Antwerp or Rotterdam?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Rotterdam at least has a real one. Hoek van Holland is a wide North Sea strand with dunes, reached directly by metro, and the ships passing close offshore make it worth a walk even when the water is too cold.

Antwerp's only sand is Sint-Annastrand on the bank of the tidal Scheldt, where nobody swims. The coast at Blankenberge or Knokke takes a long train ride, so a hot afternoon usually ends at an outdoor pool or a lake on the edge of town.

Antwerp eats better, and more distinctively. Stoofvlees in dark beer, mussels and proper frites form a real regional cuisine, the beer list in an old brown café is a reason to visit by itself, and Het Zuid and Het Eilandje carry a confident top end with a few starred tables.

Rotterdam's strength lies elsewhere: Surinamese roti, Turkish bakeries and Cape Verdean and Indonesian kitchens, best explored at the Markthal and along the Witte de Withstraat. That is lively, good-value eating, but Dutch cooking itself barely goes beyond herring and bitterballen, and fine dining is a thin layer.

Antwerp has the richer heritage by some distance. Its sixteenth-century wealth survives in the Gothic cathedral with its Rubens paintings, the guild houses of the Grote Markt and the intact Plantin-Moretus printing house, with Central Station and the Art Nouveau streets of Zurenborg adding a later layer.

Rotterdam lost its old centre in 1940, so a visit there is about modern architecture: the Erasmus Bridge, the Cube Houses, the Markthal and the Depot Boijmans. Delfshaven and the SS Rotterdam keep some history alive, but the museums are solid rather than outstanding.

The two are close as places to go out, but the evenings feel different. Antwerp's bars have no fixed closing time, so brown cafés and student streets stay busy late, and the city has one of the best-known gay scenes in the Low Countries.

Rotterdam is more about clubs than bars. As the birthplace of gabber it draws crowds to hard techno and house nights in harbour venues, while the Oude Haven and Witte de Withstraat fill on summer evenings and the centre goes quiet early midweek.

Both sit in flat, built-up country, but Rotterdam gets more out of it. The Biesbosch national park, with its creeks and willow islands, is a short trip away, the dunes at Hoek van Holland are good for coastal walks, and the Kralingse Bos offers woods and sailing on the city's edge.

Antwerp's best outing is the Kalmthoutse Heide to the north, a heathland of dunes and pines for walking and cycling, along with quiet dyke rides through the Scheldt polders. Its parks are pleasant, but the green space is more modest.

Both are excellent bases, and the real choice is which country you want to see. From Antwerp the trains run to Flemish cities: Mechelen in minutes, Ghent's canals and the Van Eyck altarpiece in under an hour, then Brussels, Leuven and Bruges.

From Rotterdam the Dutch Randstad opens up instead, with Delft a quarter of an hour away, The Hague just beyond, and Amsterdam, Leiden and Gouda all close. The two cities are about an hour apart, and Kinderdijk's windmills are easy from either.

Both cities work well with children. Antwerp's appeal is its compactness: the historic zoo sits next to Central Station, the flat centre suits a pushchair, and the foot tunnel under the Scheldt and the Steen castle are easy wins.

Rotterdam spreads out more but has wider pavements and more for children to do on the water. Blijdorp's ocean section, the hands-on harbour at the Maritime Museum and the water taxis are big draws, and Madurodam is a short train ride away.

Getting around is easy in both, in different ways. Antwerp is a walking city, where Central Station, the Meir, the cathedral and Het Zuid all fit within half an hour on foot, with trams and the premetro for the outer districts.

Rotterdam's postwar centre is wider and windier, so you will use the metro and trams more, and the water taxis across the Maas turn the river into part of the network. Both are built for cycling, and neither needs a car.

Antwerp is the more rewarding place to shop, especially for clothes. Conceptual Belgian labels fill the boutiques of the Kammenstraat and Het Zuid, and the city adds the diamond quarter, the interiors shops of the Kloosterstraat and the secondhand auctions on the Vrijdagmarkt.

Rotterdam does the high street well, with the Lijnbaan, the Beurstraverse and the Bijenkorf all close together. Its more individual side is the vintage, record and design shops on the Meent and the Nieuwe Binnenweg, but luxury and local crafts are thin.

Costs are much the same: both are expensive for eating out and kinder on rooms than the capitals nearby. In Antwerp the savings come from walking a compact centre, lunch menus, and frites or a local beer.

Rotterdam's hotels are plentiful and quiet at weekends, and the Markthal counters and Surinamese snack shops keep lunch cheap. Its inexpensive trains to Delft and The Hague also make it a cheaper base than staying in those cities.

These are equally strong scenes with different specialities. Antwerp has the opera and ballet, staged in the historic house on the Frankrijklei, plus contemporary dance at deSingel and early music at AMUZ in a Baroque church.

Rotterdam has no opera house, but its Philharmonic at De Doelen is one of the country's best, and the North Sea Jazz Festival makes July a draw for music lovers. In both cities much of the theatre is in Dutch.

Neither is a place to slow down, but Rotterdam has the better options for a restful day. Large Dutch sauna complexes with outdoor pools and gardens sit on the city's edge, and visitors should know the sauna areas are usually textile-free. The Kralingse Bos is close by for a calm walk.

Antwerp's wellness complexes are mostly out in the countryside and need a car. Within the city, a park or an afternoon in a brown café is the usual way to unwind.