Aberdeen or Stavanger?

Neither city is worth choosing for swimming, but Stavanger has the better beaches. The Jæren coast south of town has a whole line of long dune-backed strands, such as Sola, Orre and Brusand, which draw surfers when the swell builds, and the summer sea is a few degrees warmer.

Aberdeen's beach starts at the edge of the centre, which is handy for a walk, and Balmedie's empty sands are close by. Still, the water stays very cold and most people on the sand are out with their dogs.

The food is fairly evenly matched, and both cities rely on what comes out of the North Sea. Aberdeen's cooking is homelier: Angus beef, the buttery at breakfast, serious fish and chips down the coast at Stonehaven, and plenty of Speyside whisky.

Stavanger has a more ambitious top end, with tasting menus built on local produce and the Gladmat festival on the quays in summer. Below that level the choice narrows, and every meal costs considerably more than in Aberdeen.

Both cities need about two days, and neither will hold you longer. What you see is quite different. Aberdeen is stern grey granite: the huge front of Marischal College, the long Georgian line of Union Street, and the cobbled medieval lanes of Old Aberdeen around King's College and St Machar's.

Stavanger is built of white wood. Gamle Stavanger's slope of timber houses runs down to the harbour, and the medieval cathedral and the Viking swords at Hafrsfjord give it a deeper past. Each city has a museum about North Sea oil.

The nightlife is much the same in both: student and oil-industry weekends in a few central streets, then quiet midweek. Aberdeen is the more traditional pub town, with whisky bars and real ale along Belmont Street. Stavanger leans towards craft beer in small bars on Øvre Holmegate and drinks outside on the quays on light summer evenings, though at Norwegian prices.

Both are gateways to very fine country, but Stavanger's is more spectacular. The Lysefjord has near-kilometre-high walls, and the Preikestolen and Kjerag hikes are world-famous. Boats, kayaks and island-hopping in Ryfylke add life on the water.

Aberdeen's outdoors is broader and gentler. Royal Deeside and the Cairngorm plateau suit long walks, and Glenshee and the Lecht have winter skiing. On the coast you get cliff paths, seals at the Ythan estuary and dolphins seen from right by the harbour.

Aberdeen is far ahead here. Within easy reach are Dunnottar, the tower houses of Crathes, Craigievar and Fyvie, Balmoral and the Deeside villages, the Speyside distilleries, Elgin's ruined cathedral and Dundee by train. A week of different outings is easy to fill.

Away from the fjord, Stavanger's list is short: Utstein Abbey, white-wooden Egersund, and a long day to Avaldsnes and its Viking farm. The best days out from Stavanger are hikes and boat trips rather than towns.

Both cities are safe and unhurried with children, but Stavanger makes more room for them. It has the Petroleum Museum's salvaged-equipment playground, a children's museum, a science centre in Sandnes, the Kongeparken amusement park and the sheltered dunes of Jæren, with Preikestolen as a hike for older children.

Aberdeen has the science centre, the beach funfair, Duthie Park's glasshouses and dolphin-spotting. That's enough for a few days, but in both cities you need indoor plans for wet weather.

Both centres are easy to walk, and neither has a tram or metro. In Aberdeen the station, Union Street, the harbour and the museums are all close together, though Old Aberdeen and the beach are a longer walk or a short bus ride away. Trains run along the coast and south to the rest of Britain, but the castles, Deeside and the distilleries are well away from the railway, so a car makes those days much easier.

Stavanger is a little easier overall. You can cross the centre in a quarter of an hour, and fast boats to the islands and a local train down the Jæren coast give you options that buses alone don't. You still need a car for Kjerag, the outer beaches or any freedom on the fjord side, and you'll meet tunnels and road tolls rather than traffic.

Shopping is modest in both, and nobody should plan a trip around it. Aberdeen has more: two central malls of British chains plus independents around Belmont Street and Rosemount. Its souvenirs are tartan, knitwear and whisky. In Stavanger the souvenirs are Norwegian wool sweaters and outdoor gear, sold in a few pedestrian streets at high prices.

Here the difference is large. Aberdeen is not cheap, but its prices are British, its museums are free and its hotels are often good value at weekends.

In Stavanger, eating out, drinking and boat trips all cost well above European norms, so most visitors rely on supermarket picnics and free hikes. Car hire is a cost in both cities.

The two are on a par, but the emphasis differs. Aberdeen's programme is mostly touring work: musicals, national opera and ballet at His Majesty's Theatre, visiting orchestras at the Music Hall, and folk sessions in pubs.

Stavanger has its own orchestra, the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, in a fine waterfront concert hall at Bjergsted. Its year peaks with MaiJazz in spring and a chamber-music festival in late summer.

Stavanger has a real tradition here, even if it's a small one. You can use the public saunas on the harbour with a cold-water plunge, and the heated outdoor pool at Gamlingen is open in all weathers.

Aberdeen has nothing like that. Relaxing there means a hotel spa or a country-house hotel in Deeside, and the quiet comes mostly from the countryside close by.