Antwerp or The Hague?

The Hague has a real beach and Antwerp does not. Scheveningen's long, wide sands sit about a quarter of an hour from the centre by tram, with pavilions and deckchairs in summer and quieter Kijkduin backed by dunes further south.

In Antwerp the closest thing is Sint-Annastrand on the tidal Scheldt, which is for strolling, not swimming, and the coast at Knokke or Blankenberge means a long return trip by train. Either way the North Sea stays cold, so The Hague's edge is a beach afternoon on your doorstep rather than a swimming vacation.

Antwerp eats and drinks better across the board. Flemish dishes such as beer-braised stoofvlees, mussels and shrimp croquettes, frites from a proper frietkot and a bolleke of the local amber ale are the everyday pleasures, and Het Zuid and Het Eilandje add ambitious modern kitchens with a few starred tables.

The Hague's strength is narrower but distinctive: Indonesian cooking, from a full rijsttafel to quick plates of rendang and sate, is unusually good thanks to the city's long ties with the former Dutch East Indies. Beyond that and the herring carts and harbour fish stalls of Scheveningen, meals are pleasant rather than a reason to come.

Antwerp has the richer set of sights. The Gothic cathedral with its Rubens altarpieces, the painter's own house, the UNESCO-listed Plantin-Moretus printing house and a major fine arts collection make a strong Flemish Baroque core, with Central Station, Zurenborg's Art Nouveau and the MAS adding later layers.

The Hague is more stately and more concentrated. The Mauritshuis, with Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring, is a world-class small museum beside the medieval Binnenhof, and the Peace Palace, the Mondrians at the Kunstmuseum, Escher and Panorama Mesdag round it out. Both fill two or three days, but Antwerp's are more varied and more grand.

Antwerp goes out much later and harder. Belgian bars keep no fixed closing time, the city has a long house and techno tradition in old warehouses near the docks and one of the Low Countries' best-known gay scenes, and Het Zuid adds cocktail and wine bars.

The Hague is a place for an after-work drink on the Plein's terraces, a weekend round on the Grote Markt and summer sundowners at the Scheveningen beach pavilions. Clubbing is thin, and people wanting a big night take the train to Rotterdam or Amsterdam.

The Hague has far more open country within easy reach. The dunes of Meijendel and the Westduinpark run along its shore, the old Haagse Bos forest reaches nearly into the centre, and the coast gives beach walks, dune cycling towards the bulb fields and kitesurfing when the wind is up.

Antwerp's surroundings are flat and taken up largely by the port, so green space means city parks such as Rivierenhof and the Stadspark. The Kalmthoutse Heide heathland and the dyke rides through the Scheldt polders are worth a cycle, but they take an effort to reach.

Both are excellent bases, and the difference is the region they open up. Antwerp gives the Flemish art cities: Mechelen on the doorstep, Ghent with its Van Eyck altarpiece, Brussels, Leuven and Bruges, plus Rotterdam and even Delft and Kinderdijk across the border.

The Hague's neighbours are closer still. Delft and Leiden are about a quarter of an hour away, Gouda and Rotterdam barely more, and Amsterdam, Haarlem and Utrecht are under an hour. In spring the Keukenhof gardens and bulb fields are an easy addition that Antwerp cannot match as simply.

The Hague is the easier city with children. Madurodam's miniature Netherlands is a classic outing, and a sandy beach with a pier, a sea aquarium, the hands-on Museon and Duinrell's rides and water park just outside town give several days of variety.

Antwerp has a strong opening day, with one of the world's oldest zoos right beside Central Station, then the MAS rooftop, the Steen and the foot tunnel under the Scheldt. Its bigger draws, Bobbejaanland and the coast, need a car or a long train ride.

Both are easy without a car, but the layouts differ. Antwerp packs nearly everything into a half-hour walk from Central Station along the Meir to the cathedral and the river, with trams and the underground premetro for Het Eilandje and Zurenborg.

The Hague's historic core is small, yet the beach, Madurodam and the Peace Palace lie further out, so you rely on the trams more. In return it is the better city for cycling, with separate lanes nearly everywhere and dune paths along the coast, where Antwerp's cobbles and tram tracks need more care.

Antwerp is the stronger shopping city, and fashion is the reason. The legacy of its fashion academy fills the Nationalestraat, Kammenstraat and Het Zuid with conceptual Belgian labels, while the diamond quarter, the Kloosterstraat antique dealers and Belgian chocolate add further reasons to browse.

The Hague is smaller and genteel: antiques, galleries and boutiques on the Denneweg and Noordeinde, the glass-roofed Passage and the usual chains around Grote Marktstraat. Its standout is the huge Haagse Markt, piled with fabrics and spices, rather than anything to match Antwerp's designers.

Neither is cheap, and the costs land in different places. In Antwerp hotel rooms tend to cost less than in nearby capitals, but sit-down dinners follow high Belgian prices, so frites, café beers and set lunches are how you save.

In The Hague, rooms are often easier to find at fair prices at weekends, when business travellers leave, though Scheveningen's seafront charges more in summer. Indonesian and Surinamese eateries and picnics from the Haagse Markt keep food spending down well.

The two are evenly matched, but in different art forms. Antwerp has the opera: Opera Ballet Vlaanderen in the historic house on the Frankrijklei, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra beside Central Station, adventurous contemporary work at deSingel and early music in the Baroque church of AMUZ.

The Hague has no resident opera, but it is home to Nederlands Dans Theater, which makes it the place to see world-class contemporary dance. The Residentie Orkest and the Royal Conservatory cover concerts, and summer brings festivals at the beach. In both cities most theatre is in Dutch.

The Hague is the better place to unwind. Large Dutch sauna complexes in the city and on its edge are built for whole days of saunas, cold plunges, gardens and massage, where nudity is usually the rule, and the city's quiet embassy streets and early evenings help.

Antwerp has a solid Flemish sauna tradition too, but its big complexes are mostly out in the suburbs and countryside and reached by car, so the realistic choices are hotel spas or an idle afternoon in a park or brown café.