Cologne or Utrecht?

Neither city has a beach worth travelling for. In both, a summer swim means a lake on the edge of town rather than the river or the sea. Cologne's gravel-pit lakes, such as Fühlinger See, warm to about 22°C on hot days, but the Rhine itself is off limits. Utrecht has the Maarsseveense Plassen and the Loosdrecht lakes, and it can also reach the North Sea at Zandvoort or Scheveningen in about an hour, which Cologne cannot do for a day out.

Cologne has the stronger food identity, and it is built around the Brauhaus. The Köbes keep refilling small glasses of Kölsch, the plates are Himmel un Ääd and sauerbraten, and the ritual is worth experiencing for its own sake. Ehrenfeld's Turkish and Middle Eastern kitchens and a few serious fine-dining rooms add range.

Utrecht has no cuisine of its own, and a meal there is more about the setting than the food. You might eat on a terrace on the Oudegracht wharves at water level, try Indonesian or Surinamese food, or buy cheese and herring at the Vredenburg market. Neither city is a food destination, but Cologne gives you more to seek out.

Cologne has more to see. The cathedral is a sight of European importance, and the twelve Romanesque churches and the Roman remains add a deep second layer of history. Museum Ludwig and the Wallraf-Richartz are major collections. The drawback is the plain post-war townscape between the landmarks.

Utrecht is the other way round. Its medieval centre has largely survived, and with the free-standing Dom Tower and the two-level Oudegracht, the streets themselves are the sight. Its museums, from the Centraal Museum's De Stijl collection to the Rietveld Schröder House, are smaller, and two or three days covers them.

Cologne is the much better night out. An evening can start in the Altstadt brewhouses, move to cocktail bars in the Belgian Quarter and end in late clubs in Ehrenfeld's old factories. The city has one of Germany's largest gay scenes, around Rudolfplatz, and Carnival turns the whole place into a street party.

Utrecht's nights belong to its students. They mean drinking by the canal on the Oudegracht, terraces on the Neude and brown cafés, busy even midweek but with few clubs. Visitors who want more usually take the short train to Amsterdam.

Both are flat cities in green country, but Cologne has more varied landscapes within reach. The volcanic hills of the Siebengebirge and the Drachenfels crag are about forty minutes away. The Eifel's crater lakes and the vineyards of the Ahr valley make for proper day hikes.

Utrecht's countryside is gentler and best seen by bike: along the Vecht past country estates and windmills, across the polders, or onto the low wooded ridges and heath of the Utrechtse Heuvelrug. It suits easy cycling and sailing on the Loosdrecht lakes rather than hill walking.

Both are excellent bases, but Utrecht puts more within easy reach. Amsterdam is under half an hour away, and Rotterdam and The Hague are well under an hour. Delft, Leiden, Haarlem and Gouda are simple trips too, so you can see a whole country of old towns from one hotel.

Cologne also has a wide range, from Bonn and Brühl's rococo palace to Aachen and the castle towns of the Rhine Gorge, with Maastricht and Brussels across the border. The best of these trips take longer, so it is a little less effortless as a base.

Both cities are relaxed with children, and the difference lies in what you do there. Cologne has bigger attractions: a large zoo with an elephant park, the Chocolate Museum, the cable car over the Rhine and a major theme park a short trip south at Brühl. Carnival week is best avoided with small children.

Utrecht is calmer and smaller in scale. It has the national Railway Museum, the Miffy museum for toddlers and Kasteel de Haar for a fairy-tale outing. Zoos and theme parks mean a journey, and the steady stream of bikes needs watching.

Utrecht is the easier city to get around. Centraal station sits on the edge of the old town, nearly everything a visitor wants is a short, flat walk away, and one tap-in card covers trains, buses and trams. Cycling is the local habit, and there is a vast cycle park under the station.

Cologne is also simple, with the main station beside the cathedral and a walkable centre. Reaching Ehrenfeld or the zoo, though, means using a Stadtbahn network whose map is less intuitive and whose trams can be crowded.

Neither city is a shopping destination, and they differ in style. Cologne's strength is size. Schildergasse and Hohe Strasse are among Germany's busiest shopping streets, and there is independent fashion on Ehrenstrasse and in the Belgian Quarter. It also has Eau de Cologne from its historic perfume houses, and Christmas markets in Advent.

Utrecht is better for browsing small streets. Independent shops line the Oudegracht wharves and the Twijnstraat, the chains are kept together in the Hoog Catharijne mall, and there are flower and textile markets. Neither city has many luxury labels.

Cologne is clearly easier on the budget. Brewhouse meals with Kölsch cost less than in most capitals, and the cathedral is free to enter. Hotels are moderate except during trade-fair weeks and Carnival, when rates jump.

In Utrecht, the main cost is the hotel. There are few hotels in the historic centre, they charge big-city rates, and restaurants charge normal Dutch prices on top. Day-to-day spending is easier, since you can walk or rent a bike instead of paying for transport, and student lunch cafés serve cheap meals. Even so, the total bill comes out higher than in Cologne.

Cologne has the richer stage life. Its opera and the Schauspiel share the theatre complex on Offenbachplatz, and the Philharmonie is home to two major orchestras, with the broadcaster's big band and choirs adding more. There is a long tradition of electronic music, jazz in the clubs of Ehrenfeld and the Südstadt, and the Carnival sessions, which are found nowhere else.

Utrecht does well for its size. Its music life centres on TivoliVredenburg, whose stacked halls host classical, pop and jazz, and its Festival Oude Muziek is a major draw for early-music lovers. It has no opera house, though, and its theatre is mostly in Dutch.

Cologne offers more ways to unwind. Saunas are an everyday habit there, the thermal bath in the Rheinpark looks across the river to the cathedral, and Aachen's hot springs are under forty minutes away.

Utrecht has no bathing tradition, and its sauna complexes are in the green belt outside the centre. Its strength is a quiet pace once the day-trippers leave, with evenings on the canal wharves and the Pandhof cloister garden beside the Dom.