Lille or Luxembourg?

Neither city is a beach destination, and in both a swim means a day out. From Lille that means the wide, windy North Sea sand at Dunkirk about an hour away, or the dune beaches of the Opal Coast. The water there is cold, better for a bracing dip than a long swim.

Luxembourg swaps the sea for lakes: the Upper Sûre reservoir and the gravel pits at Remerschen, where the water gets a few degrees warmer in high summer. Lille gives you sand and sea air, and Luxembourg gives you calmer, warmer fresh water.

Lille has the more distinctive food of the two. Its estaminets in Vieux-Lille serve slow-cooked Flemish dishes made with beer, potjevleesch and the cheese-heavy welsh, Maroilles turns up everywhere, and the Sunday market at Wazemmes adds a multi-ethnic spread.

Luxembourg has fewer dishes of its own. Its cooking leans on neighbouring France, Germany and Belgium, and on the Portuguese and Italian communities who have run neighbourhood places for generations. It does two things better, though: Moselle Riesling and crémant by the glass, and a serious tier of fine dining. Beer drinkers will prefer Lille, while wine lovers and anyone planning a special dinner may lean the other way.

Lille has the edge for art. The Palais des Beaux-Arts, with its Flemish masters and hall of relief maps, holds a richer collection than anything in Luxembourg. La Piscine and the LaM add more a metro ride away, all within reach of the Flemish baroque streets of Vieux-Lille.

Luxembourg's strength is its setting more than its collections: the UNESCO-listed fortress, the Bock casemates cut into the rock and the view from the Corniche down to the Grund. Each city is well covered in two or three days.

Lille goes out far more. Its large student population fills the cheap bars of Rue Masséna and Rue Solférino on Thursdays, the brick cellars of Vieux-Lille hold beer cafés and cocktail bars, and the clubs of Belgium are close for a later night.

Luxembourg's evenings are smaller and quieter. They gather at the Rives de Clausen, in the pubs of the Grund and around Hollerich, among an international crowd that thins out at weekends. A glass of crémant on a terrace is the more typical night.

Luxembourg is much the greener choice. The wooded gorges of the Pétrusse and Alzette run right through the city, and the Müllerthal's mossy rock passages and beech forest are half an hour away. The Ardennes and the vineyard paths of the Moselle give walkers and cyclists still more.

Lille's surroundings are flat farmland, so outdoor time there means the Citadel park, level towpath rides along the Deûle and short walks on the Monts de Flandre. The cliffs of the Opal Coast are its best scenery, but reaching them takes a long day.

Both cities sit near borders, but Lille reaches much further. Brussels, Ghent, Bruges and Paris are all within about an hour by fast train, and even London is possible for an ambitious day. On the French side, Arras, Amiens and the First World War battlefields fill more days.

Luxembourg's list is shorter but still strong. Roman Trier and Gothic Metz are under an hour away and Nancy a little further, while castles, abbey towns and Moselle wine villages lie within the country. It suits slower outings close to home, not a different capital each day.

For children the two are much alike: easy and calm, but with few attractions built for them. Lille's best morning is in the Citadel park, with its small zoo and playgrounds, and a science centre is a metro ride away. The cobbles of Vieux-Lille are hard work with a pushchair.

Luxembourg turns its fortress tunnels and ramparts into the adventure, and lifts and a funicular carry buggies down to the river. It has no zoo or aquarium, though, so it suits older children who enjoy castles and rock passages. Lille's bigger family outings to zoo parks and the coast aquarium mean crossing a border or a region.

Both are easy without a car, in different ways. Lille is flat and compact, and its two main stations stand next to the old town, which makes day trips unusually simple. The automated VAL metro and the tram cover the outer towns.

Luxembourg's great advantage is that public transport is free across the whole country, on trams, buses and trains alike. Its centre is compact too but built on several levels, so you ride public lifts and a funicular where in Lille you would simply walk.

Lille is the better place to shop. Beyond the chains of Rue Neuve and the Euralille mall, Vieux-Lille has independent fashion, design shops and delicatessens, and Wazemmes adds bric-a-brac on Sundays. Every September the Braderie fills kilometres of streets with flea-market stalls.

Luxembourg's Grand-Rue leans towards luxury and premium brands for a wealthy local clientele, with little independent design and few bargains. Porcelain tableware, Moselle wine and crémant make the best things to take home.

Lille is by far the more affordable stay. Rooms are reasonable outside the Braderie and the big trade fairs, estaminet meals and beer are fairly priced, and the metro is inexpensive.

Luxembourg is expensive by any Western European measure, with hotels and restaurants priced for business travellers and the European institutions. Free transport, free museums and lunch menus help, and some visitors sleep in Trier or Metz to keep costs down.

The two are evenly matched: each has a dependable season, though neither is a reason to travel in itself. Lille has more companies of its own, with the Opéra de Lille, the Orchestre National de Lille and the Théâtre du Nord, one of France's national theatres, plus contemporary dance in Roubaix and Tourcoing.

Luxembourg's main draw is the Philharmonie on Kirchberg, a hall with excellent acoustics that brings in touring orchestras and soloists. The Grand Théâtre hosts visiting productions in several languages, and Neimënster puts on open-air summer concerts in the Grund.

Luxembourg is the better place to unwind. Mondorf-les-Bains, a thermal spa since the nineteenth century with pools and saunas set in a park, is half an hour away. The city's quiet evenings and river walks through the Grund suit a slow stay.

Lille has no bathing tradition of its own, so rest there means hotel spas, tea rooms and café terraces in Vieux-Lille. The thermal baths at Saint-Amand-les-Eaux are a short train ride out.