Aberdeen or Bergen?

Neither city is worth packing swimwear for, but the shores are very different. Aberdeen has the sand: a long beach with dunes right beside the centre and wide, empty strands at Balmedie. Both are better for a windy walk than for swimming in such a cold sea.

Bergen has no sand at all, only rock, jetties and pebble coves. Even so, swimming there is more of a local habit, from the bathing piers at Nordnes, from rocks along the fjord and in the lakes in the hills. The heated seawater pool at Nordnes is the gentlest way in.

Both cities live off North Sea fish, but Bergen makes more of it. It has its creamy fish soup and king crab, and a few small dining rooms around the old centre cook with fjord fish, mountain lamb and foraged produce. A cinnamon skillingsbolle with good coffee makes a fine daily habit.

Aberdeen's food is plainer: Angus beef, shellfish, the salty buttery at breakfast and serious fish and chips down the coast at Stonehaven, with Speyside whisky in every pub. It costs far less, though in both cities the choice beyond local cooking is narrow.

Bergen has more to see. Its centrepiece is Bryggen, with its gabled timber merchant houses and the dim wooden passages behind them. Bergenhus Fortress, Haakon's Hall and the Hanseatic museums are next door. The KODE museums add Munch, and Grieg's villa at Troldhaugen and the Fantoft stave church are on the edge of the city.

Aberdeen's appeal is in stone rather than wood: the vast granite front of Marischal College, Georgian Union Street, and the cobbled medieval burgh of Old Aberdeen around King's College and St Machar's. Its art gallery and Maritime Museum are good but smaller. Each city fills two days or so.

The nightlife is about the same size in both cities. Students keep it going, and it is busiest at weekends. Aberdeen is a pub town, with long whisky lists and real ale around Belmont Street and Union Street, and it goes quiet early outside term time.

Bergen leans towards craft beer, cocktails and cosy wooden-walled bars. Drinks are so expensive that people start at home and arrive late.

Both are fine bases for the outdoors, but in Bergen the mountains are right on the doorstep. The funicular to Fløyen and the cable car to Ulriken take you straight onto trails, the Vidden ridge makes a full day over open mountain, and the Hardangerfjord and Nærøyfjord are within reach by train and boat.

Aberdeen's best country is a drive away: Royal Deeside and the Cairngorms about an hour west, with skiing at Glenshee in winter. Closer in are cliff walks, seabird colonies and dolphins at the harbour mouth. Aberdeen gets less rain, but it has nothing to match Bergen's fjords and mountains rising straight from town.

Aberdeen is clearly the better base for days out. Dunnottar is twenty minutes south, and the Castle Trail takes in Crathes, Craigievar and Fyvie. Balmoral and Braemar lie up Deeside, the Speyside distilleries and Elgin's cathedral make a comfortable outing, and Dundee is an easy train ride.

Bergen's outings are journeys through scenery rather than visits to towns: Voss, the orchard villages of Hardanger, the manor at Rosendal by boat, and a long day to Flåm. There is no other city within reach, so anyone who wants towns and history has a short list.

Bergen has more for children. The aquarium on Nordnes has seals and penguins, VilVite is a hands-on science centre, and the funicular to Fløyen leads to playgrounds, canoeing and troll figures in the woods. Norwegian life is built around families outdoors.

Aberdeen has its Science Centre, the beachfront funfair, the Duthie Park glasshouses and dolphin spotting, which is pleasant but less. Both cities need rainy-day plans, and Bergen's steep streets are harder going with a pushchair.

Both centres are easy to walk, but Bergen is easier once you leave the centre. The Bybanen light rail runs to the airport and Troldhaugen, and the funicular and cable car do the climbing. Trains and express boats reach the fjords without a car, although steep lanes and rain slow you down on foot.

Aberdeen is compact, with the station in the middle and the beach and Old Aberdeen within walking range. But there is no tram or metro, only buses, and the castles, Deeside and the distilleries really call for a hire car.

Neither city is a shopping destination, and in both the best buys are woollens. Aberdeen's centre is mostly chain stores in its two shopping centres and along Union Street, with independent shops around Belmont Street and Rosemount. Its knitwear, tartan and whisky are often better bought in Deeside or at the distilleries.

Bergen offers patterned Norwegian sweaters, outdoor gear and Scandinavian design, plus craft workshops in Bryggen's passages, but everything costs more.

Aberdeen is much the cheaper stay. Meals and drinks cost normal British prices, hotels aimed at business travellers are often reasonable at weekends and in summer, and the museums are free. The main extra cost is a hire car.

Bergen is very expensive across the board: restaurants, hotels, fjord excursions and above all alcohol. To keep costs down there, visitors use supermarkets, hostels or self-catering flats and hike straight from town.

Music runs deeper in Bergen. The Philharmonic, whose roots go back to the 18th century, plays a full season at Grieghallen, and Grieg's music is played at Troldhaugen in summer. Den Nationale Scene is the theatre where the young Ibsen worked. The International Festival in late spring is followed by jazz and a rock festival at the fortress.

Aberdeen's programme is mostly touring productions at His Majesty's Theatre and concerts at the Music Hall, plus folk sessions in pubs and big acts at the arena. It is solid, but little of it is made locally.

Neither city is a spa destination, but Bergen has a ritual of its own: a wood-fired sauna on the harbour followed by a plunge into the fjord, or a swim in the heated seawater pool at Nordnes. Aberdeen offers hotel spas and treatments at country-house hotels in Deeside, and beyond that you rely on its quiet pace and the countryside nearby.