Nikko or Tokyo?

Neither city is a place to swim. Nikko is far inland, and its highland lakes are for boats and fishing. In summer, the cool water you will actually use is a hot spring or a hotel pool.

Tokyo at least puts the sea within reach. The Shonan coast at Kamakura and Enoshima is about an hour south by train, with dark volcanic sand and warm water in July and August. That makes a pleasant afternoon out, not a beach vacation.

Nikko's food comes from its temples: yuba in its many forms, mountain soba, grilled river fish and yokan. Most of it is eaten at lunch along the road to the shrines. The best meal is usually the multi-course dinner at your ryokan, because the town has little else to offer in the evening.

Tokyo is in a different league. It has sushi and tempura counters, kaiseki rooms, ramen shops, the Tsukiji outer market and the depachika food halls, and it cooks foreign cuisines just as well. Here the hard part is choosing, while in Nikko the choice runs out after a day.

Nikko has one superb set piece. Toshogu, with its lacquer, gold leaf and Yomeimon gate, stands with Rinnoji, Futarasan and Taiyuinbyo in a forest of giant cedars, and no single shrine in Tokyo is as lavish. Add the Shinkyo bridge, the Tamozawa villa and the Jizo statues along the gorge, and a day or two covers it, with few museums for a wet afternoon.

Tokyo goes much further, although the 1923 earthquake and the bombing of 1945 left its heritage scattered across the city. Senso-ji, Meiji Jingu, the Imperial Palace moats and the lanes of Yanaka are only the start. The real depth is in the museums: the Tokyo National Museum and the Western Art museum in Ueno, then the Nezu and the Mori. Modern architecture such as Tange's Olympic gymnasium is a sight in itself, and Nikko has nothing like it.

Nikko has almost no nightlife. Once the day visitors leave, the evening is a ryokan dinner and a soak, with perhaps a hotel lounge in Kinugawa Onsen.

Tokyo's nights are among the great reasons to go. You can hop between tiny themed bars in Golden Gai, eat skewers in Omoide Yokocho and dance in Shibuya or Roppongi, where people stay out until the first train.

Nikko is a gateway to a national park, and the climb begins straight away. The Irohazaka bends lead up to Lake Chuzenji beneath Mount Nantai, Kegon Falls drops nearly 100m, and the Senjogahara boardwalks run to Ryuzu and Yudaki falls. Maples turn colour from the high marsh down to the town over several weeks of autumn.

Tokyo's nature is mostly reached by train. Mount Takao, the Okutama gorges, and Hakone and the Fuji Five Lakes for views of Fuji are all good outings. In the city itself, the greenery is parks and gardens.

From Nikko, the best day trip is the capital itself. Closer to hand are Utsunomiya for gyoza, the pottery town of Mashiko and the thatched post town of Ouchi-juku. Beyond these, most places within reach are more mountains and lakes.

Tokyo is the stronger base by a long way. Kamakura, Yokohama, Kawagoe, Sawara, Hakone and Karuizawa are all easy rail trips, each quite different from the others. Nikko itself is one of the classic outings, about two hours north.

Nikko suits a short family stay. Older children enjoy the Edo-period village and the miniature world park at Kinugawa, along with the lake boats and the waterfalls. The shrine staircases and long bus rides are harder going with toddlers.

Tokyo is one of the easiest big cities in the world to bring children to. Disneyland and DisneySea, the Ghibli Museum, Miraikan, the zoo and the aquariums can fill a week. Stations have lifts and baby rooms, and the food is easy for fussy eaters. Only the summer heat and rush-hour crowds take some planning.

Nikko is basically one 2km road from the stations up to the shrines. That part is fine on foot, but the lake, falls and marshland depend on buses up the Irohazaka road, which can sit in traffic for hours on autumn weekends.

Tokyo's metro and rail network is the densest in the world, with trains running to the minute and signs in English. Nearly every sight is a short walk from a station. The only drawbacks are crowded rush hours and the network shutting down around midnight.

Nikko's shopping is a single street of souvenirs. The things worth taking home are Nikko-bori carved trays, straw-soled Nikko geta sandals and boxes of yuba and yokan.

Tokyo may be the best city in the world to shop in. It has the Ginza department stores and Omotesando flagships, vintage clothing in Shimokitazawa, kitchen knives on Kappabashi, books in Jimbocho and fine lacquer and washi paper. Save your money for here.

Nikko is the cheaper of the two, at least day to day. Soba lunches, buses and shrine entry cost little, and there are plenty of plain guesthouses. The splurge is the classic onsen inn with dinner, which costs most at the lakes in autumn.

Tokyo's food is a bargain if you eat as residents do, and many shrines and parks are free. Small central rooms are where the money goes, especially during cherry blossom and Golden Week. Taxis and cocktails add up too.

In Nikko, the performance worth planning a trip around is the Toshogu festival in spring and autumn. Around a thousand men in samurai armour process through the town, with horseback archery alongside. On other days, there are only theme-park shows and the odd sacred dance.

Tokyo offers single-act kabuki at the Kabuki-za, Noh, the Takarazuka Revue, top orchestras, and opera at the New National Theatre. Jazz bars and live houses in Koenji and Shimokitazawa have bands on every night.

Both places take bathing seriously, but Nikko does it in the mountains. You can choose between the large riverside inns of Kinugawa Onsen and the remote sulphur springs of Yumoto by Lake Yunoko. Open-air baths look onto forest, and in winter there is snow on the water's edge.

Tokyo's version belongs to everyday city life: neighbourhood sento with painted Fuji murals, big bathing complexes and a strong sauna culture. For the calm of a mountain onsen, people from Tokyo head out of the city, which is exactly what Nikko already offers.