Antwerp or Bath?

Neither city is a place for a beach vacation, so the only difference is how you cool off. Antwerp has the sandy river strand at Sint-Annastrand, but the river there is not for swimming. The Belgian coast at Blankenberge or Knokke is a long but easy train ride, and otherwise summer swimming happens in pools and lakes on the edge of town.

Bath has something Antwerp's tidal Scheldt can't offer: a swim in the Avon at the weir or at spots further upstream. Weston-super-Mare is nearer than the Belgian coast, but the water is murky and the tide goes far out, and good sand means a long drive to Dorset or Devon.

Antwerp is the stronger place to eat and drink. Beyond stoofvlees, mussels and frites from proper friteries, it has a serious beer culture, from the bolleke of local amber ale to the long Trappist lists in the brown cafés. On top of that there is a modern restaurant scene in Het Zuid and Het Eilandje, with a few starred kitchens.

Bath eats well within narrower limits. Expect West Country cheese, Somerset cider, gastropubs, the Sally Lunn bun, afternoon tea in Georgian tearooms and the farmers' market in the old Green Park station. It has little international variety and no real street food, and dinner ends early.

The two are close in depth but very different in character. In Antwerp the draw is art and the legacy of a rich merchant port: Rubens in the cathedral and in his own house, the Plantin-Moretus printing house and the Royal Museum of Fine Arts. Later layers add Central Station, the Art Nouveau streets of Zurenborg and the MAS.

In Bath the city itself is the sight. The Royal Crescent, the Circus and Pulteney Bridge form one continuous Georgian townscape, with the Roman Baths and the Abbey at its heart, and its museums are smaller and more domestic in scale. Either city fills two or three days.

Antwerp has a proper night out and Bath mostly does not. Belgian bars have no fixed closing time, so the brown cafés and student streets stay busy late. The city also has a house and techno tradition in old dockside warehouses and one of the best-known gay scenes in the Low Countries.

Bath's evenings are built around coaching inns and the real-ale pubs of Walcot Street, plus a handful of clubs that fill up during university term. Most weeknights are over soon after dinner, and anyone wanting more takes the short train to Bristol.

Bath has much the better outdoors. Its hills start at the edge of town: the Skyline loop follows the ridges, and the Kennet and Avon towpath and the Two Tunnels Greenway lead out into the countryside. The Cotswolds and the Mendips, including Cheddar Gorge, are within an hour.

Antwerp is flat and heavily built up, with the port taking up much of the river. Its outdoor pleasures are parks such as Rivierenhof, bike rides along the polder dykes and the heath and pine woods of the Kalmthoutse Heide to the north.

Both are excellent bases, and Antwerp edges ahead because nearly everything can be reached by frequent trains. Ghent, Bruges, Brussels, Leuven and Mechelen are all close, and over the Dutch border you can add Rotterdam, Delft and Kinderdijk. That makes it ideal for a car-free trip that takes in several historic cities.

Bath's range is more varied. Bristol and Cardiff are easy by rail, and beyond them are Stonehenge, Avebury, Wells, Glastonbury, Lacock and the Cotswold villages. Many of those country sights need a car or a small-group tour, so days out take more arranging.

Antwerp is the easier city with children. The zoo is right beside Central Station and the flat centre is easy with a pushchair. Trams, the Steen castle and the free foot tunnel under the Scheldt make easy outings. Belgian cafés are relaxed about children, though the weather means having indoor plans ready.

Bath has the Roman Baths, which children love, and the playground in Royal Victoria Park, but little else aimed at them. Its steep streets are hard work with a pushchair, so families tend to go to Bristol or Longleat for the bigger attractions.

Both centres are compact and best seen on foot, and a car is a nuisance in either. Antwerp spreads a little wider, so trams, the premetro, shared bikes and cycle lanes carry you out to Het Eilandje and Zurenborg. Central Station has direct links to Brussels, the Netherlands and the airport.

Bath's core takes about twenty minutes to cross and much of it is pedestrianised. But the streets climb steeply away from it, and public transport into the countryside beyond is thin.

Fashion is what makes Antwerp worth a shopping trip. The influence of its fashion academy shows in the conceptual Belgian labels along the Nationalestraat, the Kammenstraat and in Het Zuid, which feel quite unlike the global luxury houses found elsewhere. Add the Meir for chain stores, the diamond quarter by the station, and antiques and interiors on the Kloosterstraat.

Bath is pleasant for browsing rather than a reason to travel on its own. There are British brands on Milsom Street, chains at SouthGate, independent bookshops, antiques on Bartlett Street, and the furniture makers and salvage dealers of Walcot Street. The Guildhall Market and the shops on Pulteney Bridge add charm, but there is no real luxury tier or large department stores.

Neither is cheap, but Antwerp is easier on the wallet. Its rooms cost less than in the nearby capitals, and a beer in a local café or a cone of frites stays reasonable, though sit-down dinners are pricey.

In Bath, a small city with many visitors, accommodation is expensive, and especially so on summer weekends and around Christmas. The Roman Baths and the thermal spa are expensive too. Staying midweek, eating pub lunches or sleeping in Bristol makes the biggest difference.

Antwerp has the deeper programme. Opera Ballet Vlaanderen performs in the historic opera house, and the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra is based at the Queen Elisabeth Hall. deSingel stages the contemporary dance Flanders is known for and AMUZ is devoted to early music, though most theatre is in Dutch.

Bath centres on the gilded Georgian Theatre Royal, which has touring drama, plays heading for the West End and pantomime, all in English. There are also concerts in the Abbey and the Assembly Rooms and long-running festivals of music and literature. With no resident orchestra or opera company, though, the choice on most nights is small.

This is where Bath is far ahead. It is the only place in Britain where you can bathe in natural hot spring water, from the rooftop pool at Thermae Bath Spa looking out over the Abbey to the small Georgian Cross Bath. Tea in the Pump Room and walks in the riverside gardens set a restful pace.

Antwerp has no springs or bathhouses. Flanders has large sauna complexes, but they are mostly outside the city and easiest to reach by car, so unwinding there usually means a park or a brown café.