Sapporo or Yokohama?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Yokohama has better access to the sea. The Shonan coast at Kamakura, Zushi and Enoshima and the Miura Peninsula are under an hour away by train, with warmer water through July and August.

Sapporo's nearest sand is the wide, plain shore at Ishikari or near Otaru. There are fewer weeks for swimming and the sea stays cooler, so it is a summer afternoon out rather than part of the plan.

Both cities have their own style of ramen, but Sapporo is the better place to eat. Hokkaido's produce is the draw: bowls of sea urchin and crab at Nijo Market in the morning, jingisukan lamb grilled at the table, soup curry, and beer halls in the old red-brick brewery.

Yokohama's food comes from its port history instead, with Japan's largest Chinatown, rich iekei ramen and the small grill bars of Noge. It is excellent for everyday eating and stronger on Chinese cooking. It has nothing to match the seafood and regional dishes that make Sapporo worth a trip for the food alone.

Both are young cities by Japanese standards, but Yokohama has more to see because it was one of the first ports opened to the West in the 1850s. That history shows in the merchant houses and foreigners' cemetery on the Yamate Bluff, the stone customs buildings of Kannai and Sankeien, a garden of temple halls and teahouses moved from Kyoto and Kamakura.

Sapporo's landmarks date from the Meiji pioneer years: the wooden Clock Tower and the red-brick former government building. It adds Ainu history at the Hokkaido Museum and Noguchi's sculpted Moerenuma Park. You can see the main sights of either city in two days, but Yokohama's add up to more.

Neither city is for clubbing, so the real comparison is between bar scenes, and Sapporo's is clearly better. Susukino is a dense block of towers holding thousands of tiny counter bars, karaoke boxes and late ramen counters, and it stays busy past midnight even in midwinter.

Yokohama's best evenings are in the izakaya and standing bars of Noge, with harbour-view drinks in Minato Mirai. The city goes quiet earlier, though, and locals who want a big night head to Tokyo.

Sapporo has the wilder setting by some distance. The Teine and Kokusai ski areas lie inside the city limits and Niseko's powder snow is about two hours away. In the warmer months the caldera lake and volcanoes of Shikotsu-Toya, the flower fields of Furano and Jozankei's autumn colour are all within reach.

Yokohama's outdoors is gentler: temple trails over Kamakura's wooded ridges, coastal walks on the Miura Peninsula and day hikes in the Tanzawa mountains, with Mount Fuji in view on clear winter days. The walking is good, but there are no snow sports and much less open country.

Day trips are Yokohama's strongest point. Tokyo is under half an hour away, and Kamakura, with its Great Buddha and Zen temples, is about 25 minutes. Enoshima, Hakone and the Edo-period streets of Kawagoe all make full days out, so a week here can take in very different places.

From Sapporo the obvious trip is to Otaru for its canal and sushi. The whisky distillery at Yoichi, the Upopoy museum of Ainu culture and the hot-spring town of Noboribetsu are also within reach. After those, the choices are mostly lakes and mountains rather than towns.

Sapporo is a seasonal treat for children, while Yokohama works all year. Sapporo is hard to beat in winter: the Snow Festival turns Odori Park into ice sculptures and snow slides, the hills inside the city have gentle beginner slopes with lessons, and Maruyama Zoo's polar bears are a subway ride away. In summer the main draw is open space at Moerenuma and Takino, and January calls for serious cold-weather clothing.

Yokohama has far more made for children. The Anpanman museum suits toddlers, the Ferris wheel and amusement park sit on the Minato Mirai seafront, the Nippon Maru sailing ship is an easy outing, and Tokyo Disneyland is about an hour away. Stations have nursing rooms, and the humid summer is the only real thing to plan around.

Sapporo's numbered grid means an address tells you roughly where you are, and the flat centre from the station through Odori Park to Susukino is easy on foot. Three subway lines and a streetcar loop out to the Mount Moiwa ropeway cover most visits, and in winter an underground walkway keeps you off the ice. The catch is midwinter, when packed snow slows everyone down, and Jozankei and Moerenuma need a bus.

Yokohama has the denser network, with JR lines, two subway lines, private railways and the Minatomirai Line, English signs and fast trains to Tokyo, Kamakura and Haneda. That makes it the easier base for moving around the region, and its flat harbour walk and water buses work in any month.

Shopping is a close match, and in both cities it is comfortable and mainstream rather than luxurious. In Sapporo the best things to take home are edible: Hokkaido chocolate, butter biscuits, cheese and dried seafood, along with Ainu-patterned woodcarving. The covered Tanukikoji arcade is handy on snowy days.

Yokohama has Motomachi, a long, smart street known for leather goods, plus the waterfront malls around the Red Brick Warehouses and Chinatown's teas and tableware. In either city, anyone after serious fashion is better off in Tokyo.

Costs are broadly similar, and in both cities business hotels, ramen counters and free parks keep a trip modest. What raises the bill differs. In Sapporo it is crab and sea-urchin dinners, ski passes and the February Snow Festival, when central rooms run short. In Yokohama it is the harbour-view hotels of Minato Mirai, summer weekends and admission to Sankeien and the family attractions.

Yokohama's jazz heritage and Tokyo's stages half an hour away give it a fuller programme than Sapporo, where the arts rest mainly on classical music and a few festivals. In Sapporo, the Kitara hall in Nakajima Park is the centre and the home of the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra, and each July the Pacific Music Festival brings young musicians from abroad. June's Yosakoi Soran dance teams fill the streets, but outside those weeks the choice is modest and mostly in Japanese.

In Yokohama, old jazz cafés in Noge and Kannai still play records and host small live sets, and an autumn jazz festival spreads across halls and street corners. Minato Mirai Hall and the Kanagawa theatres add orchestral concerts, opera and drama, and harbour arenas host touring pop and rock acts. Kabuki and the big musicals are a short train ride away in Tokyo.

For a proper soak, Sapporo is much better placed. Jozankei's open-air baths in a forested gorge are inside the city limits, and Noboribetsu, one of Japan's best-known onsen towns, is close enough for a night away. Bathing outdoors while snow falls is an easy part of a stay.

Yokohama has neighbourhood sento and a large bath complex on the waterfront, but for a mountain-inn onsen you have to go to Hakone. Its quieter moments come from Sankeien's ponds and the rose gardens on the Bluff.