Bruges or Colmar?

Neither is a beach destination, but only Bruges has a sea within reach. Blankenberge is a short train ride away, and from there the coast tram runs along wide sandy beaches between De Panne and Knokke. That makes for a breezy afternoon and a brisk dip in the cool North Sea.

Colmar is landlocked in the Rhine plain, so summer swimming means a municipal pool or a small lake up in the Vosges valleys.

Both cities have a strong regional table, but Colmar's is broader. Alsace cooking runs from choucroute and baeckeoffe to tarte flambée and munster cheese, and you can taste Riesling and Gewurztraminer at the cellar door a short drive away.

Bruges is at its best in a glass, with Trappist and abbey beers in wood-panelled cafés and mussels, beer-braised beef and chocolate alongside. Both share the same trap of tired menus on the most photographed squares, so in either town it pays to walk a few streets away to eat.

Both are remarkably intact old towns that take about two days to see, but Bruges holds more. Its whole canal-ringed centre is a World Heritage site, with the Belfry, the Gothic City Hall on the Burg and the Begijnhof. Its art is deeper too: van Eyck in the Groeninge, Memling in St John's Hospital and Michelangelo in the Church of Our Lady.

Colmar answers with painted half-timbering, the Maison Pfister and the canals of Petite Venise, plus one overwhelming work, Grünewald's Isenheim Altarpiece at the Unterlinden. It makes a superb single visit rather than a circuit of galleries.

Neither is a place for clubbing, but Bruges keeps going a little longer. Students keep a few cellar bars and brown cafés busy late around the Eiermarkt and 't Zand, and a session over strong ales can run well into the night.

Colmar's evenings centre on dinner and a glass of wine on a terrace in Petite Venise, and the town goes quiet early. For a proper night out, people take the train to Strasbourg.

This is where Colmar pulls well ahead. Vineyard paths between wine villages begin within half an hour, and the valleys of Munster and Kaysersberg climb to the Route des Crêtes. Up there you find glacial lakes, summer pastures, dense trail networks and modest winter skiing in the forested Vosges.

Bruges has flat polder land instead: the towpath ride to Damme, quiet lanes towards the Dutch border and birdwatching in the Zwin salt marsh. It is lovely for an afternoon on a bike, but there are no hills at all.

Both make first-rate bases, but in different ways. From Bruges the trips are mostly cities by train: Ghent in under half an hour, then Brussels and Antwerp, plus the Ypres battlefields and the coast, all without a car.

Colmar's best outings are the wine villages of Eguisheim, Riquewihr and Kaysersberg and the castle of Haut-Koenigsbourg, which are easiest by car or bike. Strasbourg is half an hour away by train, and Basel and Freiburg take you into Switzerland and Germany in about an hour.

Both towns are small, flat and safe with children, and each has gentle canal boat rides. Colmar has the longer list of outings: storks nesting on the rooftops, an eagle show at Kintzheim, the zoo in Mulhouse and the castle above the plain, though most of them need a car.

Bruges offers the Belfry climb, swans at the Minnewater, Boudewijn Seapark and sandcastles at Blankenberge. Beyond those, its main sights are paintings and churches, and the cobbles make pushchairs hard work.

Both are easy on foot inside town, so the difference lies beyond it. Frequent trains from Bruges reach Ghent, Brussels, Antwerp and the coast, so a car is never needed. Inside the canal ring, bikes are the local way to get about, and the only nuisance is the cobbles.

Colmar's station is a short walk from the centre, and trains run quickly to Strasbourg and Mulhouse. The wine villages and the Vosges, though, have only thin bus services, so many visitors hire a car or a bike.

Neither is a shopping destination, and both lean on things to eat and drink. Bruges has a little more to browse: chocolate makers on almost every street, specialist beer shops, the Steenstraat high street and the markets on 't Zand and along the Dijver.

Colmar's best buys are wine straight from the producers, Soufflenheim pottery and printed Alsatian linen, with independent boutiques around Rue des Marchands. Big-name retail is thin.

Neither is cheap, but Colmar is easier on the budget. Set lunches and regional wine are moderately priced, village tastings are often free, and rooms are the main cost when summer demand peaks.

Bruges costs more across the board, especially for hotels inside the canal ring at weekends and for food on the main squares. In both towns, staying outside the old centre is the simplest way to save.

Bruges has the steadier programme. The Concertgebouw puts on early music, chamber music and contemporary dance, the summer early-music festival draws performers and listeners from across Europe, and the Belfry carillon plays over the rooftops.

Colmar's small Italian-style theatre hosts touring productions from the Opéra national du Rhin, and its July classical festival and autumn jazz are the highlights. Outside those weeks the calendar is thin, so serious audiences head to Strasbourg or Basel, much as Bruges sends them to Ghent.

Neither has a spa tradition, so relaxation in both comes from the pace rather than from treatments. Bruges has a few more hotel and day spas, plus corners such as the Begijnhof, Minnewater park and the Sint-Anna area that stay calm even when the main streets fill.

Colmar's restfulness is more rural: long lunches, quiet evenings by the canals and slow walks through the vines, with hotel spas scattered among the wine villages.