Festival each July, with the Yosakoi Soran street dancing in June. On most other evenings the choice is that of a regional city.

Kyoto's way of slowing down is a soak in a century-old neighbourhood sento with tiled murals, a zazen session, a tea ceremony or a night in a temple lodging, with hot springs only at the edges of the city in Kurama, Ohara and Arashiyama. The crowds at the famous sights mean that calm is easiest to find early in the day or in the northern temples.

Sapporo goes further for a trip built around rest, because a true onsen town lies within its own boundaries. Jozankei's open-air pools sit in a forested river gorge where you can bathe as the snow falls, Noboribetsu's springs of several mineral types are close enough for a night, and the wide streets and snowbound hush of winter keep the pace unhurried.