Rotorua or Wellington?

Neither city is a beach destination, but each offers a different kind of swim. Rotorua's swimming is in fresh water, in clear lakes such as Tarawera and Okareka that warm to around 20°C in summer, with the white surf beach at Mount Maunganui about an hour's drive away.

Wellington has sand you can walk to, at Oriental Bay in the city or in the sheltered coves around Miramar. The Cook Strait water is colder, though, and the wind is often fierce, so most visitors walk on the beaches rather than swim from them.

Wellington is the better place to eat. Its café culture takes coffee very seriously, small breweries fill Te Aro, and Cook Strait seafood and Martinborough pinot noir give menus a local flavour, from casual food on Cuba Street to smarter tables on the waterfront.

Rotorua eats simply, mostly along the covered dining strip on Tutanekai Street, and late dining is limited. Its one distinctive meal is hāngī cooked over geothermal steam. It is usually eaten as part of a cultural evening, not ordered in a restaurant.

Wellington has the wider range of sights. Te Papa alone fills a day with Māori and Pacific collections and the national story, and Parliament's Beehive, wooden Old St Paul's and the vast timber Government Buildings are all a short walk from it.

Rotorua has fewer sights, and they are quickly covered, but they go deeper in one direction. At Whakarewarewa families still cook in the steam vents, carvers train in the open, and the meeting house at Ohinemutu stands among steaming ground. The difference is seeing Māori culture in a national museum against seeing it in the community that lives it.

Wellington is the only one of the two with a real night out. Courtenay Place has late bars and a few clubs, and Cuba Street's lanes hold cocktail rooms and taprooms, all close enough to move between on foot, though midweek is quiet.

Rotorua has a few pubs at the lake end of town and no clubs. Its evenings go on a kapa haka show and a hot pool, and the town is mostly asleep before midnight.

Both have fine country close by, but Rotorua's is unique. Mud pools bubble in a town park, and short drives lead to the coloured terraces of Wai-O-Tapu, the Waimangu valley formed by the 1886 eruption and the Pohutu geyser. The Whakarewarewa redwood forest is among the best mountain-biking areas in the southern hemisphere.

Wellington's outdoors is coastal and wilder: native birds at Zealandia, fur seals at Red Rocks and the Makara Peak bike trails. It is excellent for a capital city, but the wind means planning every outing around the forecast.

The day trips are about equal in number but different in kind. From Rotorua they head into landscape and film locations: the Hobbiton set near Matamata, Lake Taupo, the beach at Mount Maunganui, and the Waitomo glowworm caves at the edge of a day's range.

Wellington's one strong outing is the Wairarapa, over the Remutaka hills, with Martinborough's vineyards to tour by bicycle and the old colonial main streets of Greytown. It is the only real wine-and-small-towns day on offer from either city.

Rotorua has the slight edge with children because the ground itself puts on a show. Geysers and mud pools are backed up by the gondola and luge on Mount Ngongotaha, kiwi spotting and farm shows, though you will need a car, and small children have to be held near the boiling pools.

Wellington's family days centre on Te Papa's hands-on galleries and earthquake house, then the cable car to the Space Place observatory and the zoo. It is easier to manage without a car, but the steep streets make pushchairs hard work.

Getting around is much easier in Wellington. The flat strip from the railway station to Courtenay Place takes under half an hour to walk, and the cable car, suburban trains and the Days Bay ferry cover most of the rest without a car.

In Rotorua only the small central grid is walkable. The geothermal valleys lie 20km to 30km south and the local buses serve residents, so visitors either hire a car or join tours. The roads are quiet, so driving is straightforward.

Rotorua's shopping is narrow, and Māori craft is the main reason to go looking. Carved wood, woven flax, bone and pounamu pendants are best bought at Whakarewarewa, where carvers and weavers work in the open and you can buy straight from the person who made the piece. Beyond that, Tutanekai Street has outdoor gear and merino, and a weekly night market adds craft stalls.

Wellington has far more to browse. Lambton Quay has chain stores and New Zealand fashion labels, and the lanes off Cuba Street have vintage clothing, record shops, second-hand books and small design stores, enough for an unhurried afternoon.

Both are pricey by any standard outside New Zealand, but the costs fall in different places. Rotorua's motels, many with their own hot pools, are cheaper than city hotels, but the hire car and the separate entry fees at each geothermal park and evening show add up quickly.

In Wellington the room is the expensive part. Once you have one, Te Papa, the Botanic Garden and the town belt walks are free, and the walkable centre means you need no car.

Wellington is home to the country's national companies. The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra plays at the Michael Fowler Centre and the Royal New Zealand Ballet at the St James Theatre, small theatres stage fringe work, and the bands and jazz around Cuba Street fill other nights.

Rotorua's one real draw is kapa haka, the song, poi and haka performed most evenings at the cultural villages and marae. It is moving, and it is the one performance Wellington cannot offer in the same setting, but there is little else on stage.

This is where the two cities differ most. Rotorua grew up as a spa town and bathing is still the point of a stay, from the lakefront mineral pools and private pools you can book by the hour to the geothermal mud at Hell's Gate and free hot streams reached by boat or forest track.

Wellington has no bathing tradition. Relaxing there means a day spa, the heated harbourside pool at Oriental Bay or a quiet hour in the Botanic Garden. For anyone who wants hot pools, this alone settles the choice in Rotorua's favour.