Amsterdam or Lubeck?

Lübeck has the better seaside because the beach belongs to the city. Travemünde's long sand with its hooded wicker chairs is a short train ride away, and the Baltic there is calm, shallow and free of tides, so it is easy for paddling. More resorts follow the bay to the north.

Amsterdam's nearest proper sand is at Zandvoort, half an hour away on the open North Sea, where wind and grey skies mean most people walk rather than swim. The city's own beaches at IJburg and its lakes are for a warm afternoon only.

Amsterdam eats more widely, thanks to its trading past: Indonesian rijsttafel, Surinamese roti, herring stalls and neighbourhood restaurants in De Pijp and Oost. Its drinking culture of brown cafés, jenever tasting rooms and the evening borrel is the real treat.

Lübeck is narrower but has a distinct character. Marzipan is made around the town hall, Rotspon wine ages in old cellars, and the sea captains' guild house serves meals at long wooden tables. Past that the choice is solid taverns and Travemünde's fish restaurants.

Amsterdam has the deeper set of sights. The Rijksmuseum's Dutch masters, the Van Gogh Museum, the Stedelijk and the Anne Frank House are collections of world importance, and the UNESCO canal ring sits around them. You need three or four days to do it justice.

Lübeck has a whole medieval townscape rather than great galleries. The Holstentor, the Marienkirche and the stepped-gable merchant houses form the best-preserved Hanseatic city on the Baltic, with the Hansemuseum and the Thomas Mann house to add some context. Two days covers it well.

The gap here is wide. Amsterdam goes from candlelit brown cafés to all-night clubs in converted industrial buildings, and the Amsterdam Dance Event takes over the city each October. Locals drink on canal-side terraces in the Jordaan and De Pijp.

In Lübeck a night out means a quiet pub or wine bar in the old town, or a summer evening on the Obertrave or Travemünde's promenade. Anyone who wants to dance takes the train to Hamburg.

Both sit in flat, gentle country without any wild scenery, and both are best seen by bike. Amsterdam's countryside is polders, dykes and windmills, with Waterland a ferry ride away and dunes with bison near the coast. Lübeck's is woodier and wetter, with canoeing on the reedy Wakenitz, the clay cliff walk above the Baltic north of Travemünde and the Holstein Switzerland lakes within an hour.

From Amsterdam, a dense rail network puts Haarlem, Leiden, Delft, Utrecht, The Hague and Rotterdam each within an hour. Windmills at Zaanse Schans and Kinderdijk and the Keukenhof in spring add to the list, so a week of outings is easy.

Lübeck has a few strong choices: Hamburg in about 45 minutes, Wismar's second Hanseatic old town and Schwerin's island castle. The smaller lake towns of Ratzeburg and Eutin follow, but after that the options run out quickly.

Amsterdam has more for children within the city itself. On a dry day there is Artis in the Plantage, one of Europe's oldest zoos, along with the city farms and the Vondelpark playgrounds. When it rains, NEMO by the station is the real standby, with hands-on science built for play, and a covered canal boat or a pancake house will get you through a shower. The catch is the fast bikes and the unfenced canal edges, so small children need a hand held.

Lübeck depends on the coast and the summer. The gentle water at Travemünde suits toddlers, and with the aquarium on the bay and Hansa-Park half an hour up the shore, a warm week can be a good seaside stay. Out of season, and on wet days, the old town's small museums are nearly all there is, so it works best as a summer trip.

Amsterdam combines a walkable centre with trams, a metro, free ferries to Noord and a direct train to Schiphol, and you can hire a bike to get around as locals do. Lübeck's island old town is only about 2km long and easy on foot, though there are some cobbles. Buses and regional trains to Travemünde and Hamburg cover the rest, but the network is much thinner.

Amsterdam has shops at every level. Kalverstraat and Leidsestraat have the high-street chains and De Bijenkorf on Dam Square is a grand department store, but the real pleasure is the small specialist shops and galleries spread through the Jordaan and the western canals. The markets add local character, from everyday stalls at the Albert Cuyp to bulbs on the floating Bloemenmarkt.

Lübeck covers the basics and little more. Breite Strasse and Königstrasse are mostly German chains around a single department store, and there are only a few independent craft shops, in the courtyard passages off Hüxstrasse. In Amsterdam you can browse for a whole afternoon, but Lübeck's shops take about an hour. The one thing you will only find here is something to eat: marzipan from the confectioners by the town hall.

Lübeck is clearly the cheaper stay. Mid-range rooms in the old town come without a capital's premium, and taverns, bakeries and harbour kiosks keep meals reasonable. The one exception is Travemünde in July and August.

Amsterdam's canal-ring hotels are among the costliest in Europe, and the tourist tax, Northern European restaurant prices and museum tickets add up quickly. Staying in Haarlem or Utrecht helps.

Amsterdam has a world-class stage. The Concertgebouw and its orchestra, the national opera and ballet on the Amstel, contemporary music and jazz on the IJ, and touring bands at Paradiso and the Melkweg make it a city to plan evenings around.

Lübeck is smaller and more intimate. Theater Lübeck stages opera and drama, organ recitals continue Buxtehude's tradition in the Marienkirche, and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival brings well-known names in summer. For rock or jazz, people head to Hamburg.

Neither is a spa destination, but they relax you in different ways. Amsterdam has large, mixed, nude day spas on its edges and quiet mornings on the canals, but its centre is crowded. Lübeck's calm old town and riverside benches are restful in themselves, and Travemünde's long tradition as a seaside spa lives on in wellness hotels and the seawater pools at Scharbeutz.