Ghent or The Hague?

Neither is a swimming destination, but The Hague at least has the sea on its doorstep. Scheveningen's long sandy beach, with its pier and summer pavilions, is a short tram ride from the centre, and Kijkduin offers a quieter stretch backed by dunes.

From Ghent the coast is a day out, an hour's train to Ostend, and in town the nearest thing to a beach is the lake shore at the Blaarmeersen. In both places the North Sea stays cold and the dip is brief.

Ghent is the more satisfying place to eat and drink. Waterzooi, beef stewed in dark beer, grey shrimp croquettes and frites in paper cones make up a proper regional cuisine, vegetarians are well looked after, and the beer cafés around the Vrijdagmarkt are a reason to stay a night longer.

The Hague's strong suit is narrower but real: Indonesian cooking, from a full rijsttafel to plates of rendang, is excellent and easy to find. Beyond that, and herring from the carts in early summer, Dutch eating there is plain.

Ghent edges ahead because the city itself is the sight. The view from St Michael's Bridge, the Graslei quays and the moated Gravensteen give a medieval townscape that The Hague cannot match, and the Ghent Altarpiece is one of the great works of European painting.

The Hague answers with quality rather than atmosphere. The Mauritshuis, small as it is, holds Vermeer and Rembrandt masterpieces, and the Binnenhof, the Peace Palace and the Mondrians at the Kunstmuseum make a stately, rewarding couple of days.

Ghent has the livelier nights, mostly thanks to its university. The Overpoort runs loud and late in term time, the old cafés of the Oudburg suit a long evening over strong beer, and the ten days of the Gentse Feesten each July turn the whole centre into a party.

The Hague goes to bed earlier. After-work terraces on the Plein and the bars of the Grote Markt are pleasant, and summer brings dancing at the beach pavilions, but locals after a big night take the train to Rotterdam or Amsterdam.

The Hague has more real landscape close by. The dunes of Meijendel and the Westduinpark, the old Haagse Bos forest reaching almost into the centre, and long beach walks in any season give it a wilder edge, with kitesurfing when the wind blows.

Around Ghent the outdoors is gentler: riverside cycling along the Leie to Sint-Martens-Latem, birdwatching at the Bourgoyen-Ossemeersen wetland and flat polder country to the north. Neither has a single hill.

Both are superb bases, and the difference is which country you see. From Ghent the trains run to Bruges, Brussels and Antwerp in under an hour, with the First World War battlefields around Ypres and Lille across the French border also in range.

From The Hague you get the Dutch heartland instead: Delft and Leiden within a quarter of an hour, Rotterdam, Gouda, Amsterdam and Utrecht close behind, plus the windmills of Kinderdijk and the spring bulb fields around Keukenhof.

The Hague is much better set up for children. Madurodam is a ready-made outing, Scheveningen adds sand, a pier and a sea aquarium, Museon suits school-age children, and trams take pushchairs without fuss.

Ghent is safe and largely car-free, and the Gravensteen's battlements, canal boats and the House of Alijn will fill a day or so. After that there is little aimed at children, and the cobbles make pushchairs hard going.

Both are flat, compact and built around the bicycle, and in neither is a car worth having. In Ghent the medieval core is almost free of traffic and everything is a short walk apart, though the main station sits twenty minutes south on foot.

The Hague's centre is just as walkable, but the beach, Madurodam and the Peace Palace are spread further out, so you lean more on the trams. Two stations put the rest of the country close at hand.

Neither is a shopping destination, and they differ mainly in character. The Hague is more polished, with antique dealers, galleries and boutiques along the Denneweg and Noordeinde, the 1880s Passage arcade, and the huge Haagse Markt full of fabrics and spices.

Ghent is more independent and studenty, with design shops on the Serpentstraat, vintage near the university and weekend flea and flower markets. Its best buys are edible: chocolate, cuberdons, mustard and beer.

Both cost what you expect in this corner of Europe, and neither is a budget city. In Ghent sit-down dinners with a few beers add up, but frites stands, set lunches and free entry to churches, including St Bavo's, help, and hotels only get tight during the July festival.

The Hague's savings come from its Indonesian and Surinamese eateries and the Haagse Markt for picnics. Central hotels are easier at weekends, when the government crowd has gone home, while seafront rooms in Scheveningen cost more in summer.

The two are close, and each has its own speciality. Ghent's strengths are opera and ballet at the nineteenth-century opera house, early and classical music at De Bijloke in its medieval hospital, and the free stages of the Gentse Feesten.

The Hague has no resident opera, but it is home to Nederlands Dans Theater, and seeing the company at home is the city's outstanding night out, backed by the Residentie Orkest. In both, much of the drama is in Dutch.

The Hague has a real wellness culture, the Dutch sauna. Large complexes in and around the city are made for whole days of saunas, cold plunges, gardens and massage, though nudity is usually expected, and the quiet embassy streets make the rest easy.

Ghent offers calm rather than facilities: the walled gardens of the beguinages, slow walks along the Coupure and long terrace afternoons, with only a few hotel spas.