Dublin or Belfast?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Dublin makes more of its coast. Dollymount, Sandymount, Killiney and Portmarnock are all sandy and close by on the DART. Its year-round dipping at the Forty Foot and Seapoint is a ritual you can watch or join.

In Belfast the lough shore is for walking. The nearest sand is at Helen's Bay and Crawfordsburn, a short train ride away, and the long north-coast strands at Whiterocks and Portstewart make a day out in themselves. In both cities the Irish Sea stays cold.

The two are evenly matched, and both cook with good local produce, not a wide international range. Belfast's food has the stronger regional character: an Ulster fry with soda farls, Strangford oysters and Mourne lamb on the menus of the Cathedral Quarter and the Lisburn Road, and weekend grazing at St George's Market.

Dublin's modern bistros in Dublin 2 and Dublin 8 handle similar fish, beef and cheese well, but meals there cost a lot for what you get. Dublin's whiskey distilleries and tasting bars are in the city itself. In Belfast, Bushmills means a drive up the coast.

Dublin has more to see and fits it into a smaller area. Trinity's Long Room, the free national museums and gallery, the Chester Beatty Library, two medieval cathedrals and Kilmainham Gaol can fill three full days on foot. Its Georgian terraces and literary history run through the streets in between.

Belfast's heritage is more recent and more industrial. Titanic Belfast on the old slipways, the domed City Hall, the Ulster Museum and Crumlin Road Gaol are the main sights. The political murals and peace walls, ideally seen with a local guide, are what many visitors remember most. It is a shorter list of strong sights, without a dense historic centre.

Both cities centre a night out on the pub, and in both the clubs are few and close early. Dublin has more range. It has old snug-lined pubs off Grafton and Baggot Streets, younger cocktail and late bars along Camden, Wexford and George's Streets, and the crowded, expensive Temple Bar for those who want it.

Belfast's evenings are smaller and gather around the cobbled entries of the Cathedral Quarter and the Victorian carved wood of the Crown Liquor Saloon. The student bars of Botanic Avenue fill up in term time. It suits a friendly round of pubs, and nights tend to end earlier than in Dublin.

Both are green and wet, and both have hills near the city, but the landscapes are different in kind. Belfast's are wilder. Cave Hill and Divis rise right behind the streets, the Mournes give real hill walking about an hour south, and the Causeway Coast to the north is a far more dramatic shoreline than anything near Dublin.

Dublin's outdoors is closer at hand. Phoenix Park, with its deer, sits inside the city, the DART runs straight to the cliff path at Howth and the Bray to Greystones walk, and the rounded Wicklow hills and Glendalough are an easy trip south.

Dublin has the slightly richer choice. The Boyne Valley's passage tombs at Newgrange and Knowth are older than the pyramids, and the Hill of Tara and Trim Castle lie nearby. Glendalough, Powerscourt and medieval Kilkenny add more variety.

From Belfast, the Antrim coast run past Dunluce Castle to Bushmills and Portrush is the classic outing. Carrickfergus Castle, Armagh's cathedrals and walled Derry fill other days. Each city is a two-hour train ride from the other, so either can include a day in the other.

With children the two are much the same: compact, friendly and dependent on indoor plans when it rains. Belfast's draws are hands-on. There is W5 science centre, the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum with its steam engines and trams, and a zoo on the slopes of Cave Hill.

Dublin's zoo sits inside Phoenix Park, with open space and deer close by. In town, Dublinia's Viking displays and the free natural history museum fill a wet day, and there is a theme park about half an hour away.

Both centres are small and flat enough to walk, and in both you need a car or a tour for the countryside. The difference is on rails. Dublin has two Luas tram lines and the DART along the bay, all on one tap-on card. Its buses, though, crawl at rush hour.

Belfast has no trams. It uses the Glider rapid buses across the city and suburban trains along the lough to Holywood, Bangor and Carrickfergus, and services get sparse in the evening.

Dublin is the better place to shop, though neither city is worth visiting for shopping alone. Grafton Street has Brown Thomas, the city's long-established department store, and the Powerscourt Townhouse is a Georgian mansion turned into small shops. Drury Street and South William Street add design and craft, with Aran knitwear and tweed the souvenirs to look for.

Belfast mostly offers high-street chains around Donegall Place and the glass-domed Victoria Square. Its own speciality is Irish linen, and St George's Market adds crafts and vintage stalls at weekends.

This is the biggest gap between the two, and Belfast comes out well ahead. Its hotel rooms are fairly easy to find at a fair price outside the big event weekends. In Dublin, rooms in and near the centre are among the most expensive in Europe, and cheap options are scarce.

Both cities have free museums, and in both, eating out and drinking cost a lot. In Dublin, the usual way to save is to stay out near a DART or Luas stop, while in Belfast staying central is affordable to begin with.

Dublin has the deeper stage. The Abbey is Ireland's national theatre, the Gate is known for classic productions, the autumn Theatre Festival has a long history, and the National Concert Hall is home to the national symphony orchestra. Pub sessions of traditional music run almost every night.

Belfast also has nightly trad sessions and Irish drama at the Lyric, but on a smaller scale. It does have something Dublin lacks: the ornate Grand Opera House, which stages touring opera, whereas Dublin has no permanent opera house. The Ulster Orchestra plays at the Victorian Ulster Hall.

Neither city has a bathing or spa tradition, and relaxation mostly means hotel spas, walks in the parks and cold sea dips. Dublin turns the dip into more of a ritual, with the Forty Foot and Seapoint and a seafront sauna afterwards. The villages along the bay offer a slower pace too.

Belfast's calm is found in the Botanic Gardens, along the Lagan towpath or in a pub snug. Its more serious pampering is in the country-house hotels outside the city.