Cardiff or Ghent?

Neither city is a place to plan a beach vacation around, but the options differ. From Cardiff, Barry Island's sandy bay and funfair are half an hour by train, Penarth has a pebble shore and a pier, and the wider sands of the Gower are worth the longer drive.

Ghent is inland. Swimming there means the lake beach at Blaarmeersen on the western edge, or a train ride of about an hour to Ostend, where the coast tram runs past dunes and broad North Sea sand. The water is cool in both places, so expect paddling rather than long swims.

Ghent gives you more to look forward to at the table. Waterzooi, beef stewed in dark beer, grey shrimp croquettes and frites in paper cones are dishes with a real local identity. The better restaurants cluster in the lanes of the Patershol, and vegetarians are unusually well looked after. The Trappist and lambic beers in old brown cafés are worth an evening on their own.

In Cardiff, Welsh food is harder to find: Welsh cakes off the griddle in the Victorian market, cawl, laverbread and good lamb and cheese. The best eating is in the bistros of Pontcanna and Canton and along City Road's run of Middle Eastern and South Asian kitchens, while the Bay is better for the view than for the food.

Ghent's historic centre is older and has much more to see. The guildhalls along the Graslei and Korenlei, the twelfth-century Gravensteen and the UNESCO-listed belfry and beguinages make up a medieval centre that is still in daily use. The van Eyck altarpiece in St Bavo's is a reason to travel in itself.

Cardiff's sights are fewer and younger. The castle's Victorian Gothic rooms, the Impressionists at the National Museum and the rebuilt Welsh buildings at St Fagans are all worth your time, but most of what you see dates from the coal-port boom of the nineteenth century.

Both cities fill a couple of nights well, but they feel different. Cardiff is louder and more mainstream, with big Saturday crowds on St Mary Street and rugby days that turn the centre red. Womanby Street, with its small alternative bars and late venues, is the more interesting corner.

Evenings in Ghent lean towards long sessions over strong beer in the cafés of the Vrijdagmarkt and Oudburg, with the student bars of the Overpoort for late nights in term. In July the Gentse Feesten turns the whole centre into a ten-day street party, and Cardiff has nothing to match it.

This is Cardiff's clearest advantage. Bute Park and the Taff Trail lead straight out of the centre, and Pen y Fan and the open ridges of the Brecon Beacons are about an hour's drive away. The Wales Coast Path and the limestone headlands of the Gower add sea cliffs.

Around Ghent the land is flat and farmed. Riverside rides along the Leie to Sint-Martens-Latem, birdwatching in the Bourgoyen-Ossemeersen wetlands and the polders of the Meetjesland make for pleasant cycling, but there is nothing to climb.

Both make good bases, but Ghent's location is exceptional. Bruges is under half an hour by train, Brussels about the same and Antwerp under an hour. Mechelen, Leuven, Ypres and Lille widen the choice further, and none of them needs a car.

Cardiff's day trips are mostly about castles: Caerphilly a short train ride away, Castell Coch in the woods, and Chepstow and Tintern in the Wye Valley. Bath and Bristol are about an hour away across the Severn, and Big Pit at Blaenavon tells the story of Welsh mining, though the remoter sites need a car.

Cardiff has more aimed squarely at children. Techniquest at the Bay is a proper hands-on science centre, St Fagans mixes farm animals and old shops across open parkland, and Roath Park has a boating lake. In summer, the funfair at Barry Island is a short train ride away.

Ghent is safe and easy because cars are kept out of the centre. The Gravensteen's battlements and the canal boats are reliable hits, and the House of Alijn suits younger children. Beyond those, little in the city is made for children, and the cobbles are hard going with a pushchair.

Both centres are small and flat, but Ghent is the easier city to get around. Cars are kept out of most of the historic core, trams and buses cover the rest, and bike lanes run everywhere. Frequent trains mean you do not need a car even for day trips, though the main station is a twenty-minute walk south of the centre.

In Cardiff, the castle, market, arcades and station are minutes apart on foot, and shuttle trains, buses or a water taxi go to the Bay. There is no tram or metro, and you really need a car for the national park and the remoter castles.

Neither is a shopping destination, and both cover the high-street basics. What sets Cardiff apart is its glass-roofed Victorian and Edwardian arcades, full of independent record, book and vintage shops. Lovespoons and Welsh woollen blankets are the souvenirs to look for.

In Ghent the interest lies in the markets, from the Sint-Jacobs flea market to the Sunday flowers on the Kouter, plus independent design shops along the Serpentstraat. The best things to take home are edible: chocolate, cuberdons and the city's strong mustard.

Cardiff is easier on the budget. Hotels are moderately priced except on big stadium dates, the national museums including St Fagans are free, and the train trips to the castles and the coast cost little.

Ghent is at the pricier end of Western Europe, and sit-down dinners with a few Belgian beers soon add up, though frites stands and set lunches help during the day. Rooms are fairly priced for most of the year except during the Gentse Feesten, and the Gravensteen and the main museums charge admission.

The two are closely matched, with different strengths. In Cardiff, most of it revolves around the Wales Millennium Centre, home to Welsh National Opera and touring musicals. The BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the grassroots bands of Womanby Street add to it, and the stadium hosts major touring concerts.

Ghent leans towards classical music and theatre: opera and ballet at the nineteenth-century opera house, early music at De Bijloke in a former medieval hospital, and NTGent's bold productions, though most are in Dutch. A long-running jazz festival and a classical season fill out its calendar.

Neither city has a bathing tradition, and anyone looking for a spa will find little beyond hotel spas in either. Ghent is slightly more restful, with the walled gardens of the beguinages, walks along the Leie and the Coupure canal, and very quiet Sundays. Cardiff's calm comes from slow mornings in the cafés of Pontcanna and walks along the Taff through Bute Park, which are pleasant but less of a reason to go.