Queenstown or Wellington?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Wellington gives you more to work with. Oriental Bay is a sandy city beach with pontoons a short walk from the centre, sheltered coves such as Scorching Bay lie around the Miramar Peninsula, and Lyall Bay has surf. The sea is still cool and the wind can spoil a warm day.

Queenstown has no sea at all. Its swimming means a bracing jump into snow-fed Lake Wakatipu from the town jetty or the shingle of Queenstown Bay. Shallower Lake Hayes and Moke Lake warm up a little more in midsummer.

Wellington eats better and more widely. Its strengths are serious coffee roasters, craft-beer taprooms around Cuba Street, Cook Strait seafood, and the Asian and Pacific cooking found in the lanes and at the weekend markets.

Queenstown has many places to eat for its size, but they lean towards burgers, pies and polished lodge dining, all at resort prices. Its trump card is wine. A long lunch at a Gibbston Valley cellar door is a highlight of the region, and Wellington's nearest equivalent is Martinborough, more than an hour away.

The gap here is wide. Wellington is the capital and has the national museum: Te Papa covers Māori and Pacific heritage and the country's story, and around it are the Beehive, the wooden Gothic church of Old St Paul's and the vast timber Government Buildings. That is two or three days of solid sightseeing.

Queenstown has the 1912 steamship TSS Earnslaw, a few gold-rush stone buildings and the gondola view, and that is about all. Its history is told better in Arrowtown, and a museum lover will be finished in a morning.

The two are broadly level, but the evenings feel quite different. Queenstown's nights are run by seasonal workers, backpackers and skiers, so they mean après-ski, packed dance bars and a loud centre on winter weekends. A couple of nights covers most of it.

Wellington splits in two. Courtenay Place is for late bars and student crowds, while Cuba Street has craft beer, cocktails and wine bars for a calmer, creative crowd. It is better for conversation than dancing, and it goes quiet midweek.

Queenstown is one of the great outdoor bases. The Remarkables rise above the lake, Ben Lomond can be climbed from town, the Routeburn and Mount Aspiring National Park lie beyond Glenorchy, and Coronet Peak and Cardrona are close for skiing. It is also where commercial bungy began, with jet boating, canyon swings and skydiving all based here.

Wellington is unusually wild for a capital. It has the town belt, birdsong at Zealandia, the seal colony at Red Rocks, good mountain biking at Makara Peak and Kapiti Island offshore. These are rewarding half days rather than alpine adventures, and the wind often decides the plan.

Queenstown has the better outings close by. The gold-rush village of Arrowtown is about twenty minutes away, Wanaka is an hour over the Crown Range, and the wine and orchard country around Cromwell makes an easy day. Milford Sound is the famous long day out.

From Wellington, the main outing is to the Wairarapa, crossing the Remutaka hills to cycle Martinborough's vineyards and browse Greytown's colonial main street. The Kāpiti Coast makes a gentle trip by train, but beyond that most places are too far for a day.

Both cities are safe and easy with children, but the days look different. Queenstown is about doing things: the gondola and luge, kiwi at the wildlife park, jet-boat rides and ski schools in winter. The headline thrills have age and weight limits, though, and the big sights involve long drives.

Wellington's days centre on Te Papa's hands-on galleries and earthquake house, with the zoo, Zealandia, the cable car and the Space Place observatory close by. It needs a wet-weather plan, and the steep streets are hard going with a pushchair.

Wellington is much easier without a car. The flat strip from the railway station to Courtenay Place takes under half an hour to walk, and the cable car, suburban trains, harbour ferry and buses cover most of the rest. The hills and the wind are the only real obstacles.

Queenstown's centre takes minutes to cross on foot, and buses and a water taxi reach Frankton and Arrowtown. The wineries, trailheads, Glenorchy and Wanaka really call for a car, though. The single Frankton road clogs at busy times, and winter mountain driving can mean carrying chains.

Wellington offers more varied browsing. Lambton Quay has chain stores and New Zealand fashion labels, while Cuba Street adds vintage clothing, record shops, second-hand books and small design stores.

Queenstown's Mall is mostly ski, bike and hiking shops, along with souvenirs and a summer craft market by the wharf. Merino and pounamu greenstone are worth buying in either city, but neither is a reason to travel.

Both are expensive, but Queenstown is the harder on a budget. Its rooms are dearer in the ski season and late summer, and the activities that draw people there, such as jet boats, scenic flights and lift passes, add up quickly.

Wellington is costly too, especially when conferences fill the hotels. Its main sights cost nothing, however: Te Papa, the Botanic Garden, the town belt and the waterfront are all free, and you can walk everywhere in the centre. That keeps daily spending lower.

Here Wellington is far stronger. It is home to the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra at the Michael Fowler Centre and the Royal New Zealand Ballet at the St James Theatre. Add busy professional and fringe theatres, small music venues around Cuba Street, and the New Zealand Festival of the Arts in late summer.

In Queenstown, an evening of live music usually means a covers band in a pub. The winter festival is its one real burst of performance.

Neither city has thermal springs, but Queenstown does relaxation a little better. Options include private cedar hot tubs above the Shotover River, lodge spas around the lake and towards Arrowtown, and the quiet at the head of the lake in Glenorchy. For real calm, it is best to stay outside the busy adventure town.

In Wellington, unwinding is low-key: the heated harbourside pool at Oriental Bay, a day spa, the Botanic Garden or a long coffee by the water.