Haarlem or London?

Haarlem has the better beach access. Zandvoort's broad sand is about ten minutes away by train, and the quieter dune-backed strand at Bloemendaal aan Zee can be reached by bike. London's nearest sea is Brighton's pebble shore, an hour away on the train.

Neither city offers warm swimming, as the North Sea and the Channel both stay bracing. What London has instead is fresh water: the lidos and the Hampstead Heath ponds give the city a swimming culture that Haarlem doesn't have.

The gap here is wide. London's best eating comes from its communities: Bangladeshi cooking on Brick Lane, Punjabi food in Southall, Turkish grills in Green Lanes, Caribbean and West African kitchens south of the river. On top of that come Borough Market and a deep fine-dining scene.

Haarlem eats well but simply. Expect herring and kibbeling from the Saturday market, solid bistro meals and local craft beer on a terrace by the Grote Markt. Pleasant meals are easy to find, but they rarely become the reason for the trip.

Haarlem's appeal is a small, intact Golden Age town. St Bavo, the Frans Hals Museum, Teylers' 18th-century oval room and the hidden hofjes all fit into two easy days.

London works on a different scale. The British Museum, the National Gallery, the V&A and both Tates could each fill a day, most of them free, and landmarks from the Tower to St Paul's span a thousand years. The cityscape is less uniform than Haarlem's, but a week barely scratches the surface.

Evenings in Haarlem mean brown cafés and terraces around the Grote Markt and the Botermarkt. They are sociable, easy-going and done well before dawn, and there is almost no clubbing.

London's nights are a different proposition. Soho runs late and dense, Shoreditch, Hackney and Dalston carry the club and warehouse culture, and Brixton and Peckham add big venues and rooftop bars. Haarlem's own answer to a big night is the fifteen-minute train to Amsterdam.

Both cities give you gentle green country with deer in it, but they are laid out differently. In Haarlem the wild ground begins at the edge of town: the dunes, pinewoods and lakes of Zuid-Kennemerland, beach walks and kitesurfing, and the spring bulb fields, all flat and best seen by bike.

London's green space is inside the city: the royal parks, Hampstead Heath's views over the skyline and Richmond Park's ancient oaks. The chalk hills of the North and South Downs are an hour out by train and give proper rolling walks, which flat Holland cannot offer.

Both are excellent bases, with different kinds of outings. From Haarlem the trips are short hops: Amsterdam, Leiden, The Hague and Delft all come within an hour, so it is easy to fit in several cities, plus Keukenhof and the windmills.

From London the rides are longer, but they reach a wider spread of England: college towns at Oxford and Cambridge, Georgian Bath, Stonehenge, Canterbury and the castles of Kent.

London does far more for children. The Natural History and Science museums and the Young V&A are free, there are playgrounds and boating lakes in the parks, the zoo is in Regent's Park, and Legoland and the Harry Potter studio tour are close by. The drawbacks are the long distances, the many Tube stations with only stairs, and the crowds when schools are out.

Haarlem is the reverse: very easy, with little laid on. The small, flat, largely car-free centre and the dunes make relaxed days, but for a zoo or an aquarium you have to go to Amsterdam.

London's network takes you almost anywhere. The Tube, the Elizabeth line, the buses and the Thames riverboats all run on one contactless payment. The price of that reach is the distance: long transfers, stairs and packed rush-hour trains.

Haarlem is simpler. You can cross the centre on foot in about twenty minutes, and bike paths lead straight into the dunes. Trains cover the trips beyond the town, but there is far less ground to cover.

London is one of the world's great shopping cities. It has the luxury houses of Bond Street, tailoring on Savile Row, department stores such as Liberty and Harrods that are sights in their own right, and weekend markets from Portobello Road to Columbia Road.

Haarlem offers a pleasant afternoon. Independent boutiques, design shops and delis line Gierstraat and Kleine Houtstraat, and the main square holds market stalls, but it has no luxury street or big department store.

Neither is cheap, but Haarlem is easier on a budget. Rooms are small for what they cost and fill early in tulip season, but bakeries, market stalls and a hired bike keep daily spending in check.

London's central hotels are among Europe's costliest, and pub rounds, theatre seats and fares add up quickly. Free national museums and parks soften the bill, and staying further out along a good line helps.

London has one of the world's two great theatre scenes: the West End, the National Theatre, the Globe and fringe stages above pubs. Add two opera houses, five major orchestras, the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall and jazz in Soho cellars.

Haarlem has a solid programme for its size, with the Philharmonie, the Stadsschouwburg and a pop venue. Its own speciality is the organ: concerts on St Bavo's great instrument and a long-running international festival.

Neither city is built around wellness, and each has its own way to unwind. Haarlem's comes from its slow pace: quiet canals after dark, long hours on café terraces and bike rides into the dunes, with Dutch sauna complexes elsewhere in the region.

London has more actual bathing, including Victorian Turkish baths in Bayswater and Islington and full spas in the grand hotels, with the thermal waters of Bath reachable by train. Its everyday pace, though, is fast and crowded.