Ghent or Maastricht?

Ghent at least gives you a real beach day. Ostend is about an hour away by train, and the coastal tram runs past wide sand and dunes, although the North Sea is cool and often windy. The lake beach at the Blaarmeersen covers hot afternoons in town.

From Maastricht the coast is a long day's journey away, so swimming means the gravel-pit lakes along the Maas. Neither city is a place to come for the water.

The two are close, but the food is different in character. Ghent leans on Flemish stews such as waterzooi, frites from street stands, cuberdon sweets and long-standing vegetarian cooking, and its brown cafés pour a deeper list of Trappist and lambic beers.

Maastricht is more about sitting down: zuurvlees, vlaai from the bakeries, white wine from the local hillsides and a fine-dining tier that is strong for a small city, eaten on terraces around the Vrijthof. Ghent has more street food, and Maastricht has more polish.

Ghent has more to see. The van Eyck altarpiece in St Bavo's is a reason to travel in itself, the moated Gravensteen stands right in the middle of town, and the view of the three towers from St Michael's Bridge sums up the old city. The Fine Arts museum, the SMAK and the STAM add depth.

Maastricht rewards a gentler two days. Its Romanesque basilicas, the Helpoort gate, the old walls along the Jeker and the tunnels under the Sint-Pietersberg are all worth seeing, and the Bonnefanten is a fine museum, but there is no single landmark of the altarpiece's standing.

Ghent has the livelier nights. The student bars of the Overpoort run late in term time, and the old beer cafés around the Vrijdagmarkt and Oudburg suit a slower evening. In summer people drink along the quays, and the Gentse Feesten takes over the whole centre for ten days every July.

In Maastricht a night out mostly means brown cafés and terraces around the Markt and the Vrijthof, with little in the way of clubs. Its big exception is carnival before Lent, when the whole city parties in the streets day and night.

Maastricht has far more to offer outdoors, because this is where the Netherlands stops being flat. Marl cliffs and nature reserves on the Sint-Pietersberg begin at the edge of town, the Jeker valley runs green into Belgium, and the Heuvelland has orchards, half-timbered farms and the climbs cyclists know from the spring races.

Around Ghent the land is flat and farmed. Cycling along the Leie to Sint-Martens-Latem and birdwatching at the Bourgoyen-Ossemeersen wetland are pleasant, but there are no hills to walk.

Ghent is the better base for excursions, mainly because its neighbours are some of the great art cities of the Low Countries. Bruges is under half an hour away by frequent train, Brussels about the same, and Antwerp under an hour. Ypres and the Westhoek battlefields add a very different kind of day.

Maastricht's strength is variety across borders. Aachen and Liège are each about half an hour away, Valkenburg and Tongeren are closer still, and Cologne is within reach, so you can take in three countries in one stay. Some of these trips are easier with a car, whereas from Ghent the train does everything.

For children the two come out about even, but in different ways. Ghent's family outings are in town, with the battlements of the Gravensteen, canal boat trips, the toys at the House of Alijn and the Blaarmeersen lake, though cobbles make pushchairs hard work.

In Maastricht the centre is easier with a buggy, and the tunnel tour under the Sint-Pietersberg is the main outing in town. Most of what children love is about twenty minutes away in Valkenburg, with show caves, a cable car and a fairy-tale park, plus the zoo at Kerkrade.

Both centres are compact, flat and best seen on foot or by bike. In Ghent, trams link the main station, about twenty minutes' walk from the old town, to the centre, and frequent trains mean you never need a car, even for day trips.

Maastricht's station is just over the bridge in Wyck, so arriving is easier, but the hill villages and the Heuvelland are much simpler to reach with a car or bike than by regional bus.

Maastricht is the better place to shop, and Dutch, Belgian and German visitors come for weekends with that in mind. The restored houses of the Stokstraat quarter hold fashion and designer boutiques, the Grote Staat has the main high-street brands, and Wyck adds independent shops for interiors and food.

Ghent's shopping is more of a sideline. Its best finds are independent design along the Serpentstraat, vintage in the student quarter, the Sint-Jacobs flea market, and edible souvenirs such as cuberdons, mustard and beer.

Costs are much the same in both, at the Northern European level, with meals and terrace drinks adding up quickly. When you go matters more than which city you choose. Ghent's rooms fill and prices climb during the Gentse Feesten in July, while free entry to churches such as St Bavo's helps on other days.

Maastricht's pressure comes every weekend, because it is a favourite short-break city, so staying from Sunday to Thursday saves the most. In both, a walkable centre means transport costs almost nothing.

A night at the theatre means quite different things in the two cities. In Ghent you can choose most evenings between opera or ballet from the Flemish national company, theatre with an international name and early music in a medieval hall. The drama is mostly in Dutch, so visitors who don't speak it will get more from the music and dance. July adds free outdoor stages.

Maastricht works on a smaller scale. One main house carries the regional orchestra, opera and visiting productions, and church organ and choral concerts fill in around it. Its one big draw is the summer open-air concerts on the Vrijthof, when crowds come from across Europe.

Maastricht is much better for spas, thanks to its region rather than the city itself. The thermal baths above Valkenburg look out over the hills, Aachen has bathed visitors since Roman times, and Spa, the town that gave spas their name, is within an hour.

Ghent offers quiet rather than treatments: the walled gardens of the beguinages, walks along the Coupure and calm Sundays, with only a few hotel spas and private saunas.