Melbourne or Sydney?

Here the gap is wide. Melbourne's city beaches at St Kilda, Elwood and Brighton face the calm water of Port Phillip Bay, pleasant for a dip on a hot afternoon but rarely a reason to linger, and the better sand on the Mornington Peninsula takes an hour or more by car.

Sydney is built around its beaches. The ocean chain from Bondi to Coogee, Manly a ferry ride across the harbour and the Northern Beaches up to Palm Beach give proper surf, while coves such as Balmoral and Camp Cove suit gentle swimming. The water is warmer as well and stays inviting well into autumn.

Both cities eat very well and charge for it, and both treat the flat white and a long brunch as a ritual. The difference is in character. Melbourne's food life is concentrated in the inner city: laneway espresso bars in the CBD, the Greek strip of Lonsdale Street, Italian Lygon Street in Carlton and the Queen Victoria Market.

Sydney leans on the sea, with the fish market at Pyrmont and oysters and prawns on menus everywhere, plus harbour-view fine dining. Its migrant food is spread across suburbs such as Cabramatta, Lakemba and Harris Park, so the best meals often mean a train ride out.

The two are close, and neither needs more than a few days. Melbourne's strength is a consistent Victorian cityscape paid for by the gold rush, from the Royal Exhibition Building to the arcades and bluestone lanes, with the National Gallery of Victoria as its main collection and street art in the laneways.

Sydney has what Melbourne lacks: two landmarks known worldwide in the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, best seen from a ferry. The Rocks and Hyde Park Barracks keep the convict-era story, and the Art Gallery of New South Wales is the place for Aboriginal art.

Melbourne is the better night out. Small bars hidden up stairwells and on rooftops across the CBD, pubs and late bars in Fitzroy and Collingwood, and clubs along Chapel Street keep the city busy most nights of the week.

Sydney's evenings are good but shorter. Surry Hills, Darlinghurst and Oxford Street, the heart of its LGBTQ scene, are the main districts, and Newtown stays out later. Summer rooftops and beer gardens are a pleasure, but the club scene is modest and much of the city is asleep well before dawn.

Sydney has far more on its doorstep. Clifftop walks run between its beaches, Sydney Harbour National Park protects whole headlands, and the Royal National Park and Ku-ring-gai Chase bring waterfalls and bushland within easy reach. Kayaking, sailing and surfing happen inside the city, whales pass in winter and spring, and the Blue Mountains are about two hours west.

Melbourne's own ground is flat parkland and the Yarra River trail, so the wilder country takes more travelling: the tall forests of the Dandenongs, the penguins and seals of Phillip Island and the surf coast at Torquay.

Melbourne offers more towns to visit. Ballarat and Bendigo, the grand gold rush towns, are each under two hours by train, Daylesford adds a spa town, the Yarra Valley wineries are about an hour away and a ferry crosses the bay to Queenscliff.

From Sydney the outings are mostly landscape and usually need a car. The Hunter Valley is the classic wine trip at around two hours' drive, and Katoomba, Bowral and Berrima add some charm, but the list of towns worth the distance is short.

Both are easy and safe with children, and each even has its own old Luna Park. Sydney's days revolve around water: the ferry to Taronga Zoo, boarding ships at the Maritime Museum and swimming at the netted harbour beaches, with strong sun to plan around.

Melbourne leans towards animals and trains, with platypus at Healesville, the safari bus at Werribee, the Puffing Billy steam railway and the penguin parade, though its changeable weather calls for indoor backups such as Scienceworks.

Getting about is equally easy in both, but the experience differs. Melbourne's flat grid is easy on the feet, and its trams, free within the CBD, reach the inner neighbourhoods a visitor wants.

Sydney mixes trains, metro, light rail and buses, but its ferries are the highlight, crossing the harbour to Manly and Taronga. Its centre is hillier, Bondi needs a bus, and in both cities the countryside beyond is far easier with a car.

There is little between them, so it comes down to taste. Melbourne is the place for independent labels, vintage and design along Gertrude and Smith streets, plus the mosaic-floored Block Arcade and the sprawl of the Queen Victoria Market.

Sydney pairs flagships around Pitt Street Mall with the Queen Victoria Building and the Strand Arcade, and Paddington adds boutiques and a weekend market. Its real speciality is Australian swimwear and resort fashion, along with Aboriginal art galleries.

Neither city is kind to a budget, but Melbourne is the easier on the wallet. Its free tram zone, free major galleries and good cheap eats in Footscray, Richmond and Chinatown take some of the sting out of high hotel and restaurant costs.

Sydney is dearer still, above all for rooms near the harbour and the beaches. What saves money there is the scenery: the beaches, coastal walks and parks cost nothing, and fare caps keep transport reasonable.

Melbourne's stage life is at its loudest in the pubs. Band rooms in Fitzroy, Collingwood and St Kilda put on local acts most nights and carry a long rock and indie history. Meanwhile the Arts Centre under its spire is home to the Australian Ballet, and the autumn Comedy Festival fills theatres and back rooms with shows every night for weeks.

Sydney's evenings centre on the Opera House, a working venue with opera and symphony in its halls nearly every night, best paired with a harbour walk beforehand. Bangarra's Aboriginal dance and Belvoir's Australian drama give it a distinct voice, and the Sydney Festival fills January with outdoor work.

Melbourne's best soaking lies outside the city: the mineral springs and historic bathhouse of Daylesford and Hepburn Springs, and the geothermal hot pools in the Mornington Peninsula hills. Closer in, the sea baths at St Kilda and Brighton add saunas by the water.

Sydney has no thermal springs, but its ritual sits right on the headlands. Sea-fed rock pools at Bondi, Bronte and Clovelly invite a dawn swim all year, and Wylie's and McIver's baths in Coogee keep an old-fashioned calm.