Haarlem or Hamburg?

Neither city is a swimming destination, and they fall short in different ways. Haarlem at least has the open coast nearby: Zandvoort's long sand is ten minutes by train and the dune-backed strand at Bloemendaal is a bike ride away, though the North Sea stays cool and windy.

Hamburg's own sand lines the Elbe at Oevelgönne and Blankenese, which is good for watching ships at sunset but unsafe for swimming. Real sea bathing there means an hour's trip to the Baltic resorts, where the water is a little warmer and the beaches have wicker chairs.

Hamburg eats better and with more personality. It has a real port food culture: fish rolls on the Landungsbrücken, Labskaus and eel soup, Franzbrötchen for breakfast and a coffee tradition in the Schanzenviertel and Ottensen. Behind that is a broad international scene and a proper fine-dining tier.

Haarlem offers comfortable meals on terraces around the Grote Markt and a strong craft beer culture, with herring and kibbeling at the Saturday market. It has little street food and few top tables, so a stay there brings pleasant meals rather than ones you remember.

The two are about even, but the experience is very different. Haarlem is an intact historic town of gabled houses, canals and hidden hofjes, with the Frans Hals Museum, Teylers Museum and St Bavo's all within a short walk, and two unhurried days cover it.

Hamburg lost much of its old core in the war, so its sights are spread across districts and the waterfront: the UNESCO-listed Speicherstadt and Chilehaus, the Elbphilharmonie plaza and the Kunsthalle's collection up to Caspar David Friedrich. It suits people who like big-city architecture and harbour views more than an old-town stroll.

This is where the two differ most. Hamburg goes out late and hard, from the neon and music clubs of the Reeperbahn to the Schanzenviertel's crowded pavement bars and smarter bars by the Alster, and nights often end at dawn by the harbour.

Haarlem's evenings are relaxed drinks in the brown cafés around the Grote Markt and Botermarkt, winding down long before morning. If you want a club, the usual answer is the train to Amsterdam.

Haarlem has the better outdoors on its doorstep. Zuid-Kennemerland National Park's dunes, pine woods and lakes start at the western edge of town, with wild ponies, Highland cattle and fallow deer, and the beach and the spring bulb fields are an easy cycle away.

Hamburg's outdoors is mostly water and parks: sailing and paddling on the Alster, the Elbe path to Blankenese and the Altes Land orchards in blossom. Lüneburg Heath and the Wadden Sea need a longer outing.

Both are good bases, but Haarlem's position in the dense Dutch rail network is hard to beat. Amsterdam is about fifteen minutes away and Leiden twenty, while The Hague, Delft, Utrecht and Rotterdam are all within easy reach, along with Keukenhof, Alkmaar and Zaanse Schans.

Hamburg's outings take longer and are more spread out, though they have a clear theme in northern Germany's brick Gothic towns. Lübeck is the obvious first trip, with Lüneburg, Bremen, Schwerin and Wismar close behind.

Hamburg is far better equipped for children. Miniatur Wunderland can fill half a day, Hagenbeck's moated enclosures and tropical aquarium cover a wet afternoon, and a harbour day of ferries, museum ships and the old Elbe tunnel is an easy win. Theme parks are about an hour away.

Haarlem is relaxed and safe, with a car-free centre, dunes to run in and Teylers Museum's fossils. There is no zoo, aquarium or theme park in town, though, so families end up making trips to Amsterdam.

Both are easy without a car, in different ways. Haarlem is small enough to cross on foot in twenty minutes, and the bike does everything else, with separate paths out to the dunes and the beach.

Hamburg covers more ground, so it relies on the U-Bahn and S-Bahn. Its harbour ferries run on the same ticket and double as a sightseeing trip, and the airport is a single S-Bahn ride from the centre.

Hamburg offers more range. Neuer Wall and the arcades around the Jungfernstieg bring luxury labels and dry browsing on wet days, the Alsterhaus is a classic department store, and the Karolinenviertel adds vintage and streetwear.

Haarlem has no luxury street and no big department store. Its strength is the run of independent boutiques, design shops and delicatessens on Gierstraat, Kleine Houtstraat and Schagchelstraat, which makes for a pleasant afternoon rather than a reason to come.

Both are expensive, but Hamburg is a little easier on a budget. It has more hotels to choose from, one day ticket covers trains, buses and ferries, and many of its best sights cost nothing, from the Elbphilharmonie plaza to the Speicherstadt and the riverside walks.

Haarlem's hotels are few and fill early in tulip season and summer, and the rooms are small for what they cost. Getting around town costs little by bike, but the day trips that make it worth choosing add train fares to the bill.

The two are far apart here. Haarlem has a decent programme for a town of its size, with concerts at the Philharmonie and theatre, dance and cabaret at the Stadsschouwburg, though most stage work is in Dutch. Its own speciality is organ music at St Bavo's, and for opera or a major orchestra you take the train to Amsterdam.

Hamburg could fill every evening of a week. The Elbphilharmonie and the Laeiszhalle share a full classical season, the State Opera and the Hamburg Ballet both have international names, and no German city stages more big musicals, some of them in theatres you reach by boat. For something smaller, St Pauli's rock and indie clubs, where the Beatles started out, still host live bands.

Neither is a wellness destination, and both rely on the northern sauna habit rather than thermal springs. Hamburg has a historic public bath in the art nouveau Holthusenbad, plus hotel spas and quiet spots such as the Japanese garden in Planten un Blomen.

Haarlem's calm comes more from its pace: quiet canals and almshouse courtyards after dark, and bike rides into the dunes. The big day-spa complexes are out in the wider region rather than in town.