Reykjavik or Tromso?

Neither city is a beach destination. Both seas stay cold all summer, so swimming here means a quick, bracing dip, and the difference lies in how you warm up afterwards.

Reykjavik has Nauthólsvík, a golden-sand cove where geothermal water warms a shallow lagoon and a hot tub waits after the plunge, and heated outdoor pools for proper swimming. Tromso has natural sand at Telegrafbukta and white island beaches out at Sommaroy, which look striking on a midnight-sun evening, and the local habit is to pair the plunge with a sauna.

Both cities cook from a superb cold-water larder, and both are small, expensive places to eat. Reykjavik has somewhat more range. The streets around Laugavegur and the Old Harbour hold more cafés, bakeries, bistros and craft-beer bars, and there are simple everyday local dishes such as lamb soup, plokkfiskur and lamb hot dogs from the harbour-side stands.

Tromso's strength is its produce: skrei in late winter, king crab, reindeer and cloudberries, served on the old wooden quays. Fish soup after a cold excursion is the everyday meal there, but there is little street food and few cheap options.

Each city has a day or two of sights, so the difference is in the story they tell. Reykjavik is about settlement and the Viking age, with the longhouse under the old centre and the National Museum. Its two landmarks are modern: Hallgrímskirkja's basalt-like tower and Harpa's glass on the harbour.

Tromso turns to polar exploration and the far north. The Polar Museum follows Amundsen and Nansen, Tromso Museum covers Sami culture, and the white triangles of the Arctic Cathedral stand across the bridge. Both have a few streets of painted old houses, made of corrugated iron around Tjörnin and of wood in Tromso.

Reykjavik has the stronger night out. On Fridays and Saturdays the runtur moves along Laugavegur and the streets near Austurvöllur, and small bars become packed dance floors after midnight. It is still a weekend-only scene, but a lively one.

Tromso's students keep Storgata and the harbour busy at weekends too, with pubs, cocktail bars and a couple of late dance floors. There is less of it, though, and it suits a few drinks after a day outdoors. In both cities midweek is quiet and midsummer nights never go dark.

Both cities are gateways to world-class landscape, but of different kinds. Around Reykjavik the earth itself is the attraction. You get the rift valley at Þingvellir, Strokkur's eruptions, the waterfalls of the south coast, glacier walks at Sólheimajökull and the steaming lava fields of Reykjanes, plus puffin boats from the Old Harbour.

Tromso is about mountains, fjords and wildlife, and they begin at the edge of town. The Fjellheisen cable car rises straight from it, the town lies under the auroral oval, and orcas and humpbacks come into the fjords in winter. Add husky sledding and the Lyngen Alps in winter, and midnight-sun hikes and kayaking in summer.

Reykjavik has much more to visit as places rather than views. Þingvellir, where the parliament met in the open air from 930, is a major historic site an hour away. Skálholt, the saga centre at Borgarnes, Snorri Sturluson's Reykholt and the wooden merchant houses of Eyrarbakki add depth to a drive.

Tromso has no comparable heritage within reach. Sommaroy's fishing village, the old trading post at Hillesoy and the hamlets of Kvaloya and Senja are pleasant, but most visitors book another fjord or aurora trip instead.

Reykjavik is the easier city with children. The outdoor pools, with warm shallow areas and slides, are a daily treat in any weather, Laugardalur adds farm animals and rides, and Perlan's indoor ice cave suits older children. Its winters are also milder and less dark.

Tromso is just as safe and calm. Polaria's bearded seals and the husky and reindeer rides make lasting memories, but there is less made for children. Midwinter means deep cold, little or no daylight and aurora tours that run past bedtime.

Getting around is much the same in both: a compact centre on foot, then a tour or hire car for everything that matters outside. Tromso's centre is the tighter of the two, crossable in a quarter of an hour, and local buses reach its airport directly. The steep streets above the harbour turn icy in winter, though.

Reykjavik spreads a little wider, about a half-hour walk end to end, and its buses run infrequently out to the pools and Perlan. Keflavík airport is around 45 minutes away by coach, and many visitors hire a car for the Golden Circle and the south coast.

Reykjavik gives shopping a proper afternoon. Laugavegur and Skólavörðustígur hold hand-knitted lopapeysa sweaters, design shops working in lava stone and fish leather, and record shops full of Icelandic music, and there is a weekend flea market in the harbour warehouse.

Tromso is practical. Storgata is good for thermal layers and outdoor gear, and has some Norwegian knitwear and Sami crafts, then a modest mall. Neither city has luxury or department-store shopping.

Both are among the most expensive places a traveller can go, and there is little to choose between them. In both, meals, drinks and hotels cost far more than in most of Europe, and the excursions that make the trip add up quickly.

The savings come in different forms. In Reykjavik, the cheap public pools, excellent tap water, bakeries and self-catering do the most. In Tromso, the big saving is hunting the aurora yourself from the hills above town rather than paying for every tour.

Reykjavik offers more for an evening out. Harpa hosts the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and opera in a hall with excellent acoustics, and small central venues put on local alternative and electronic bands most weekends. Iceland Airwaves fills those venues in late autumn.

Tromso has the Arctic Philharmonic, the Halogaland Theatre, a winter music festival and a January film festival, and its summer midnight concerts in the Arctic Cathedral are memorable. The choice on a given night is smaller, though.

This is where the two cities differ most. In Reykjavik, hot water is part of daily life. Every district has a geothermal outdoor pool with hot tubs, cold plunges and steam rooms, with Vesturbæjarlaug a local favourite, and the Blue Lagoon and quieter natural springs lie beyond.

Tromso offers the sauna-and-fjord ritual in floating saunas facing snowy peaks, a public swimming hall and a few hotel spas. A typical stay of late aurora trips and early starts leaves little time to unwind.