Haarlem or The Hague?

Both look out on the same cold, grey North Sea, so neither will do for a swimming vacation. The Hague comes out a little ahead because the beach is part of the city. Scheveningen's wide sand, pier and promenade are a short tram ride from the centre, and Kijkduin offers a calmer alternative.

From Haarlem you take the train to Zandvoort or cycle through the dunes to Bloemendaal aan Zee. It is an easy outing, and the dune-backed strand there feels wilder than Scheveningen, but it is a trip out of town rather than a walk from your hotel.

Neither city is a serious food destination, and what sets them apart is the kind of food. Haarlem's best eating is Dutch and local: cheese, herring and kibbeling at the Saturday market on the Grote Markt, and a long brewing history that shows in its craft beer taps.

The Hague has something Haarlem lacks: Indonesian cooking of rare quality, from a full rijsttafel to simple plates of rendang, the legacy of families from the former Dutch East Indies. Add the Chinatown noodle shops and the fish stalls at Scheveningen harbour, and it has more variety.

The Hague has more to see. The Mauritshuis, with the Girl with a Pearl Earring and View of Delft, sits beside the medieval Binnenhof, and the Peace Palace, Panorama Mesdag, the Mondrian collection and Escher's palace fill a third day.

Haarlem's appeal is the town itself: an unbroken old centre of gabled houses, almshouse courtyards and the Grote Kerk, along with the Frans Hals Museum and the wonderfully old-fashioned oval room at Teylers. It is more intimate and more picturesque, but you see it in less time.

Both are early, sociable towns where the evening happens on café terraces, and serious clubbers in either one take the train. The Hague has a little more range: the after-work crowd on the Plein, the busier weekend bars of its own Grote Markt, and in summer the beach pavilions at Scheveningen, where drinks at sunset often turn into dancing. Haarlem's brown cafés around the Grote Markt and Botermarkt are cosier and quieter, with Amsterdam a quarter of an hour away for a bigger night.

Haarlem sits closer to open country. Zuid-Kennemerland's dunes, woods and lakes begin at the edge of town, grazed by Highland cattle and ponies, with fallow deer in the water-supply dunes to the south. In spring the bulb fields towards Leiden are an easy ride away.

The Hague has its own dunes at Meijendel and the Westduinpark, and the old Haagse Bos forest almost reaches the centre. The coast is its main outdoor asset, good for beach walks and for kitesurfing. Both are completely flat and windy, so the difference is how quickly you are out among the dunes.

These are two of the best bases in the country, and the difference is which way they face. Haarlem looks north and east: Amsterdam is next door, with Alkmaar's cheese market and Zaanse Schans within easy reach.

The Hague looks south. Delft and Leiden are a few minutes away, Rotterdam and Gouda are under half an hour, and Kinderdijk is an easy outing. Choose the one nearer the places you most want to see.

The Hague is much better set up for children. Madurodam is a ready-made family day, and Scheveningen adds a beach, a pier and a large sea aquarium, with Museon, the Louwman car museum and Duinrell's rides and water park nearby. Trams carry pushchairs easily.

Haarlem is relaxed and largely car-free, and children love the fossils at Teylers and the playgrounds in the dune park. But there is no zoo, aquarium or theme park in town, so families end up travelling to Amsterdam for those.

Both are easy without a car, but they work differently. Haarlem is a walking and cycling town: the station sits at the edge of a centre you can cross in twenty minutes, and bike paths run straight into the dunes and to the coast.

The Hague's historic core is just as compact, but the city spreads out to Scheveningen, Madurodam and the Peace Palace, so you will use its tram network and its two main stations more often.

Haarlem keeps its shopping in one compact quarter. Gierstraat, Kleine Houtstraat, Schagchelstraat and the other lanes south and west of the Grote Markt are lined with independent fashion boutiques, design shops, bookshops and delicatessens, all a few minutes' walk from each other.

The Hague's shopping is spread across the city and has an older, more refined character. Antique dealers and galleries line Denneweg and Noordeinde, the glass-roofed Passage makes a covered stroll, and the main pedestrian streets have a large department store among the chains. Its standout is the Haagse Markt, one of Europe's biggest open-air markets, whose fabrics and spices go well beyond anything on Haarlem's square.

In Haarlem the problem is hotels. Many visitors choose the town as a calmer base near Amsterdam, so the few hotels fill early in tulip season and summer, and the rooms are small for what they cost. Market stalls and bakeries keep lunch cheap, but train fares for regular day trips add up.

The Hague gives you more room to save. Its central hotels empty of government and business travellers at weekends, and Indonesian and Surinamese eateries serve filling plates for far less than a sit-down Dutch dinner. Only Scheveningen's seafront hotels charge extra in summer. Either way, you pay full Northern European prices for rooms and meals, so neither city suits a tight budget.

The Hague is the stronger stage city, mainly thanks to Nederlands Dans Theater, a world-class company that is well worth booking. The Residentie Orkest and the Royal Conservatory's concerts add depth, and dance, unlike Dutch-language drama, needs no translation.

Haarlem's speciality is the organ. Regular concerts on St Bavo's great Müller instrument and a long-running international organ festival give it something The Hague does not have, alongside chamber music at the Philharmonie.

Neither has thermal springs. Both rely on the Dutch sauna and on a calm pace. The Hague has large day-long sauna complexes in the city and on its outskirts (expect nudity to be the norm), and its quiet embassy streets make for restful evenings.

In Haarlem the restful part is the town itself: silent hofjes after dark, long terrace afternoons and a bike ride into the dunes. The bigger spa complexes are a trip out into the region.