Cambridge or Haarlem?

Neither is a beach destination, but Haarlem at least has a beach nearby. Zandvoort's long sands are a short train ride away, and the dune-backed strand at Bloemendaal aan Zee is a bike ride through the national park. The cool, windy North Sea makes it a place for walks and quick dips rather than days of swimming.

From Cambridge the coast is a drive of around an hour and a half, so swimming means fresh water: the 1920s Jesus Green Lido or the Cam at Grantchester Meadows on a hot afternoon.

Both eat well without being memorable, and neither has a reason to come for the food. The difference is in the setting. Cambridge revolves around the old English pub, with ales, Sunday roasts and riverside tea rooms, plus a daily street-food market on Market Hill and a spread of Asian and Mediterranean places on Mill Road.

Haarlem is about terraces and brown cafés round the Grote Markt, raw herring and kibbeling at the Saturday market, and a strong craft-beer tap culture rooted in centuries of brewing. Cambridge has more street food and international choice, and Haarlem has better beer.

Cambridge has the richer heritage. Its colleges along the Backs make an unusually dense historic core: King's College Chapel's fan vaulting, Trinity's Great Court and the Wren Library. The Fitzwilliam's art and antiquities are backed by a string of specialist university museums.

Haarlem has a smaller but very complete old town of gables, canals and the vast St Bavo church, with the Frans Hals Museum and the 18th-century oval room at Teylers. Its appeal is quieter, like coming across a hofje courtyard behind a plain door. Both take two or three days, but Cambridge's sights carry more weight.

Evenings are much the same in both: sociable, relaxed and over well before dawn. In Cambridge that means historic inns and pub gardens by the river, with a busier strip around Regent Street and Mill Road. Haarlem has brown cafés and packed terraces on the Grote Markt and Botermarkt.

Cambridge's small student club scene comes and goes with the university terms. Haarlem barely has clubs at all, but Amsterdam is far closer than London when you want a big night.

Both sit in flat country, but Haarlem has far more of it within reach. Zuid-Kennemerland National Park begins at the town's edge, with dunes, pine and oak woods and small lakes. Highland cattle and ponies graze there, there are deer in the neighbouring dunes, and the coast is good for long walks and kitesurfing. Spring adds the bulb fields towards Leiden.

Cambridge's outdoors is gentler and more pastoral: punting through the Backs, water meadows on the way to Grantchester, big commons in town, and the birds and dragonflies of Wicken Fen a little further out.

Both are excellent bases, and Haarlem has the edge. Amsterdam is barely a quarter of an hour away, and Leiden, The Hague, Delft, Utrecht and Rotterdam are all easy by train, with Alkmaar's cheese market, Zaanse Schans and Keukenhof close by. The rail network is dense enough that you rarely need to plan.

Cambridge has London within an hour, Ely's cathedral fifteen minutes away and Norwich further on. Several of its best outings, though, such as the Suffolk wool towns of Lavenham and Long Melford or the country estates, are easier with a car.

With children the two are equally easy: both are small, flat, safe and green, and neither has a zoo or theme park of its own. They differ in what fills the days. Cambridge has punting, the whale skeleton at the free Museum of Zoology, the Sedgwick's dinosaurs, Wimpole's farm and, above all, Duxford's airfield of historic aircraft.

Haarlem offers the dunes and beach for running about, plus Teylers' fossils and a cycling culture that takes child seats for granted. Families tend to borrow Amsterdam's zoo and science museum for the big outings.

Both centres are compact and flat, and best on foot or by bike. Haarlem is a little easier. Its station sits right at the edge of the old town, bike paths run all the way to the dunes and beach, and one contactless card covers trains and buses, so you never need a car.

In Cambridge the station is about a twenty-five-minute walk from the centre. The buses are ordinary, and the country estates really need a car, even though driving in town is restricted.

Haarlem is the better place to browse. The lanes south and west of the Grote Markt are full of independent fashion, interiors and design shops, and market days bring flowers and cheese to the square.

Cambridge has a smaller mix of chains in the Grand Arcade and Lion Yard and a few independents on Green Street and Trinity Street. Books are its real strength, from academic booksellers to second-hand dealers. Neither has a luxury street.

Both are expensive, with too few hotel rooms for the demand. In Cambridge that is driven by university visitors and graduations, and in Haarlem by tulip season and visitors using it as a calmer base for Amsterdam. Where you save differs.

In Cambridge, the Fitzwilliam, most university museums and evensong are free, and a college room out of term can be good value. In Haarlem, market stalls, bakeries and cheap lunches help, but museum entry and train fares for all those day trips add up.

Cambridge stands out for choral music. Evensong sung by the choirs of King's, St John's and Trinity in candlelit chapels is something few places can offer. The Arts Theatre, the student ADC and Footlights comedy, the Corn Exchange and the long-running Folk Festival fill out the rest.

Haarlem's speciality is the organ. St Bavo's great instrument is played in regular concerts and hosts a long-standing international festival, and the Philharmonie adds classical concerts. Its theatre and cabaret are mostly in Dutch, which limits them for many visitors.

Neither has a bathing tradition, so rest in both comes from the slow pace rather than treatments. Cambridge's version is a punt on the river, the Botanic Garden or tea in the Grantchester orchards, though King's Parade gets crowded in summer.

Haarlem has quiet canals and courtyards after dark, cycling in the dunes and access to the large Dutch sauna complexes in the wider region. That gives you a proper spa day, which Cambridge's hotel spas and lido don't quite match.