Malmo or Oslo?

Neither city is a beach destination, but the swimming is quite different. Malmo has a proper sand beach, Ribersborg, a short ride from the centre, with shallow, calm water that suits small children. Further south, Skanör and Falsterbo have finer, emptier sand.

In Oslo, swimming is spread around the fjord: rocky coves on islands reached by harbour ferry, Huk on Bygdøy, diving platforms at Sørenga and forest lakes such as Sognsvann. The water is cool in both even in July. Oslo suits a dip from the rocks, Malmo an afternoon on the sand.

The two cities eat equally well, but in different ways. Malmo's food comes from immigration and farmland. Falafel counters, Middle Eastern bakeries and simple lunch spots fill the streets around Möllevångstorget, and they make eating on a budget easy at midday. Skåne cooking adds smoked eel, spettekaka and the November goose dinners, though dinner out in the evening is not cheap.

Oslo's food is built on cold-water seafood, game and berries. It has a strong top tier of Nordic tasting menus, prawns eaten on the quay in summer and light-roast coffee that outdoes Malmo's fika cafés. Street food is scarce and every meal costs more, so in Oslo it pays to plan one special dinner, while Malmo suits casual eating as you go.

Malmo's historic core is small but real. It has the Renaissance town hall on Stortorget, the half-timbered houses of Lilla Torg, the brick Gothic St Petri Church and the moated Malmöhus castle with the city museums inside, plus the twisting Turning Torso in the Western Harbour. A day or two covers it, and visitors who love art and history often use the city as a base for Copenhagen and Lund.

Oslo has far more to fill the days, even though it has less old architecture. The Munch Museum and the National Museum hold The Scream and the core of Norwegian art. Bygdøy adds the Fram and Kon-Tiki museums and the open-air Folk Museum, and Malmo has nothing like Vigeland Park's granite figures or the walkable roof of the Opera House.

Neither is a party city, but Oslo has more going on. Grünerløkka, Youngstorget and Grønland have craft beer, natural wine and cocktail bars plus a few electronic clubs, and the waterfront at Aker Brygge fills with people drinking outside on summer evenings.

Malmo's nightlife is smaller and more laid-back. It centres on the student-heavy bars of Möllevången and the terraces of Lilla Torg, and for a big night locals take the train to Copenhagen. Drinks are expensive in both, and more so in Oslo.

Nature is Oslo's clearest advantage. The metro climbs straight into Nordmarka's forest, lakes and marked trails, which become floodlit cross-country ski tracks in winter. In summer, ferries reach the wooded islands of the Oslofjord for kayaking and coastal walks.

Malmo is surrounded by flat farmland and beech woods, best seen by bike along the coast. For proper walking you need to travel about an hour, to the ravine at Söderåsen or the sea cliffs of Kullaberg. The autumn migration of birds of prey over the Falsterbo peninsula, though, is something Oslo cannot offer.

Malmo wins easily here, because Copenhagen is a short train ride across the Öresund Bridge and Lund's Romanesque cathedral is even closer. Kronborg Castle at Helsingør, the Louisiana museum, Roskilde's Viking ships and the standing stones of Ales Stenar fill several more days.

Oslo's day trips are pleasant but modest: the star-shaped fortress town of Fredrikstad, the wooden town of Drøbak by boat, Viking-age Tønsberg, or the Olympic ski jumps at Lillehammer. The western fjords many visitors picture are far beyond a day's reach.

Both cities are calm and safe, prams are welcome everywhere, and almost every park has a playground. Oslo has a little more to fill the days. Children can see farm animals at the Folk Museum and board a polar ship at the Fram, and there is a hands-on science museum and the Tusenfryd amusement park nearby.

Malmo's attractions are simpler: a shallow sandy beach for toddlers, a submarine to climb inside at the technology and maritime museum, and flat streets with separate cycle lanes. Families with older children may run out of things to do sooner, but they will spend much less than in Oslo.

Both cities have compact centres you can walk, but Oslo's transport reaches further. Trams, buses, the metro and the harbour ferries all run as one network, the metro climbs to Holmenkollen and the forest, and an express train runs to the airport, so you never need a car.

Malmo has no metro or tram and relies on buses and bicycles, which suit its flat streets, and it is the better city for cycling. Its great advantage is the rail tunnel under the centre, which connects to Lund, Copenhagen Airport and Copenhagen itself.

Shopping is much the same in size in both cities, but the interest lies in different places. In Malmo it is markets and small design shops. The chains line Södergatan, the lanes of Gamla Väster sell Swedish homeware and clothing, and the open-air market at Möllevångstorget is the liveliest place to browse. Luxury is thin, which is why keen shoppers save themselves for Copenhagen.

Oslo does better at the top end. Steen & Strøm, a department store dating from the eighteenth century, carries luxury and Nordic brands, and Grünerløkka has vintage and record shops. Patterned knitwear, outdoor clothing and silver are good things to take home, but there are few markets and prices are higher.

Both are expensive by European standards, but Malmo is clearly the cheaper of the two. Hotels are reasonable for Scandinavia, the weekday set lunch is a good-value way to eat well, and Möllevången's falafel counters make cheap meals easy. Only evenings out with drinks really strain the budget.

Oslo is among the most expensive places to travel, with meals, coffee, alcohol and hotels all dear. Free sights such as Vigeland Park, the Opera House roof and the forest trails help, as do supermarket picnics and a transport pass that also covers the ferries.

Oslo has the stronger programme. The national opera and ballet perform in the oak-lined hall of the harbour Opera House and the Oslo Philharmonic plays at the Konserthus. There are also small jazz and rock clubs and a big August music festival in Tøyen park.

Malmo does well for its size. Malmö Opera's large stage puts on opera and musicals, the symphony orchestra plays at Malmö Live, and the Malmö Festival fills the streets with free concerts each August. Most theatre is in Swedish, and Copenhagen's stages are close if you want more.

Both cities relax the Nordic way, with a sauna followed by a cold plunge in the sea, and neither has a thermal spa tradition. The difference is scale. In Malmo the ritual centres on one place, the 1890s wooden bathhouse Ribersborgs Kallbadhus on its pier, while Oslo has a row of wood-fired saunas, many of them floating, along the harbour by the Opera House and at Sørenga, which makes the habit easier to fit into any day.