Brussels or Paris?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Brussels has a real coast within easy reach. Trains reach Ostend, De Haan or Knokke in a little over an hour, with wide sandy beaches and promenades. The North Sea stays cold and windy even in summer, so this is a bracing day out rather than a swimming vacation.

Paris offers summer sand and deckchairs on the Seine embankments and swimming in the Bassin de la Villette, which are fine for cooling off but are not the sea. Normandy's beaches at Deauville and Trouville are about two hours away, which makes them a longer outing.

Brussels eats heartily and drinks brilliantly. Mussels, carbonnade stewed in beer, shrimp croquettes and frites from a friterie are the staples, washed down with lambics, gueuzes and Trappist ales in old brown cafés, a beer culture few places can match. Add the praline makers of the Sablon and the Congolese cooking of Matonge, and it is a fine city to eat in.

Paris is in another league. Boulangeries, cheese shops and markets such as Aligre make good food part of every day, and the choice runs from zinc-counter bistros and the inventive neo-bistros of the east up to haute cuisine. Natural wine bars, patisserie, Belleville couscous and the pho of the 13th add even more range.

Brussels has one supreme set piece in the Grand-Place, plus Bruegel, Rubens and Magritte in the Royal Museums and Horta's UNESCO-listed Art Nouveau houses in Saint-Gilles and Ixelles. These are worth the trip, but they are scattered across a city where office blocks break up the old fabric between the highlights.

Paris offers more of everything. The Louvre, Orsay, the Pompidou, the Rodin and Cluny museums, Sainte-Chapelle and Notre-Dame would each anchor a lesser city. The setting holds together too: Haussmann's cream boulevards, the Marais townhouses and the UNESCO-listed Seine banks mean the walks between sights are part of the culture.

Brussels is a city for long evenings in bars. Crowds gather around Saint-Géry and the Bourse, locals drink at Flagey and Châtelain, and century-old taverns pour strong ales. A respected techno club in the Marolles and a queer scene on Rue du Marché au Charbon add some late options, but the city rarely stays out all night.

Paris has more range and more stamina. The east, from Oberkampf and the Canal Saint-Martin to Belleville, is packed with bars, South Pigalle does cocktails and the Marais has a large gay scene. After the bars close, house and techno clubs and riverside barges keep going until dawn, though doors can be selective and drinks cost more.

Paris has a small edge, mostly because of what lies just beyond it. The Buttes-Chaumont, the Bois de Boulogne and Vincennes give space in town, and Fontainebleau, about forty minutes away, has forest trails and sandstone boulders loved by climbers.

The Sonian Forest gives Brussels tall beech woods for walking and cycling right on its edge, but the country around is flat farmland. Real hills and kayaking mean a longer trip to the Meuse valley around Dinant.

Both are outstanding bases, and the difference is in what you go out to see. From Brussels, the trips are to compact historic towns: Ghent's canals and the Van Eyck altarpiece, medieval Bruges, Antwerp's Rubens house, and Leuven and Mechelen even closer. Fast trains also put Paris, Amsterdam and Cologne within a day, which makes cross-border trips easy.

From Paris, the outings are grander and more rural. Versailles, Fontainebleau and Chantilly are palaces and parks, while Chartres, Monet's Giverny and Champagne around Reims and Épernay take you out into the countryside. The Loire châteaux beyond Tours are possible as a long day out.

Brussels has fewer big attractions but some memorable ones. Children love the Iguanodon herd at the Natural Sciences museum, the Atomium beside Mini-Europe and the comic murals, and Walibi and Pairi Daiza are close enough for a day out. Cobbled streets and frequent rain mean more time spent indoors.

Paris gives children more to do. Disneyland is a short RER ride out and Parc Astérix is about the same distance, while the Cité des Sciences can fill a whole day of hands-on fun. The Luxembourg pond, the carousels and the puppet shows suit younger ones. The downside is stair-only metro stations and small hotel rooms.

Paris is easier to move around. Its centre is a long, flat, beautiful walk along the Seine, and the metro is dense enough that a station is almost always close, though corridors, stairs and rush-hour crowds take some patience.

Brussels keeps its main sights within a short stroll, but the climb from the Grand-Place to the upper town is steep and the pavements are rough. Trams to Ixelles and Saint-Gilles are pleasant, and direct trains from the main stations to the airport help.

This is where the two differ most. Paris has the flagships of the great fashion houses, the historic department stores, Marais boutiques, the covered passages, the vast Saint-Ouen flea market and the bouquinistes on the Seine. You could spend a whole trip shopping there.

Brussels is better for small finds. Chocolatiers in the Galeries Royales and the Sablon, weekend antiques, early-morning bargains at the Jeu de Balle flea market and Belgian designers on Rue Antoine Dansaert reward browsing, but big-name fashion is thin.

Brussels is the cheaper stay, though not a budget one. Because so much of its hotel trade serves EU and business travellers, weekends bring real savings, and frites, immigrant cooking and beer keep daily spending modest.

Paris costs more at almost every turn: small, expensive hotel rooms, full-price museum tickets and terrace drinks that add up. Picnics by the river, bakery lunches, the free collections of the city museums and a room in the outer arrondissements soften the bill.

Paris has the deeper calendar. Ballet at the Palais Garnier, opera at the Bastille, orchestras at the Philharmonie and Radio France, and concerts in Sainte-Chapelle make an evening easy to fill. There is also cellar jazz around the rue des Lombards and cabaret in Pigalle, though most theatre is in French.

Brussels is smaller but adventurous. La Monnaie is known for bold productions, Bozar and Flagey host fine concerts, and the city is strong in contemporary dance in two languages. An old marionette theatre performing in local dialect is a rare oddity.

Neither city is made for unwinding, and Paris does only a little better. The tiled steam rooms and mint tea of the Grande Mosquée hammam are a genuine experience, and a chair in the Luxembourg gardens offers a quiet hour.

Brussels has a few North African hammams, day spas and Art Deco pools. Its best rest is a slow lunch in Ixelles or a walk in the Sonian Forest, since the town of Spa is far away.