Belfast or Killarney?

Neither place is a beach destination, and the water off both is cold enough to make a swim a brisk dip. What differs is the kind of shore. From Belfast, a short suburban train reaches the small sandy coves of Helen's Bay and Crawfordsburn on the County Down side. Killarney's beaches, Inch and Rossbeigh, are about 40 minutes away by car, but they are long, wild Atlantic strands where beginners can take a surf lesson.

Belfast gives you more to eat. Seasonal tasting menus in the Cathedral Quarter and on the Lisburn Road make the most of Strangford oysters, Mourne lamb and dry-aged beef, and St George's Market makes for a good Saturday of grazing. The pubs also carry a deep shelf of Irish whiskey.

Killarney cooks honestly with Kerry lamb and Dingle seafood, and there is chowder and brown bread in every pub. Still, many menus are built for coach parties and there is no market to browse. Keen diners tend to drive to Kenmare or Dingle.

Belfast has far more to see, and most of it tells the story of the shipyards and the Troubles. Titanic Belfast stands on the slipways where the liner was built, and the domed City Hall, Crumlin Road Gaol, the Ulster Museum and a guided walk along the peace walls easily fill several days.

Killarney's history sits out in the landscape, not in its streets. Muckross House and its gardens, Ross Castle on Lough Leane and the ruined Muckross Abbey are all at the edge of the park, and Pugin's cathedral is the one real sight in town. A day or two covers it all.

Both are pub towns at heart, but Belfast offers more and keeps it up all year. You can move between the old bars in the cobbled entries of the Cathedral Quarter, the carved snugs of the Crown Liquor Saloon and the student crowd on Botanic Avenue, and there is a small club scene for later on.

In summer Killarney's pubs on High Street and Plunkett Street are packed and loud, and a few late bars stay open after closing time. On winter weeknights, though, the town goes quiet.

Killarney comes out ahead because the scenery starts at your hotel door. Flat paths lead out of town past three lakes, ancient oak woods, Torc Waterfall and wild red deer. MacGillycuddy's Reeks and the Gap of Dunloe lie just beyond, and the Kerry Way begins in the town itself.

Belfast's green edges are closer than many visitors expect, with Cave Hill and Divis a bus ride away and the Lagan towpath leading south. Its great landscapes, though, are the granite Mournes and the Causeway Coast, an hour or more away. They are excellent outings rather than a backyard.

Belfast has the wider choice of day trips. Dublin is about two hours away by train, and there are Norman Carrickfergus, the cathedrals of Armagh, the walls of Derry and Mount Stewart's gardens. The Antrim coast puts Dunluce, Bushmills and the Giant's Causeway into one long day.

Most outings from Killarney are drives through scenery, around the Ring of Kerry, over Moll's Gap to Kenmare or out to Dingle. Its great prize is Skellig Michael, though you can only land there by summer boat when the sea is calm. Cork, about an hour and a half away, is the main city trip.

Belfast gives children more variety and copes better with wet days. There is W5's hands-on science, the zoo on Cave Hill, and steam engines and trams at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, which together mean a rainy morning still has a plan.

Killarney is a gentle outdoor town for families, with flat lakeside paths for bikes and buggies, jaunting-car rides, lake boats and the animals at Muckross Traditional Farms. When it pours, though, there is little beyond the hotel pool.

You can walk the centre of either place. Belfast also has the Glider rapid buses and suburban trains along the lough to Holywood, Bangor and Carrickfergus, so a car-free stay works well, though you will want a car or a coach tour for the Causeway or the Mournes.

In Killarney the station is in the centre and the park is easy to reach by hired bike. Beyond that it is car country, with sparse buses and narrow Ring of Kerry roads shared with tour coaches in summer.

Neither is a reason to travel, but Belfast has a proper city shopping area. There are high-street chains around Donegall Place, the glass-domed Victoria Square, independents on the Lisburn Road, and Irish linen to take home. Killarney's few streets of tweed, Celtic jewellery and Aran knitwear are worth an hour's browsing and not much more.

Belfast is easier on the budget. Hotel rooms are fairly priced outside big event weekends, and the Ulster Museum, the Botanic Gardens and City Hall tours are free. Since you can manage without a car, getting around costs less too.

Killarney has its savings, with family-run B&Bs outside the peak months and a national park that costs nothing to walk. But meals and drinks come at full Irish prices, hotels charge heavily in July and August, and seeing the region usually means paying for a hire car or tours.

Both have traditional Irish sessions in the pubs, but Belfast has much more beyond them. The Ulster Orchestra plays at the Ulster Hall, the Grand Opera House puts on touring musicals and opera, the Lyric is known for Irish drama, and festivals in spring and autumn fill the calendar.

Killarney's music is almost all trad, played in pubs in season and at dinner shows with set dancing. For a staged performance you go to Siamsa Tíre, the National Folk Theatre in Tralee.

Killarney is the better place to slow down. It has an unusual number of large lakeside and country-house hotels with full spas, pools and treatment rooms overlooking the mountains, and a quiet out-of-season stay in one of them is a popular reason to visit.

Belfast has hotel spas and the hardy sea swimmers who dip in the lough, and a slow walk in the Botanic Gardens is pleasant. Still, visitors who want to unwind usually leave the city for the coast or the hills.