Antwerp or Bamberg?

Neither is a place for a beach. Antwerp at least has Sint-Annastrand, a sandy strip on the left bank of the Scheldt, though the tidal river is not for swimming. The North Sea at Blankenberge or Knokke is a long day out by train.

Bamberg is much further from any sea, but its swimming is closer to hand. On a hot afternoon, locals go to the old river bathing spot in the Hain park or the gravel-pit lakes on the edge of town.

Both take beer seriously, but in different ways. Antwerp's brown cafés pour long lists of Trappist and abbey beers alongside the local amber ale in its round bolleke glass. The food runs from stoofvlees and mussels to the modern, design-led cooking of Het Zuid and Het Eilandje, which includes a few starred tables.

Bamberg is narrower and more single-minded. Smoky Rauchbier poured from wooden barrels, summer evenings in the hillside Bierkeller and plates of Schäufele with dumplings are the whole point. Beyond Franconian cooking there is little choice, and not much for a special dinner.

Antwerp has the bigger collections: Rubens altarpieces in the Cathedral of Our Lady, his house and studio, the Plantin-Moretus printing house and the Royal Museum of Fine Arts. Add Central Station and the Art Nouveau streets of Zurenborg, and it rewards a visitor who wants to go inside and look at paintings.

Bamberg works the other way round. Its museums are small, but the whole old town is a UNESCO site that came through the war intact, and the pleasure is in walking it. Highlights are the four-towered cathedral on its hill, the Old Town Hall on its island in the Regnitz and the fishermen's houses of Little Venice.

Antwerp has a proper night out. Belgian bars have no fixed closing time, so the brown cafés and student streets stay busy past midnight. There is also a house and techno scene in old warehouses and under the railway near the docks, and one of the best-known gay scenes in the Low Countries.

Bamberg's evenings belong to the brewery taverns and, in summer, the beer cellars on the hills. The student bars of the Sand quarter liven up in term time, but clubs are few and the town is mostly quiet before the small hours.

Bamberg has the better countryside within reach. Franconian Switzerland, with its limestone valleys, caves and rock towers, starts less than an hour east, and the Steigerwald forests lie to the west. Hiking routes link village breweries across rolling farmland.

Antwerp's surroundings are flat, and the port takes up much of them. The Kalmthoutse Heide heathland to the north and bike rides on the polder dykes along the Scheldt are pleasant, but they are a break from the city rather than a reason to come.

Both make good bases, and Antwerp an exceptional one. Frequent trains reach Mechelen, Brussels, Leuven, Ghent and Rotterdam in about an hour or less, and Bruges, Delft, The Hague and Kinderdijk also work as day trips. A week could hold a different historic city every day.

Bamberg's list is shorter but strong. Nuremberg's castle, Würzburg's Residence, Coburg and Bayreuth are all about an hour away, the baroque churches of Vierzehnheiligen and Banz face each other closer still, and Rothenburg makes a long day out.

Antwerp is easier with children. The zoo is next to Central Station and the flat centre suits a pushchair. The MAS rooftop, the trams, the Steen and the foot tunnel under the Scheldt give a few days of variety, though the grey weather means having indoor plans ready.

Bamberg is safe and calm, with playgrounds in the Hain, boats for hire on the Regnitz, a leisure pool with slides and beer gardens where children play between the tables. Beyond that the sights are churches and townscape, and the cobbled climb to the cathedral is hard work with a pushchair.

Both are walking cities where a car is unnecessary, but the walking feels different. Antwerp spreads further, about half an hour on foot from Central Station to Het Zuid, so the trams, the underground premetro and the shared bikes on marked cycle lanes are all useful. The station puts Brussels and the Netherlands within easy reach.

Bamberg is smaller, with the island town, the cathedral hill and Little Venice minutes apart. The catch is the short, steep climbs on uneven cobbles, and the station is a fair walk from the old town.

Antwerp is a real shopping destination, and fashion is the reason. The boutiques of the Nationalestraat and Kammenstraat carry the conceptual Belgian labels that grew out of its fashion academy. Around them are the Meir high street, the antique and interiors shops of the Kloosterstraat and the diamond quarter.

Bamberg has chain stores, a few bookshops and some antique dealers. Its best things to take home are edible: produce from the market gardens and bottled smoked beer from the brewery shops.

Bamberg is the cheaper stay. Beer and tavern meals are inexpensive by German standards, rooms are moderately priced for most of the year, and walking takes the place of transport.

Antwerp's rooms cost less than in nearby capitals, but sit-down dinners follow high Belgian prices. Savings come from frites stands, café beers and lunch menus rather than evenings out.

Antwerp has more on stage. Opera Ballet Vlaanderen performs in the historic opera house on the Frankrijklei, and the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra plays in the Queen Elisabeth Hall. deSingel puts on the contemporary dance Flanders is known for, and AMUZ gives early music a Baroque church. Most theatre, though, is in Dutch.

Bamberg's strength is one great orchestra. The Bamberg Symphony has an international reputation, and there are organ and choral concerts in the cathedral. The town has no opera company of its own, so opera lovers look to Bayreuth, an hour away.

Bamberg is the more restful choice. The town slows down once the day visitors leave, and mornings by the river and afternoons in a shaded beer garden set the pace. The warm brine pools of Bad Staffelstein are about half an hour away by train.

Antwerp is a city for museums and shops rather than rest. Its sauna complexes are in the suburbs and the countryside and are mostly reached by car, so unwinding usually means a park or a brown café.