Belfast or Cambridge?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Belfast at least has the sea on its doorstep. Helen's Bay and Crawfordsburn are a short train ride away, and the north coast strands at Portstewart and Whiterocks make a fine day out, even if the water stays too cold for more than a quick dip.

Cambridge is inland, with the Norfolk and Suffolk coast about an hour and a half's drive away. Its swimming is fresh water instead: the 1920s lido on Jesus Green and the river at Grantchester Meadows on a hot afternoon.

Belfast has the stronger food identity, built on local produce: Strangford oysters, Mourne lamb and dry-aged beef on short seasonal menus around the Cathedral Quarter and the Lisburn Road, and an Ulster fry for breakfast. St George's Market is a proper weekend graze.

Cambridge has no regional cooking to seek out. Its pleasures are an old pub's Sunday roast, scones in a riverside tea room and the daily market on Market Hill, with Mill Road adding Asian and Mediterranean variety. It is comfortable, and a few days covers it.

Cambridge is the richer city for sightseeing. Its colleges, chapels and libraries form an unusually dense historic core, with King's College Chapel and Trinity's Great Court at the centre, and the Fitzwilliam's art and antiquities would grace a far larger city. Be aware that some colleges charge for entry and close at exam time.

Belfast's story is industrial and recent, told through a few strong sights rather than a whole old town: Titanic Belfast on the shipyard slipways, City Hall, the Ulster Museum and the murals of the Falls and Shankill roads. Seen with a local guide, those murals give a sense of living history that Cambridge has no equivalent for.

Both are pub towns, but Belfast's evenings have more life. The Cathedral Quarter's cobbled entries fill at weekends, the Crown Liquor Saloon is a Victorian institution, and traditional sessions turn a round of pubs into a proper night. Places do close fairly early, though.

Cambridge's evenings are gentler: historic inns, riverside gardens in summer and a few livelier bars on Regent Street and Mill Road. Its small student clubs go quiet out of term, and anyone wanting a big night takes the train to London.

Here Belfast is far ahead. The basalt cliffs of Cave Hill and the slopes of Divis overlook the city, the Lagan towpath leads out into regional parkland, and within reach lie the granite Mournes, the Glens of Antrim, Strangford Lough and the Giant's Causeway.

Cambridge offers a mild, level countryside instead: punting through the Backs, water meadows on the way to Grantchester, and the birds and wild ponies of Wicken Fen. It is lovely for an easy cycle, but there is no high ground or dramatic scenery.

Cambridge is the better base for outings because so much is close by rail. London is under an hour away, Ely Cathedral about fifteen minutes, and Norwich, Bury St Edmunds, Lavenham and the great houses at Audley End, Wimpole and Anglesey Abbey are all easy to reach. That makes a week full of short, varied trips.

Belfast's trips are fewer but longer and more scenic. Dublin is two hours by train, Carrickfergus Castle and the Ulster Folk Museum are close, and the Antrim coast run past Dunluce and Bushmills or the walls of Derry fill a whole day, usually best with a car.

Both work well with children, and both are compact, safe and friendly. What differs is the kind of attraction. Belfast offers W5's hands-on science, a zoo on the slopes of Cave Hill and the steam engines at the Folk and Transport Museum, though its rain means planning for indoor days.

Cambridge has punting, the whale skeleton at the free Museum of Zoology and the historic aircraft at Duxford, the best family outing of the two. The hushed college sights will bore younger children, though.

Cambridge is the easier city to move around. Colleges, market, museums and river sit in a flat, largely pedestrian centre, and a hired bike reaches everything else. Leave the car behind, as traffic and parking in the centre are restricted.

Belfast's centre is walkable too, from City Hall to the Titanic Quarter, and the Glider buses and lough-side trains help. But it is more spread out, buses thin out in the evening, and its best scenery needs a car or a coach tour.

Linen against books sums up the difference. In Belfast the thing to take home is Irish linen, the craft the city grew rich on, along with whiskey, local food and the crafts, prints and vintage finds at St George's Market at weekends. The chains gather around Donegall Place and under the glass dome of Victoria Square.

Cambridge's speciality is books, from long-established academic booksellers to second-hand dealers in the lanes. There are small independent clothes shops on Green Street and Trinity Street, and vintage shops and international grocers on Mill Road. Neither city has luxury shopping, so in both it fits around the sightseeing.

Belfast is noticeably kinder to the wallet. Rooms are fairly priced except on big event weekends, pub food and transport are moderate, and the Ulster Museum and Botanic Gardens are free, even if restaurants still charge UK prices.

Cambridge is one of the costlier places in England to stay. Its few central hotels are in steady demand, especially in summer and around graduations. Free university museums, free evensong and a centre you can walk help, and a college room out of term can soften the bill.

Both have a good local scene, but you will hear different things. Belfast's live music is part of a night in the pub, with traditional sessions and singer-songwriters in the Cathedral Quarter, and the Ulster Orchestra, the Grand Opera House and the Lyric's Irish drama for a more formal evening.

Cambridge's standout is choral music. Evensong by the choirs of King's, St John's and Trinity in candlelit chapels is unlike anything in Belfast, and the Arts Theatre, Footlights comedy and the summer Folk Festival round out the year.

Cambridge is the easier place to slow down, because its quiet corners are in the middle of town, while Belfast's are mostly outside it. In Belfast, calm means a hotel or country-house spa, a stroll along the Lagan or an hour in a pub snug, and visitors who really want to unwind usually head for the coast or the hills.

In Cambridge, an afternoon in a punt, a bench in a college garden or the Botanic Garden, or a walk across the meadows to tea in a Grantchester orchard are all close at hand. Neither city has a bathing culture of its own. King's Parade is crowded on summer days, so the calm is best found early or late.