Aberdeen or York?

Neither is a beach destination, and swimming off this cold North Sea coast is brief at best. The difference is in reach. Aberdeen has a long sandy beach a twenty-minute walk from the centre, with emptier dunes at Balmedie, so a bracing sea walk fits into any afternoon.

York is inland, so the sand means an hour on the train to Scarborough's two bays, or further to Filey and Whitby. That makes it a proper day out at a traditional seaside resort rather than something you drop into.

The two eat at much the same level, but from different larders. Aberdeen leans on the sea and the farms inland: North Sea fish and shellfish, Aberdeen Angus beef, the buttery at breakfast and fish and chips down the coast at Stonehaven, with Speyside whisky poured everywhere.

York eats like a market town, with afternoon tea and fat rascals in old tearooms, Yorkshire ales, Sunday roasts and pies and cheese at the Shambles Market. Neither has much range beyond its own traditions, and the busiest streets around York's Minster lean towards tourist fare.

York has far more to see. The Minster's medieval glass, walls you can walk along, the Shambles and Stonegate, Jorvik on its excavated Viking street and the National Railway Museum fill two or three full days without repeating themselves.

Aberdeen's appeal is quieter: the silver granite of Marischal College and Union Street, the cobbled lanes and crowned tower of King's College in Old Aberdeen, and the Maritime Museum's story of fishing and oil. It is handsome and all of a piece, but you get through the highlights sooner.

Both are pub cities that go quiet early on weeknights, with little a visitor would travel for. Aberdeen's evenings are shaped by its two universities, with the bars and a few clubs around Belmont Street at their busiest on term-time weekends. York's draw is its centuries-old inns along Micklegate, Stonegate and the river, ideal for an ale-house crawl, though Micklegate fills with stag and hen parties at weekends and serious clubbers take the train to Leeds.

Aberdeen has the bigger landscapes on its doorstep. An hour up the Dee puts you in the Cairngorms among pine forests and high plateau, with skiing in winter. Close to town, the coast has cliff walks, seabird colonies, the seals of the Ythan estuary and dolphins off Torry Battery.

York's own green space is gentle: the Ouse and Foss paths, the Strays and the Museum Gardens on the flat Vale of York. The North York Moors and the Dales are lovely walking country, but they lie further out and take a car and a full day.

York wins on range and on ease. Trains reach Durham's cathedral, spa-town Harrogate, Leeds and Scarborough quickly, and by road Castle Howard, Fountains Abbey, Rievaulx and the Brontë village of Haworth could fill a week of outings.

Aberdeen's excursions are fewer but strong in character: Dunnottar on its sea stack, the Castle Trail of Crathes, Craigievar and Fyvie, Balmoral and the Speyside distilleries. Almost all of them need a car, whereas many of York's best-known trips can be done by rail.

York gives children more to do in less space. The National Railway Museum, Jorvik, the Victorian street in the Castle Museum and a walk along the walls cover a few days, and ghost tours suit older children.

Aberdeen is safe and relaxed but has less on offer: the Science Centre, the beach funfair, the Duthie Park glasshouses and dolphin-watching at the harbour. Its cooler, windier weather also means more time spent indoors.

Aberdeen's centre is compact, with the station, the harbour, Union Street and the main museums a short walk apart. Old Aberdeen, though, is half an hour north on foot or a bus ride, and there is no tram or metro. Trains reach Stonehaven, Dundee and Inverness, but the castles, Deeside and the distilleries really call for a hire car.

York is simpler still. Nearly every sight lies within or just outside the walls on flat, largely pedestrianised streets, the Minster is fifteen minutes on foot from the station, and cycling is easy. Driving into the centre is more trouble than it is worth, so you can leave the car behind until you head for the moors.

York is the better place to browse, largely because of the setting: independent bookshops, jewellers and antiques dealers along Stonegate, Petergate and the Shambles, and Christmas markets late in the year. Aberdeen's shopping is mostly chains in two indoor centres and on Union Street, with a few independents around Belmont Street and Rosemount, and its best buys (knitwear, tartan and whisky) are often found out in Deeside or at the distilleries.

Neither is cheap, but Aberdeen goes a little easier on the budget. Its many business hotels often have reasonable rates at weekends and in summer, and the museums and art gallery are free, though hiring a car to reach the hills adds up.

York's rooms inside the walls are in heavy demand and climb steeply at weekends, on race days and around Christmas, and the Minster, Jorvik and the castle museums charge admission. Staying midweek, walking everywhere and making the most of the free railway museum keep costs down.

Most of what you see on Aberdeen's stages comes from elsewhere. His Majesty's Theatre, an Edwardian house on Rosemount Viaduct, takes touring drama, musicals and visits from the national opera and ballet, the Music Hall hosts the Scottish orchestras, and an arena near the airport draws the big tours, with traditional music in pub sessions.

York makes more of its own, on a smaller scale. The Theatre Royal, one of England's oldest, puts on its own drama and a famous pantomime, the National Centre for Early Music fills a medieval church, choral evensong at the Minster is free, and the Mystery Plays are revived from time to time on wagons in the streets. The larger touring shows tend to go to Leeds instead.

Neither city has its own bathing culture, but York has a better answer close by. Harrogate's Royal Baths, with a Victorian Turkish bath in Moorish tiles, is half an hour away by train, and early mornings on the walls or long afternoon teas set a slow pace in town. In Aberdeen relaxation means a hotel spa or a country-house hotel in Deeside, and the quiet of the hills does more than any treatment.