Bruges or Brussels?

Neither is a beach destination, but Bruges is clearly closer to the sand. Blankenberge is about fifteen minutes away by train, and the coast tram runs from there past wide, flat beaches, so a sunny August afternoon by the North Sea fits easily into a stay.

From Brussels, the same coast at Ostend or Knokke is over an hour away, which turns it into a full day out. In the city itself, swimming means Art Deco indoor pools or the open-air basins in summer.

Brussels is the much stronger place to eat. Both pour Trappist and abbey ales in wood-panelled cafés and serve mussels, carbonnade and waterzooi. Brussels adds the sour lambics and gueuzes made only in and around the city, plus Congolese food in Matonge, Moroccan and Turkish cooking in Saint-Josse and Schaerbeek, and good neighbourhood restaurants in Saint-Gilles and Ixelles.

Bruges does beer, chocolate and frites well, but its everyday range is narrow. The squares serve set menus to day-trippers, and its best fine dining is out in the surrounding villages.

These two are evenly matched, but in very different ways. Bruges is a whole medieval city, a UNESCO-listed ring of canals, stepped gables and the Begijnhof. Its art is concentrated: van Eyck at the Groeninge, Memling in St John's Hospital and Michelangelo in the Church of Our Lady. You can cover it in two full days.

Brussels offers more variety but less coherence. It has the gilded Grand-Place, Bruegel and Magritte in the upper town, Horta's Art Nouveau houses in Saint-Gilles and Ixelles, the Cinquantenaire museums and the comics murals, all set among office blocks that break up the historic streets.

Brussels is the clear choice after dark. Saint-Géry and the Bourse fill with drinkers on warm evenings, Flagey and Châtelain draw a more local crowd, and a long-established techno club in the Marolles and the queer bars around Rue du Marché au Charbon keep things going late.

Bruges offers one excellent thing, a long session over strong ales in a brown café or vaulted cellar near the Eiermarkt or 't Zand. Beyond that there are a couple of small weekend clubs and lit canals that are quiet by midnight.

There is little to separate them, and neither is an outdoor destination. Bruges sits in flat polder country made for easy cycling: the poplar-lined towpath to Damme, quiet lanes towards the Dutch border, and the Zwin salt marsh and dunes for birds and windswept walks.

Brussels has woodland instead. The tall beeches of the Sonian Forest and the Bois de la Cambre are right on the city's edge. For real hills and kayaking, the Meuse valley around Dinant is within reach for a day.

Both are excellent bases, and the difference is in direction. From Bruges, Ghent is under half an hour away and the coast is close, and it is the handier base for the First World War cemeteries and memorials around Ypres.

Brussels sits at the hub of the network. Antwerp, Leuven and Mechelen are close, Namur, Dinant and Waterloo lie to the south, and high-speed trains put Paris, Cologne and Amsterdam within a long day's reach.

Brussels has a little more for children. The Atomium and Mini-Europe stand side by side, the Iguanodon herd fills the Natural Sciences museum, and Train World, the comic murals and Walibi or Pairi Daiza give plenty of rainy-day and full-day options.

Bruges wins on ease. It is small and safe, with canal boats, carriage rides, swans at the Minnewater, Boudewijn Seapark and a sandy beach a short train ride away. Cobbles trouble pushchairs in both.

Bruges is slightly easier to get around. Its flat, largely car-free centre can be crossed on foot in about half an hour or quickly by hired bike, and the one inconvenience is the walk or short bus ride from the station just outside the ring.

Brussels has a compact core too, but the climb from the lower to the upper town is steep, so you will use the metro and trams, which take a tapped bank card, to reach Ixelles and Saint-Gilles. Its stations link directly to the airport.

Brussels is far better for shopping. Chocolatiers line the Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert and the Sablon, which also holds the antiques trade. The Marolles has vintage shops and the daily flea market on Place du Jeu de Balle, Rue Antoine Dansaert has Belgian designers, and Avenue Louise has the luxury labels.

Bruges is mostly for edible souvenirs: pralines, specialist beer shops, a high street of chains and lace that is often imported. The Saturday market on 't Zand and the Dijver flea market are pleasant to browse.

Both are expensive, but in opposite patterns. Bruges is dearest at weekends and in summer, when visitors fill the canal ring, so midweek stays and rooms near the station save the most.

Brussels hotels lean towards EU and business travellers, so its weekends are the cheaper time to go. Frites, sandwiches and food in the immigrant neighbourhoods keep daily costs lower than in central Bruges.

Brussels has much the fuller stage. La Monnaie stages adventurous opera, Horta's Bozar is home to the national orchestra, and Flagey is prized for its acoustics. The Queen Elisabeth Competition is a fixture of the classical calendar, and there is dance and theatre in French and Dutch, touring rock and pop, and an old marionette theatre.

Bruges is narrower but distinctive. The Concertgebouw specialises in early music, chamber music and contemporary dance, a summer early-music festival draws listeners from across Europe, and the Belfry carillon plays over the rooftops.

Bruges is the more restful of the two, although neither has a bathing tradition and both rely on hotel and day spas. Its calm comes from timing: the Begijnhof, the Minnewater and the Sint-Anna streets are very peaceful before the tour groups arrive and after they leave.

Brussels adds North African hammams and Art Deco pools. Unwinding there means a long lunch, a terrace in Ixelles or a walk in the Sonian Forest, against the traffic of a busy capital.