Reykjavik or Rovaniemi?

Neither is a place for a beach vacation, and the swimming they do offer is quite different. Reykjavik's coast is rock, black sand and cold North Atlantic water. Its one sandy spot is Nauthólsvík, where a geothermally warmed lagoon and a hot tub make a short sea dip bearable.

Rovaniemi has no sea, only small sandy shores on the Kemijoki and Ounasjoki rivers and forest lakes. In a warm July these become pleasant enough to swim in for a few weeks. The rest of the year, the local way into the water is through a hole in the ice after a sauna.

Reykjavik gives you much more choice at the table. It has cod, langoustine and Arctic char landed close by, free-range lamb, skyr and greenhouse vegetables, cooked by New Nordic kitchens and sold from harbour-side hot dog stands. Around Laugavegur there are enough cafés, bakeries and craft-beer bars to fill several days.

Rovaniemi has a few good dishes, mainly sautéed reindeer with lingonberries, baked squeaky cheese and cloudberries, done well by a handful of restaurants. Beyond those, it is mostly hotel dining and pizza. Meals in a log cabin on a tour are often the most memorable ones.

Both have a short list of sights that fills a day or two, but the appeal is different. Reykjavik has two striking modern landmarks in Hallgrímskirkja and Harpa, and some history too: the Settlement Exhibition around a Viking-age longhouse, and the painted corrugated-iron houses by Tjörnin lake.

Rovaniemi was burned in 1944 and has no old quarter. Its strengths are Alvar Aalto's civic buildings and Arktikum, which is the better single museum for understanding Sámi life and the Arctic.

Reykjavik is the one with real nights out. On Fridays and Saturdays the runtur moves along Laugavegur and Bankastræti, through small bars that fill dance floors until the early hours. In midsummer people walk home in daylight.

Rovaniemi has a few pubs, hotel bars and a nightclub or two, livelier when the students are in term. In winter most visitors spend the evening outside watching the sky rather than in a bar.

Nature is the main reason to visit either city, but Reykjavik's landscape is wilder and more varied. You have the rift at Þingvellir, Strokkur's eruptions, Gullfoss, the south-coast waterfalls, glacier walks at Sólheimajökull and the steaming lava fields of Reykjanes, plus whale and puffin boats from the harbour.

Rovaniemi's appeal is snowbound taiga rather than drama. It does husky and reindeer sledding, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing on Ounasvaara better than Reykjavik, and in summer offers canoeing and berry picking in quiet forest.

Reykjavik gives you more places to aim for. Þingvellir, where the parliament met from 930, is Iceland's main historic site, and Skálholt, Reykholt's link to Snorri Sturluson and the wooden merchant houses of Eyrarbakki make good stops on a scenic drive.

Rovaniemi has almost nothing of the kind. The only nearby towns are Kemi, Tornio and Haparanda, about an hour and a half away, and they are ordinary places. Trips out are activities in the forest, not visits.

Rovaniemi is built around the kind of trip young children dream of. There is Santa's office and post office on the Arctic Circle, a Christmas cave park, sledging, reindeer sleighs and the Arctic zoo at Ranua. The catch is the midwinter dark and cold, which call for proper gear and short outings.

Reykjavik is safe and relaxed, and its outdoor pools with slides and hot tubs are a daily treat. Perlan's ice cave suits older children. Long coach days to the waterfalls and the cost of feeding a family weigh more heavily there.

Both centres are small enough to walk, but Reykjavik's yellow buses reach the pools, Perlan and the outer districts, which makes a car-free stay in town practical. Beyond the city, both rely on hire cars and tours.

In Rovaniemi, buses barely reach past Santa Claus Village, about 8km north. Nearly every activity depends on a tour operator's hotel pickup or your own car, and icy winter pavements call for good boots.

Shopping fills an afternoon in either city, with a little more to browse in Reykjavik. There you can walk Laugavegur and Skólavörðustígur for hand-knitted lopapeysa sweaters, fish-leather and lava-stone design and local records, and visit the weekend flea market at the harbour.

Rovaniemi's shopping leans towards Christmas souvenirs and thermal gear. The best buys are crafts such as puukko knives, birch cups and Sámi silver and leather.

Both are expensive, but Rovaniemi is somewhat easier on the wallet, especially in summer and early autumn. Its costs pile up through guided husky, snowmobile and aurora trips, and through Christmas demand for glass-roofed cabins.

Reykjavik is dearer at every level, from guesthouses and plain meals to alcohol, car hire and fuel. Cheap public pools, supermarkets and self-catering apartments are the main ways to cut the bill.

Reykjavik offers far more to see in the evening. Harpa hosts the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and opera, small venues have local bands most weekends, and Iceland Airwaves and the Reykjavik Arts Festival bring extra weeks of performance.

Rovaniemi has the Lapland Chamber Orchestra at Korundi and Finnish-language theatre in Aalto's Lappia Hall. A concert there is a lucky find rather than something to plan a trip around.

Hot water is the clear difference. Reykjavik has a geothermal outdoor pool in every neighbourhood, with hot tubs, cold plunges and steam rooms, where locals soak in sleet or under the aurora. The Blue Lagoon and quieter springs along the Golden Circle add more.

Rovaniemi's ritual is the Finnish sauna, found in nearly every cottage and lodge. A smoke sauna by a lake is a fine evening, but the city has no public bathing culture on Reykjavik's scale and only a small spa scene.