Cologne or The Hague?

Cologne is a river city with no swimming beach. The Rhine is not safe for swimming, the sandy banks at Rodenkirchen are for sitting on, and the nearest place to bathe is a gravel-pit lake such as Fühlinger See.

The Hague has a real seaside within the city. Scheveningen has a long sandy beach with a pier and promenade, and Kijkduin is quieter, with dunes behind it. The North Sea is cold and choppy, so you sunbathe and take short dips rather than swim, but it is a proper beach day, which Cologne cannot offer.

Neither city is a destination for food, and the two are broadly level, but the meals you will remember are different. In Cologne it is the Brauhaus: the Köbes keeps bringing Kölsch to the table alongside Himmel un Ääd and sauerbraten, and the Turkish kitchens on Ehrenfeld's Venloer Strasse are the best change from it.

The Hague's strength comes from the former Dutch East Indies. Its Indonesian cooking, from a full rijsttafel to simple plates of rendang, is the reason to book a table. Scheveningen harbour adds fish, and street carts sell raw herring in early summer.

The two are evenly matched in different ways. Cologne's main draw is one huge building, the cathedral. Around it are twelve Romanesque churches, Roman remains and the Pop Art of Museum Ludwig, set in a town largely rebuilt after the war.

The Hague offers great quality in a small space: Vermeer and Rembrandt in the Mauritshuis, the Binnenhof beside its pond, Mondrian at the Kunstmuseum and the Peace Palace. The setting is leafy and dignified, and the city rewards a slow pace.

Cologne is far better for going out. A typical evening moves from a brewhouse to a cocktail bar in the Belgian Quarter and then to a late club in an Ehrenfeld factory. The gay scene around Rudolfplatz is one of Germany's biggest, and Carnival turns the whole city into a street party.

Nights out in The Hague are polite and early. After-work drinks on the Plein, student terraces on the Grote Markt and summer beach pavilions cover most of it. Anyone wanting more takes the train to Rotterdam or Amsterdam.

Both cities are flat and green, so the difference is in what lies nearby. From Cologne the land starts to rise within the hour. The wooded hills of the Siebengebirge, the Drachenfels, the Bergisches Land and the Eifel's crater lakes all make proper day hikes.

The Hague's outdoors is the coast. The dunes of Meijendel and the Westduinpark, beach walks in any weather and kitesurfing when the wind is up take the place of hills.

Cologne is a strong rail hub. Brühl's palaces, Bonn and Düsseldorf are all within half an hour, and Aachen is not much further. The castle towns of the Rhine Gorge and trips over the border to Maastricht or Brussels take up to two hours.

The Hague does even better, because so much is so close. Delft and Leiden are about fifteen minutes away, and Gouda and Rotterdam are not much further. Amsterdam, Utrecht, the Kinderdijk windmills and Keukenhof are all within an hour, so you can see most of the country from one base.

Both work well with children, so the choice comes down to the kind of outing. Cologne has the zoo, the Chocolate Museum, the cable car across the Rhine and Phantasialand at Brühl, a major theme park. Carnival week is best avoided with small children.

The Hague offers miniatures and the seaside: Madurodam, the beach and sea aquarium at Scheveningen, and Duinrell's water park in Wassenaar. It is a calm city where only rain spoils the plan.

Both cities are easy without a car. In Cologne you arrive beside the cathedral and the main sights are within walking distance, though the Stadtbahn map takes some learning and the trams can be crowded.

The Hague's walkable centre is smaller and the city more spread out. Even so, frequent trams run to the beach and Madurodam, there are cycle lanes almost everywhere, and national trains make Delft and Leiden as easy to reach as a suburb.

Neither city is a shopping destination, and they differ more in character than in range. Cologne offers volume on Schildergasse and Hohe Strasse and independent shops in the Belgian Quarter. Its historic perfume houses still sell Eau de Cologne, and the Christmas markets fill the squares in Advent.

The Hague is smaller and better for browsing. The Denneweg and Noordeinde have antique dealers and galleries, the glass-roofed Passage dates from the 1880s, and the Haagse Markt is one of Europe's largest open-air markets.

Cologne is easier on the wallet. Brewhouse meals and Kölsch are fairly priced, the cathedral is free, and hotels are the main cost. Plan around the trade fairs and Carnival, when room rates jump.

The Hague charges full Northern European prices for rooms, meals and drinks, and Scheveningen's seafront hotels cost more in summer. Staying at weekends, eating at Indonesian and Surinamese places and picnicking from the market all help, but the bill still stays above Cologne's.

Cologne has the broader stage. There are opera and drama at Offenbachplatz, two orchestras at the Philharmonie beside the cathedral, early-music concerts in the Romanesque churches, and a strong jazz and electronic scene. Most nights there is something worth seeing.

The Hague's programme is narrower but has one highlight: Nederlands Dans Theater on its home stage. The Residentie Orkest fills out the season, but the theatre is mostly in Dutch and there is no resident opera company, which limits the rest for visitors.

The two are close, and both have a serious sauna culture where nudity is the norm. Cologne adds natural springs: a thermal bath in the Rheinpark fed by mineral springs, with a view of the cathedral, and Aachen's ancient hot springs nearby. The city itself is busy, though.

The Hague has no historic baths still in use, but its calm pace, quiet streets and sea air make it easy to slow down.