Bruges or Heidelberg?

Neither is a beach destination, but at least Bruges has the sea close by. Blankenberge is fifteen minutes away by train, and the coast tram runs along long, flat sandy beaches with promenades. They are good for a windy walk or a quick dip in the cool North Sea.

Heidelberg has no coast at all. On a hot day you can swim in the town's outdoor pools or in the old gravel-pit lakes on the Rhine plain, about half an hour away. They are fine for an afternoon, but nothing like a day at the seaside.

Bruges is the better place to eat and drink, and beer is the main reason. Its dark, wood-panelled cafés pour long lists of Trappist and abbey ales, each in its own glass. With them come the Flemish classics: mussels with frites, beef stewed in beer and waterzooi. Chocolate shops line street after street, and there are frites stands near the Markt.

In Heidelberg, wine takes the place of beer. Riesling and Pinot from the Bergstrasse and the Palatinate are on every list, and white asparagus season in spring is a real draw. Otherwise it is hearty Baden cooking, such as Schäufele and Maultaschen, plus cheap student food. In both towns, it pays to eat away from the main tourist streets.

Bruges has more to see. A whole medieval centre of canals, guildhalls and almshouses has survived intact. The art inside it is of European importance: van Eyck at the Groeninge, Memling at St John's Hospital and Michelangelo's Madonna in the Church of Our Lady.

Heidelberg's appeal is closer to a single romantic picture: the red sandstone castle ruin above a baroque Altstadt, the Old Bridge, and Germany's oldest university with its graffiti-covered Student Prison. It is charming and very photogenic, but its museums are regional rather than world-class, and a day covers most of it.

Heidelberg has the livelier evenings, thanks to its students. In term time the small pubs along the Untere Strasse fill up late, historic student taverns with carved tables are nearby, and a few clubs keep going out towards the station. Mannheim is close by train for a bigger night.

Bruges goes quiet once the day-trippers leave. A good evening there is a long session over strong ales in a brown café or a vaulted cellar bar, then a walk along the lit canals. For dancing there are only one or two small clubs, busy mainly at weekends.

Heidelberg is the choice for time outdoors. The Odenwald woodland begins where the old town ends. The Philosophers' Walk and the forest above the Königstuhl, at 568m, give you proper hiking, and the Neckar cycle path and the sandstone crags of the Palatinate Forest are enough for whole days out.

The land around Bruges is flat polder. It is ideal for an easy ride along the canal to Damme or for birdwatching at the Zwin salt marsh near Knokke, but there are no hills or forests to walk in.

Both towns make excellent bases, and Bruges has the edge because the places around it are bigger names. Ghent is under half an hour away, Brussels about an hour and Antwerp a little further. The First World War cemeteries around Ypres make for a very different kind of day.

Heidelberg's outings are mostly cathedrals, palaces and small towns: Speyer, Worms, Schwetzingen, Maulbronn, the castles of the Neckar valley and the Palatinate wine villages. Frankfurt and Strasbourg are within reach for longer days.

Heidelberg is the easier town with children. The funicular up to the Königstuhl and its small fairy-tale park, the zoo by the Neckar, and the space shuttle and submarine at the Speyer technology museum all give children something besides old buildings.

Bruges is just as small and safe. Younger children will enjoy the canal boats, the carriages, the swans at the Minnewater and the seapark on the edge of town, and the coast is close for sandcastles. Beyond those, its main sights are paintings and churches. Both old towns are cobbled, and Heidelberg's slopes make pushchairs even harder work.

Bruges is the easier town to get around on foot. The old town inside the canal ring is flat and largely car-free, you can cross it in about half an hour, and hire bikes cover the rest. Its cobbles are the main drawback, hard on ankles and suitcases.

Heidelberg's Altstadt is a long strip rather than a compact ring. The station is well to the west and the walk up to the castle is steep, so you will use trams and the funicular more. One fare covers trams, buses and the S-Bahn across the region, which makes day trips without a car easy.

Neither is a shopping destination, and the difference is mainly in what you take home. In Bruges that means pralines, Belgian beer and bobbin lace, and the Saturday market on 't Zand and the flea market along the Dijver are pleasant to browse.

Heidelberg's long Hauptstrasse has chain stores at one end and cuckoo clocks and beer steins at the other. Bergstrasse wine is the best thing to buy, and Frankfurt is close by train for serious fashion.

Heidelberg is a little kinder to the wallet, though in both towns the bed is the biggest cost. In Bruges you pay for the privilege of sleeping inside the canals, above all on summer weekends, so a midweek stay or a room out by the station brings the bill down. Heidelberg's difficulty is more a shortage of beds when congresses and graduations fill the town, and the usual answer is to sleep in Mannheim and come in by train.

Meals are where the gap really shows. Around the Markt in Bruges you pay well over the odds for plain dishes, and the savings lie a few streets back. In Heidelberg, student cafés, bakeries and simple taverns keep everyday eating cheap almost anywhere. Day trips are fairly priced from both, on Belgium's short train hops or Heidelberg's single regional ticket. Wandering Bruges's old town costs nothing, while Heidelberg's castle and museums ask only a modest entry fee.

Heidelberg has more on in an ordinary evening. Its municipal theatre stages opera, drama and dance, and the town has its own philharmonic orchestra. The Heidelberger Frühling festival brings chamber music in spring, the castle courtyard hosts open-air shows in summer, and Mannheim's larger opera house is twenty minutes away.

Bruges has no opera company, but its Concertgebouw is a serious venue for early music, chamber music and contemporary dance. Its summer early-music festival is worth planning a trip around if that is your music, and the Belfry carillon plays over the rooftops every day.

Heidelberg is the one for a proper spa day. The thermal baths and saline pools of the Kraichgau are about half an hour away, and Baden-Baden is about an hour. Bruges has only a few hotel and day spas, and its calm depends on the time of day. Early in the morning and in the evening, the Begijnhof and the Minnewater park are very peaceful, and the Sint-Anna quarter stays quiet even at midday.

In Heidelberg itself, the places to slow down are the Neckar meadows in Neuenheim on a long evening, the forest paths above the Philosophers' Walk and the unhurried wine taverns. In both towns, the main streets fill with crowds in the middle of the day.