Osaka or Taipei?

Neither city is a beach destination, though Taipei has a slight edge. Its nearest strand, Fulong, is a long golden spit with a river lagoon about an hour away, and the water stays warm from June to September, but open-coast rips and typhoon closures cut into that.

Osaka's beaches at Suma or Tannowa are coarse-sand summer outings on a built-up bay, open little beyond July and August. For proper sand, people from either city head somewhere else entirely, Okinawa from Osaka or the east coast from Taipei.

Both are cities where eating is the point of the trip, and they are close to equal. Osaka's food is griddle and counter food: okonomiyaki at the table, kushikatsu, takoyaki in Dotonbori, with Kitashinchi's kaiseki and sushi counters at the top end and Umeda's department store food halls in between.

Taipei eats in the open air at Raohe, Ningxia and Shilin night markets, then starts again at breakfast with soy milk and youtiao. Its drinks culture is wider too, with mountain oolong in traditional teahouses, speciality coffee in Da'an and bubble tea where it began.

The two are broadly level, but the shape differs. Taipei has one world-class museum, the National Palace Museum, plus atmospheric working temples such as Longshan and restored shophouse streets in Dadaocheng, enough for three or four days.

Osaka's heritage is scattered landmarks, the castle on its huge original walls, Shitennoji and Sumiyoshi Taisha, along with strong ceramics and art museums on Nakanoshima. Its real cultural advantage is that Kyoto and Nara are so close.

Osaka is far livelier after dark. Minami's neon streets, izakaya alleys and Amerikamura's DJ bars stay busy, the city has a national reputation for sociable drinkers, and many people simply stay out until the trains restart in the morning.

Taipei's evenings are quieter and more polished. Its strength is cocktail bars in Da'an and Zhongshan built around local tea and fruit, with Xinyi's clubs for weekend dressing up, but much of the city settles into karaoke rooms and night markets and winds down early on weeknights.

Taipei has much more on its doorstep. Yangmingshan National Park, with fumaroles, silvergrass and the summit of Qixingshan, lies inside the city limits, short steep trails climb from Xinyi to skyline views, and a gondola runs up to Maokong's tea terraces. Wulai's gorges and the northeast coast's cliffs add longer outings.

Osaka is flat concrete, and nature means a train out to Minoo's waterfall trail, the Rokko ridges behind Kobe or the gentle wooded hills to the east. It is good for a day's walk in maple or blossom season, not for an outdoor trip.

Osaka is one of the best bases anywhere for day trips. Kyoto is under half an hour away, Nara and its deer about forty minutes, and Himeji Castle, Kobe, Uji and the monastery mountain of Koyasan are all easy on frequent trains, enough to fill two weeks.

Taipei's outings are smaller in scale but full of charm: the lantern-lit stairways of Jiufen, sky lanterns on the Pingxi line, Tamsui's fort and sunsets, and the pottery town of Yingge. High-speed rail reaches Tainan's old temples in about two hours, but the range doesn't come close to Osaka's.

Osaka has the bigger draws for children. Universal Studios Japan, the Kaiyukan aquarium with its whale sharks and Tennoji Zoo are all in the city, the Expo '70 park and its giant Tower of the Sun are a short train ride north, and stations and department stores are set up with lifts and baby rooms.

Taipei is just as safe and friendly towards small children, and the zoo's pandas followed by the Maokong gondola make a good day. But its theme parks are an hour or more out, and scooters in the side streets make walking with a pushchair harder work.

Both have excellent, English-signed metros and a single card that also works on regional trains, so they are broadly level. Osaka's weak point is its stations, especially the maze of Umeda, while its flat streets make cycling easy. In Taipei the MRT is simpler to navigate and taxis are cheap and honest, but pavements outside the arcaded centre are often blocked by parked scooters.

Osaka offers more in volume and variety. The Shinsaibashi-suji arcade, the old Umeda department stores, Den Den Town for electronics and anime, and the kitchen knives of Doguyasuji make for serious shopping days.

Taipei suits browsing over buying big. Its best finds are Taiwanese design at the Huashan and Songshan cultural parks, high-mountain oolong and teaware, and dried goods on Dihua Street, with Xinyi's malls covering the international brands.

Taipei is a little kinder to the budget. Night-market meals, noodle shops and taxis all cost very little, and many trails and temples are free.

Osaka is still fair, with cheap street food and set lunches, but rooms climb sharply in blossom and autumn-leaf season and big tickets like Universal Studios add up. In both cities hotels take the largest share, and staying just outside Namba and Umeda, or around Zhongshan and Ximending, helps.

Osaka has the more distinctive stage. The National Bunraku Theatre puts on full puppet theatre seasons with English guides, Festival Hall and Symphony Hall host orchestras, and the Takarazuka Revue is a short train ride away, though the manzai comedy is Japanese-only.

Taipei's offer is solid rather than famous: the National Theater and Concert Hall at Liberty Square, contemporary work at the Taipei Performing Arts Center, and glove puppetry and Taiwanese opera at temple festivals and in Dadaocheng.

Taipei is the more restful choice. Beitou's hot springs are at the end of an MRT line, with sulphur pools, private tubs and an open-air public bath, and there are more springs at Yangmingshan and Wulai, foot reflexology on nearly every street and slow afternoons over tea in Maokong.

Osaka's bathing is in neighbourhood sento and large super sento, and real onsen means an hour's trip to Arima. The city itself is fast and noisy, with calm limited to early mornings at the shrines.