Aberdeen or Cambridge?

Aberdeen at least has a real sandy beach at the edge of its centre, with wide, empty dune strands at Balmedie and towards Newburgh. The North Sea is cold and windy, though, so it suits a bracing walk more than a swim.

Cambridge is inland on the fen edge, and the nearest coast is about an hour and a half's drive. Swimming there means the 1920s Jesus Green Lido or the Cam at Grantchester Meadows on a hot day.

The two cities are much alike at the table: pleasant places to eat, but not worth the trip for food alone. What differs is the flavour. Aberdeen leans on its larder of North Sea fish, Aberdeen Angus beef, the salty buttery roll, Stonehaven fish and chips and Speyside whisky.

Cambridge has no regional dish to seek out. Its strengths are old beamed pubs serving ales and roasts, street food at the daily Market Hill market, riverside tea rooms and a spread of Asian and Mediterranean cooking along Mill Road.

Cambridge has the richer and denser historic core. Its colleges line the Backs, King's College Chapel ranks among Europe's finest late Gothic buildings, and Trinity's Wren Library and the Round Church sit close by. The Fitzwilliam holds a collection far grander than the city's size, backed by a run of specialist university museums.

Aberdeen is handsome in a sterner way. Its silver granite centre is anchored by Marischal College, and the medieval burgh of Old Aberdeen holds King's College and St Machar's Cathedral. The art gallery, the Maritime Museum and the cottages of Footdee round it out, but there is less to linger over.

Both are pub towns whose clubs rise and fall with the student year, so neither gives you a big night out. Aberdeen has a little more after dark, with whisky bars, real-ale houses and late venues clustered on Belmont Street. Cambridge's best evenings are softer: historic inns, riverside beer gardens and summer drinking on the greens, with London an easy train ride away for anything bigger.

This is where Aberdeen pulls far ahead. Within an hour or so up the Dee you reach Royal Deeside and the Cairngorms National Park, with high plateau walks, Lochnagar, the pine woods around Braemar and winter skiing. On the coast there are cliff paths, seabird colonies, the Ythan estuary seals and dolphins off Torry Battery.

Cambridge offers gentle, flat country instead: punting through the Backs, water meadows to Grantchester, birds and wild ponies at Wicken Fen and level cycle routes. There is nothing that could be called dramatic scenery.

Cambridge has the edge, mainly because trains make it so easy. London is under an hour away, Ely Cathedral about fifteen minutes, and Norwich, Bury St Edmunds, Lavenham and Audley End are all close.

Aberdeen's outings are just as rewarding but more spread out. Dunnottar on its sea stack, the Castle Trail, Balmoral and the Speyside distilleries make a strong list, but most of them really need a car.

Cambridge is the easier pick with children. Punting, the free zoology museum with its whale skeleton, and the Sedgwick dinosaurs keep curious children busy, and the vast historic airfield at Duxford is a standout day out. The colleges themselves, though, are quiet, grown-up places.

Aberdeen is safe and relaxed but has less built for children. It relies on the Science Centre, the beach funfair, the Duthie Park glasshouses and dolphin spotting, and cold, windy days mean you need indoor backup plans.

Both centres are walkable, but Cambridge's is flatter, largely pedestrian and made for bicycles, which is how locals get about. The one drawback is the station's position, a walk of about twenty-five minutes from the centre.

Aberdeen's station sits right in the middle, beside the harbour and Union Street. Old Aberdeen and the beach need a longer walk or a bus, though, and Deeside and the castles are much easier with a hire car.

Neither is a shopping destination, but Cambridge is the more enjoyable place to browse. Its daily market, the independent shops on Green Street and Trinity Street, and above all its academic and second-hand bookshops give it a character Aberdeen lacks.

Aberdeen's centre is mostly chains in two malls and on Union Street, with some independents around Belmont Street and Rosemount. Knitwear, tartan and whisky are often better bought in the Deeside villages or at the distilleries.

Aberdeen is the cheaper stay, mostly thanks to its business hotels, which often have reasonable rates at weekends and in summer. Meals and drinks are at normal British prices, and hiring a car for the countryside adds to the bill.

Cambridge costs noticeably more. Its few central rooms are always in demand from conferences and university visitors, and eating out is priced like the wealthy south-east. Free museums, evensong and a centre you can walk help to make up for it.

Cambridge has something Aberdeen cannot match: choral evensong sung by the King's, St John's and Trinity choirs in their chapels. On top of that come the Arts Theatre, the student ADC and Footlights comedy, and the long-running Folk Festival in summer.

Aberdeen's stage is mostly touring shows. Visiting opera, ballet and musicals play at His Majesty's Theatre and orchestras at the Music Hall, and the most local sound is a folk session in a pub.

Neither city has a bathing culture, but Cambridge makes slowing down easier. You can drift along the Backs in a punt, sit in a college garden or the Botanic Garden, or walk across the meadows to tea in a Grantchester orchard, best done early or late to avoid the summer crowds. In Aberdeen, relaxing mostly means a hotel spa or a country-house retreat out in Deeside.