Amsterdam or Rotterdam?

Neither city is a beach destination, and the cold, windy North Sea means most visitors walk the sand rather than swim. What differs is how you get there. From Amsterdam, a half-hour train takes you to the dune-backed sands of Zandvoort and Bloemendaal with their summer beach pavilions, and on hot days you can swim in town at IJburg or the Sloterplas.

Rotterdam's beach is Hoek van Holland, at the mouth of the harbour and reached by metro. It takes a little longer to get to, but huge ships pass close offshore, which gives it an industrial character the Amsterdam beaches lack.

Amsterdam has a modest edge, mainly because eating and drinking are so tied together there: brown cafés with sanded floors, centuries-old jenever tasting rooms and the early-evening borrel with bitterballen. Indonesian rijsttafel and herring from street stalls round it out, and the Jordaan, De Pijp and Oost are where to eat, not Damrak.

Rotterdam's food reflects its role as a port city. Cape Verdean, Moroccan, Turkish and Surinamese kitchens sit alongside bistros in old harbour buildings, and the Markthal puts dozens of stalls under one painted roof. It is more varied than refined, and fine dining there is a small field.

Here Amsterdam is far ahead. Rembrandt's Night Watch, the world's largest Van Gogh collection and the Anne Frank House would be enough on their own, and the 17th-century canal ring, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, makes the whole centre worth walking. Three or four days barely feel long enough.

Rotterdam's appeal is architecture, not old masters. The 1940 bombing destroyed most of the old centre, so people come for the Erasmus Bridge, the Cube Houses and the towers of the Kop van Zuid. The Kunsthal and the Maritime Museum are good, but the old city survives mainly in Delfshaven, and two or three days are enough.

Amsterdam gives you more choice and keeps going later. You can drink by candlelight in a brown café in the Jordaan, sit on a canal-side terrace in De Pijp, or go to all-night clubs in old industrial buildings in Noord, and the Amsterdam Dance Event takes over the city every October.

Rotterdam's best nights are in its clubs. It is where gabber was born, and techno and house nights in its warehouse and harbour venues draw crowds from across the country. Bars on the Witte de Withstraat and around the Oude Haven fill on summer evenings, but on ordinary weeknights the centre empties early.

Both sit on flat, man-made land, and the outdoors in both means bikes, water and parks rather than hills. From Amsterdam the classic outing is the free ferry across the IJ and a ride through Waterland's wooden villages and meadows, and the coastal dunes of Zuid-Kennemerland have bison grazing.

Rotterdam's best outing is the Biesbosch, a national park of tidal creeks and willow islands about forty minutes away, good for paddling and birdwatching. Closer in, the Kralingse Bos offers sailing on its lake, and a boat trip round the vast harbour is a sight Amsterdam has nothing to match.

Both cities are excellent bases thanks to the dense Dutch rail network, so the real difference is which way you face. Amsterdam is closer to Haarlem, a quarter of an hour away, to the windmills of Zaanse Schans, to old Zuiderzee villages like Volendam and Marken, and in spring to the Keukenhof bulb fields.

Rotterdam is better for the south and for Belgium. Delft and The Hague are a short hop, a water bus runs to Kinderdijk, and Antwerp is about an hour by train, with Bruges and Ghent possible on a long day.

Both are safe, flat and relaxed with children, and Amsterdam has slightly more to fill the days. Artis is one of Europe's oldest zoos, NEMO is a science museum built for hands-on play, and canal boats and pancake houses are easy wins. Against that, there are unfenced canal edges everywhere and lots of fast-moving bikes, so small children need holding on to.

Rotterdam's wide pavements are more relaxed with a pushchair. Blijdorp zoo has a large ocean section, the Maritime Museum has a play harbour, and the water taxis and the Euromast are popular with most ages. Madurodam's miniature Netherlands is a short train ride away in The Hague.

Amsterdam is easier, mainly because its centre is so compact that most of the main sights are within half an hour's walk of each other. Trams, a north-south metro, free ferries to Noord and a direct train to Schiphol fill the gaps, though you need to watch for bikes every time you step off a pavement.

Rotterdam's transport works just as well on one tap-in system, and the water taxis and water buses on the Maas make the river a route as well as a view. The rebuilt centre is spread out along wide, windy roads, though, so you will rely more on the tram or a bike to get between sights.

Amsterdam is the better place for browsing. The Nine Streets across the western canals and the lanes of the Jordaan are full of boutiques, vintage shops and specialist stores, PC Hooftstraat has the luxury labels, and the Waterlooplein, Noordermarkt and floating Bloemenmarkt give the markets real character.

Rotterdam is built for straightforward high-street shopping, with the chains packed close together along the pedestrian Lijnbaan and the sunken Beurstraverse. The Meent and the Nieuwe Binnenweg have the independent fashion and record shops, but there are few luxury brands or local crafts.

Rotterdam is the cheaper stay, and the difference is mostly in the hotel bill. Rooms are plentiful and less pressured by tourism, and business hotels empty at weekends, while Amsterdam's canal-ring hotels are among the most expensive in Europe and come with a hefty tourist tax.

Eating and drinking cost much the same in both, since restaurant prices are high across the country. That is why a common plan is to sleep in Rotterdam and take a cheap train to Amsterdam for a day.

Amsterdam is ahead. The Concertgebouw is one of the world's great concert halls and has music most days of the season, the Dutch National Opera and Ballet perform on the Amstel, and Paradiso and the Melkweg bring in international touring bands.

Rotterdam's strength is jazz. The North Sea Jazz Festival each July is one of the world's major jazz gatherings, and the Rotterdam Philharmonic plays a full season at De Doelen. There is no resident opera, and in both cities most theatre is in Dutch.

Neither city is a place to unwind, and in both the main option is the Dutch sauna: large day spas on the edge of town, usually nude in the sauna areas. The difference is where you find calm. In Amsterdam it is early mornings on the quieter canals and afternoons in the Vondelpark, away from the crowds and bikes in the centre.

In Rotterdam, which runs at a brisk working-port pace, locals go to the woods and lake of the Kralingse Bos or sit on terraces by the river.