Brussels or Amsterdam?

Neither city is built for a beach trip, but Amsterdam gets slightly closer. The dune-backed sands at Zandvoort and Bloemendaal are about half an hour by train, and on hot days locals swim at the IJburg beaches or in the Sloterplas.

Brussels is fully inland. The nearest coast, at Ostend or De Haan, is over an hour away, so swimming in the city means indoor pools, some of them fine Art Deco buildings. Both coasts face the same cold, windy North Sea.

Brussels is the clear winner for eating. It has a real cuisine of its own, with mussels, carbonnade, waterzooi and shrimp croquettes, and beer is taken as seriously as wine elsewhere, including the lambics brewed only in and around the city. Congolese, Moroccan and Turkish cooking in Matonge, Saint-Josse and Schaerbeek add range, and the chocolatiers of the Sablon add a craft that Amsterdam cannot match.

Amsterdam's best meals come from its trading past, especially Indonesian rijsttafel and Surinamese roti, plus herring and stroopwafels from the stalls. It is more rewarding as a place to drink than to dine: a jenever tasting room or a borrel of beer and bitterballen in a brown café.

Amsterdam comes out ahead because its great collections and its streetscape support each other. The Rijksmuseum's Dutch masters, the Van Gogh Museum and the Stedelijk share one square, and the walk between sights follows the intact UNESCO canal ring past merchant houses, the Oude Kerk and the Portuguese Synagogue.

Brussels has superb individual pieces: the Grand-Place, Bruegel and Rubens in the Royal Museums, a museum devoted to Magritte, and Horta's Art Nouveau houses in Saint-Gilles and Ixelles. The streets between them are patchier, though, with office blocks breaking up the historic fabric.

Amsterdam has more to offer after dark, and it goes on later. Clubs with all-night licences fill converted industrial buildings in Noord and on the edges of the centre, and the Amsterdam Dance Event takes over the city each October. The canal-side terraces of the Jordaan and De Pijp cover the quieter end of the evening.

Brussels is a bar city. Its evenings centre on Saint-Géry, Place Flagey and the corner cafés of Saint-Gilles, with strong ales poured in wood-panelled taverns. It has one respected techno club in the Marolles and a queer scene around Rue du Marché au Charbon, but fewer reasons to stay out until dawn.

There is little between them, and both sit in flat country under changeable skies. Amsterdam's outdoors is open and best seen by bike: a ferry across the IJ leads to the dykes and windmills of Waterland, and the coastal dunes of Zuid-Kennemerland have bison. Brussels offers woodland rather than wide skies. The tall beech stands of the Sonian Forest are on its doorstep, and the hills and rivers of the Meuse valley and the Ardennes are within reach for a longer day.

Both cities are excellent bases, and the difference is in where the trains take you. From Amsterdam the outings are typically Dutch: Haarlem a quarter of an hour away, Leiden, Delft and Vermeer at the Mauritshuis, plus windmills at Zaanse Schans and Kinderdijk and the Keukenhof bulb fields in spring.

From Brussels the reach is wider. Ghent, Bruges and Antwerp are some of Europe's great art towns, the Waterloo battlefield and Namur's citadel lie to the south, and high-speed trains put Paris within about an hour and a half.

Amsterdam is the more relaxed city with children. It is compact and safe, Artis and NEMO are made for young visitors, and canal boats and pancake houses are easy wins. The things to watch are the bikes, the unfenced canals and steep stairs in old houses.

Brussels has strong individual draws, such as the Iguanodon hall at the Natural Sciences museum, the Atomium beside Mini-Europe and the comic murals. Walibi is closer than any Dutch theme park. Day to day, though, heavy traffic, cobbles and rainy afternoons make it harder work with a pushchair.

Amsterdam is the easier city to move around. Its centre is flat and small enough to cross on foot, trams run through the canal ring, free ferries go to Noord, and Schiphol is a short train ride away. A hired bike is the local way to travel, as long as you are confident in busy lanes.

Brussels keeps its main sights close together too, but there is a steep climb from the lower town to the upper town and the pavements are rough. Its metro and trams are useful, especially for reaching Ixelles and Saint-Gilles. In both cities a car is more trouble than it is worth.

Amsterdam has a little more depth. The Nine Streets and the Jordaan pack boutiques, vintage shops and galleries along the canals, PC Hooftstraat has the luxury labels, and the Noordermarkt and the floating Bloemenmarkt make browsing a pleasure.

Brussels is more specialised. Its strengths are the master chocolatiers in the Galeries Royales and on the Sablon, antiques on the Sablon, the early-morning flea market on Place du Jeu de Balle, and Belgian designers along Rue Antoine Dansaert. Lace, comics and beer make better souvenirs than Delft blue and cheese.

Brussels is noticeably kinder to the wallet. Neither city is cheap, but because much of the Belgian capital's hotel trade serves EU and business travellers, weekend rooms become good value. Frites, immigrant cooking and well-priced beer also keep daily spending modest.

In Amsterdam, accommodation is the problem. Rooms around the canal ring are among Europe's dearest, and a tourist tax comes on top. Staying in Haarlem or Utrecht and travelling in by train is the usual way to make the trip affordable.

Amsterdam has the stronger programme, led by the Concertgebouw and its orchestra, with concerts on most days of the season. The opera house on the Amstel, the Muziekgebouw with the Bimhuis jazz club, and the old church that houses Paradiso cover the rest of the range, although theatre is mostly in Dutch.

Brussels gives more weight to stage work. La Monnaie is known for adventurous opera, Bozar and Flagey host the national orchestra and visiting ensembles, and contemporary dance and theatre in French and Dutch are a real strength. The spring Queen Elisabeth Competition is a fixed date in the classical calendar.

Neither city is a place to switch off, but Amsterdam gives you slightly more. The Dutch sauna habit supports several large day spas on the city's edges, usually mixed and nude, and the quiet canals early in the morning or a ferry across the IJ slow the pace.

Brussels has a few North African hammams, hotel spas and fine Art Deco pools. Its real relaxation is a long lunch on an Ixelles terrace or a walk under the Sonian Forest beeches, away from the traffic.