Brighton or Rotterdam?

Brighton has the better beach for a visitor, because it sits right in town along the whole seafront, from the Marina past the Palace Pier to Hove, with lifeguards on the central stretches in summer. It is steep shingle, though, and the water is cold, so most people sit on it rather than swim.

Rotterdam's beach is a real sandy strand with dunes at Hoek van Holland, but it is the better part of an hour away by metro and swept by constant wind. It makes a good outing to watch the big ships pass, not the basis of a beach vacation.

The two eat about equally well, in different ways. Brighton's strength is small independent kitchens in the North Laine, the Lanes and Kemptown, a long vegetarian and vegan reputation, serious coffee, and seafood stalls under the seafront arches, with Sussex sparkling wine on the lists.

Rotterdam eats like a port city of immigrants: Surinamese roti, Turkish bakeries, Cape Verdean and Indonesian kitchens, with the Markthal and the Binnenrotte market as easy starting points. Neither has much of a top tier, so come for variety and casual meals rather than grand dining.

Rotterdam has more to fill a sightseeing itinerary. It is a city people visit for its architecture, from the Erasmus Bridge and the Cube Houses to the mirrored Depot Boijmans van Beuningen and the Kop van Zuid towers, with solid museums and old Delfshaven alongside.

Brighton has one outstanding sight in the Royal Pavilion, George IV's Indian-domed palace, and a handsome backdrop of Regency crescents and the old Lanes. After a day or two of wandering, though, there is little left on the list, where Rotterdam keeps going for two or three days.

Brighton is the stronger night out by some way. Students, a young population and weekenders from London keep its pubs and bars full every night, Kemptown has one of Britain's largest LGBTQ+ scenes, and the clubs in the seafront arches run late, though weekends can get rowdy with stag and hen parties.

Rotterdam goes out on a smaller, more local scale, with terraces on the Witte de Withstraat and the Oude Haven and a centre that empties early midweek. Its edge is electronic music: as the home of gabber it holds techno and house nights in warehouse and harbour venues that suit clubbers more than bar-hoppers.

Brighton has far better country on its doorstep. The rolling chalk of the South Downs starts at the edge of town, Devil's Dyke and the South Downs Way are a short bus ride out, and the cliffs at the Seven Sisters and Beachy Head are the most dramatic coast in southern England. Watersports off the seafront add to it.

Rotterdam's outdoors is flat and shaped by water: the Kralingse Bos lake, bike paths along dykes into the polders, and the creeks and willow islands of the Biesbosch for canoeing and birdwatching. It is pleasant, but walkers wanting hills will find nothing here.

Brighton has London about an hour up the line by fast train, but Rotterdam is the better base overall. From Brighton the rest of the menu is Sussex: Lewes and its castle a quarter of an hour away, the castle and cathedral at Arundel, Chichester with Roman Fishbourne, and the cobbled streets of Rye. The vineyards and Weald country houses are much easier by car.

Rotterdam sits in the middle of the Dutch rail network, so a whole string of cities is close by train. Delft is a quarter of an hour away, and Leiden, Haarlem and Utrecht are all within about an hour. The Kinderdijk windmills are a water-bus ride away, and Gouda and Dordrecht are short hops. Bruges and Ghent are within reach across the Belgian border for a long day.

Brighton gives children a traditional seaside day out, with rides and arcades on the Palace Pier, the Victorian aquarium and Volk's Electric Railway along the beach. The beach itself is cold shingle, better for throwing stones than building sandcastles, and the centre late on weekend nights is no place for children.

Rotterdam's appeal is how easy it is: flat, safe streets, wide pavements and trams that make pushchairs no trouble. Diergaarde Blijdorp zoo and its ocean section, the hands-on harbour at the Maritime Museum and the water taxis fill the days. Madurodam's miniature Netherlands is a short train ride away, and Efteling is about an hour by car.

Brighton is a compact, hilly walking town. The station, the North Laine, the Lanes, the Pavilion and the sea all lie within a fifteen-minute walk downhill, and dense buses cover Hove and the edge of the Downs. The catch is the steady climb back up to the station and into Kemptown.

Rotterdam's postwar centre is flat but spread out, with long, windy walks between sights, so you end up using its single tap-in system of metro, trams and buses, or a bike on the separate cycle paths. Water taxis across the Maas make the river part of the route. You will not need a car in either city.

Shopping is a matter of taste here. Brighton is for browsing the odd and independent: vintage, records, comics and alternative fashion in the North Laine, and jewellery and antiques in the Lanes, with the chains confined to Churchill Square.

Rotterdam leans the other way, with the big Dutch and international names gathered along the Lijnbaan and the Bijenkorf, while its independents sit on the Meent and the Nieuwe Binnenweg. Neither city does luxury.

Neither is cheap, and the cost falls in different places. In Brighton the room is the main expense, especially on summer weekends, while the beach, piers and Downs cost nothing.

Rotterdam's hotels are easier to find and less pressured, but restaurants, beer and coffee are priced at the Dutch level. The Markthal counters and Surinamese snack shops keep lunch reasonable, and cheap trains make it a sensible base for the region.

Brighton's big moment is May, when the Brighton Festival and the Fringe, the largest in England, take over theatres, churches and pubs for weeks. For the rest of the year it has the Dome and the Theatre Royal, a strong comedy circuit, gigs in small rooms above pubs, and Glyndebourne's summer opera in the Downs about twenty minutes away.

Rotterdam is stronger on concert music. The Rotterdam Philharmonic plays a full season at De Doelen, and each July the North Sea Jazz Festival brings hundreds of acts for a long weekend. Much of the theatre and the touring musicals are in Dutch, so for visitors the concerts and small jazz venues are the safer choice.

Rotterdam offers more for a restful trip because of the Dutch sauna tradition, with large wellness complexes of saunas, steam rooms, pools and gardens around the city, mostly textile-free in the sauna areas.

Brighton has no bathing culture beyond a few day spas and the dawn sea-swimmers warming up in seafront saunas. Its calm comes from quiet midweek walks past Hove's beach huts or a retreat into the Downs villages.