Amsterdam or Cambridge?

Neither is a beach city, but Amsterdam at least has a real shore within reach. The dunes and long sands of Zandvoort and Bloemendaal are about half an hour away by train, and IJburg's man-made beaches and the Sloterplas are in town for hot days.

From Cambridge the Suffolk and Norfolk coast is a drive of about an hour and a half, so swimming means the 1920s Jesus Green Lido or the Cam at Grantchester Meadows. Both are pleasant on a warm afternoon, but they won't make a seaside trip.

Amsterdam has more worth seeking out, largely thanks to its trading past. Indonesian rijsttafel, Surinamese broodjes, herring stalls and the Albert Cuyp market give it dishes you cannot easily get at home, and De Pijp, the Jordaan and Oost reward exploring.

Cambridge is more about comfort than discovery: beamed pubs serving Sunday roasts, scones in riverside tea rooms, the daily Market Hill stalls and an international mix along Mill Road. Both cities share a drinking culture, the brown café in one and the ale house in the other.

Amsterdam has more to see and needs longer to see it. The Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum and the Stedelijk share one square, the Anne Frank House is a deeply moving visit, and the UNESCO canal ring turns a simple walk into sightseeing. Three or four days is about right.

Cambridge works on a smaller, more concentrated scale. Its eight centuries of colleges, with King's College Chapel, Trinity's Great Court and the Wren Library, form one of the densest historic cores anywhere, and the Fitzwilliam is surprisingly rich. Two or three days covers it, though some colleges charge entry and close during exams.

This is the widest gap between the two. Amsterdam can take you from canal-side terraces in the Jordaan to clubs with all-night licences in converted warehouses across the IJ, and the Amsterdam Dance Event takes over the city every October.

A night out in Cambridge means a historic inn, a riverside beer garden or the livelier bars on Regent Street and Mill Road. Its clubs serve students and go quiet in the summer break, so anyone after a big night takes the train to London.

Both sit in flat, open country under wide skies, so neither offers hills or wild scenery. Amsterdam has more variety close by: a ferry and a bike take you into Waterland's polders and wooden villages, the Amsterdamse Bos has woods and rowing, and the coastal dunes of Zuid-Kennemerland have grazing bison.

Cambridge's outdoors is gentler and closer to the centre. You can punt through the Backs, walk the water meadows to Grantchester or go birdwatching on the old reserve at Wicken Fen.

Both make excellent bases, and Amsterdam's edge comes from how dense the Dutch network is. Haarlem is a quarter of an hour away, Leiden, Delft, Utrecht, The Hague and Rotterdam are all an easy train ride, and windmills at Zaanse Schans and Kinderdijk, the Zuiderzee fishing villages and Keukenhof in spring fill any gaps.

Cambridge has London under an hour away, Ely Cathedral fifteen minutes up the line and Norwich a little further. Its country outings, such as Lavenham's wool towns, Audley End and the National Trust estates, are often easier with a car.

Both are safe, flat and easy with children, but Amsterdam keeps them busier. Artis zoo, the hands-on NEMO science museum, city farms, pancake houses and canal boats will fill several days. The catch is fast bikes and unfenced canal edges.

Cambridge's best family outings are punting, the whale skeleton at the free Museum of Zoology and the historic aircraft at Duxford just outside town. The hushed colleges are less fun for children, so a few days is enough.

In both cities you can walk to most things, and bikes are how locals get about. Amsterdam adds a proper network on top, with trams round the canal ring, a north-south metro, free IJ ferries and a direct train to Schiphol, all on one contactless card.

Cambridge's pedestrian centre is even more compact, but the station is a walk of about twenty-five minutes from it, buses are basic and the country estates really need a car. In both cities a car is a liability in the centre.

Amsterdam gives shopping real breadth. The Nine Streets and the Jordaan are full of independent boutiques and vintage shops, PC Hooftstraat has the luxury labels, De Bijenkorf anchors Dam Square, and markets from the Bloemenmarkt to Waterlooplein add character. Delft blue and Dutch cheese are the classic things to take home.

Cambridge is smaller and more bookish. Its specialities are the academic and second-hand booksellers, alongside small independent shops on Green Street and Trinity Street and the daily stalls on Market Hill. There is no luxury street.

Neither is cheap, and in both cities the room bill hurts most. Amsterdam's canal-ring hotels are among the dearest in Europe and a hefty tourist tax comes on top, though you can save by staying in Haarlem or Utrecht.

Cambridge comes out slightly kinder overall because so much of the sightseeing is free, including the Fitzwilliam, most university museums and evensong. Out of term, a college room can be the best deal in town.

Amsterdam has the bigger stage. The Concertgebouw and its orchestra are world class, opera and ballet play on the Amstel, the Bimhuis brings jazz, Paradiso and the Melkweg host touring bands, and the Holland Festival arrives each June.

Cambridge's distinctive offer is choral music. Evensong sung by the choirs of King's, St John's or Trinity in a candlelit chapel is something Amsterdam cannot match. Beyond that there is student comedy in the Footlights tradition, the Arts Theatre and the long-running Folk Festival, but no opera house.

Neither city has a bathing tradition, so rest comes in different forms. Amsterdam has large Dutch-style sauna complexes on its edges, usually mixed and nude, plus quiet early mornings on the canals.

Cambridge is more about slowing down outdoors: a punt on the river, a bench in a college garden or the Botanic Garden, or tea in the orchard at Grantchester. Both centres fill with visitors, so the calm in either is found early in the day or out at the edges.