Cambridge or Ghent?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Ghent comes closer. Trains reach Ostend in about an hour, and the coast tram strings together wide sandy resorts. In town, the Blaarmeersen lake has a sandy shore with lifeguards in summer.

From Cambridge, the Suffolk and Norfolk coast is a longer drive of around an hour and a half, so swimming really means Jesus Green Lido or a dip in the Cam at Grantchester Meadows.

Ghent is the better place to eat. It has a real regional cuisine to try, from waterzooi and beef stewed in dark beer to grey shrimp croquettes and cuberdons from street carts. Its brown cafés pour Trappist and lambic beers by the long list. Vegetarians are unusually well served too.

Cambridge offers comfort more than discovery. The old pubs with their ales and Sunday roasts, scones by the river and the Asian and Mediterranean spread along Mill Road are pleasant, but there is no local dish to seek out.

The two are level, but the experience differs. Cambridge is a university townscape of courts, chapels and libraries, with King's College Chapel and the Wren Library at its heart and the Fitzwilliam's collection as its great museum. Because the colleges are working institutions, visitors fit around them: the famous ones charge for entry and shut their doors in exam season.

Ghent is a medieval trading city that is still lived in, and its sights are part of everyday streets. It has guildhalls along the Graslei, a moated castle in the middle of town and UNESCO-listed beguinages. Its single greatest treasure, the van Eycks' Ghent Altarpiece, is in St Bavo's Cathedral. The cathedral itself is free to enter, but the altarpiece is shown in a separate area that needs a ticket.

Ghent offers the fuller night out. The old cafés around the Vrijdagmarkt and Oudburg are made for long evenings over strong beer, and the Overpoort's student bars run late in term. In July, the Gentse Feesten turns the whole centre into a ten-day street party.

Cambridge evenings revolve around the pub, at their best in summer gardens by the river. The small student club scene fades in the vacations, and anyone wanting a big night heads to London.

The outdoors are much the same in both: flat, gentle country for cycling and walking, with nothing dramatic nearby. Cambridge has punting through the Backs, the cattle-grazed meadows to Grantchester and the old fenland reserve at Wicken Fen.

Ghent's version is riverside rides along the Leie to Sint-Martens-Latem, birdwatching in the Bourgoyen-Ossemeersen wetland and kayaking at the Blaarmeersen. It also has the coastal dunes and the Zwin reserve within reach.

Both make good bases, but Ghent is better placed. Bruges is under half an hour by train, Brussels about the same, and Antwerp under an hour. Beyond them are Leuven, Mechelen, the Ypres battlefields and Lille, all without needing a car.

Cambridge's best trip is London, under an hour away, along with Ely Cathedral close by and Norwich further out. The Suffolk wool towns, Audley End and the National Trust estates are easier to reach by car.

Both are small, safe and easy cities for children, with Cambridge slightly ahead on things to do. Its free zoology and dinosaur museums, punting and the historic aircraft at Duxford give a family several good days.

Ghent relies more on the Gravensteen's battlements, canal boats, the toys at the House of Alijn and the lake beach at the Blaarmeersen. For a zoo or a theme park, families have to travel to Antwerp or the coast.

Both centres are flat, compact and best explored on foot or by bike. Ghent has the edge because its trams cover the city, including the run from Gent-Sint-Pieters, and trains to the rest of Flanders make a car unnecessary.

In Cambridge, buses are basic, and the country houses and Suffolk villages are much easier to reach by car.

Ghent has a little more to offer. Independent fashion and design shops line the Serpentstraat, and there is vintage around the student quarter, the Sunday flower market on the Kouter and the Sint-Jacobs flea market. Its edible souvenirs are a real draw: chocolate, cuberdons, mustard and beer.

Cambridge's speciality is books, from the academic booksellers to second-hand dealers in the lanes. Otherwise it offers Market Hill and the high-street names in the Grand Arcade.

Neither is cheap, but Ghent is easier on the budget. Small hotels and guesthouses are moderately priced for most of the year, except during the Gentse Feesten. Frites stands and set lunches help keep daytime eating sensible.

Cambridge rooms are scarce and expensive, especially in summer and around graduations, and eating out costs what it does in the wealthy south-east of England. Free museums and evensong help, and an out-of-term college room can be the best deal.

The two are close, but they offer different things. Cambridge is the place for choral music: evensong at King's, St John's or Trinity in a candlelit chapel is something few cities can match. It also has student comedy in the Footlights tradition and the Folk Festival in summer.

Ghent has a broader formal stage. Its opera house stages opera and ballet, NTGent is known for bold productions, and De Bijloke hosts early and classical music. Most of the theatre, though, is performed in Dutch.

Neither city has a spa culture, so in both rest comes from slowing down rather than from treatments. In Cambridge, that means a punt on the river, the Botanic Garden or tea in the Grantchester orchard, though King's Parade fills with tour groups in summer.

Ghent offers quiet in the enclosed beguinage gardens, walks along the Coupure canal and calm Sundays once the day-trippers have left.