Lille or Rotterdam?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Rotterdam has the sea within its own transport network. Hoek van Holland's wide strand, with dunes behind it and ships passing close by, is a metro ride from the centre and fills with locals on warm weekends. Lille's nearest sand is at Dunkirk, an hour away by train, with the Opal Coast resorts further on.

In both cases the North Sea is cold and windy, so plan on a walk along the sand rather than a swim. Rotterdam's beach is simply much easier to fit into an afternoon.

Lille has the stronger and more distinctive food. Its wood-panelled estaminets in Vieux-Lille serve a real regional cuisine: carbonnade cooked in beer, potjevleesch, waterzooi and pungent Maroilles cheese in almost everything, with northern ales to match and old pastry shops for filled waffles.

In Rotterdam the appeal is variety rather than tradition: Surinamese roti, Turkish bakeries, and Indonesian and Cape Verdean kitchens around the Markthal, the Witte de Withstraat and the Nieuwe Binnenweg. It is good for varied, casual eating, but Dutch cooking itself barely goes beyond herring and bitterballen.

Lille comes out ahead for the classic sightseer. The Palais des Beaux-Arts is a museum of national importance, and Vieux-Lille, the Vieille Bourse and the belfry make up an intact Flemish baroque townscape. La Piscine in Roubaix, an art museum inside an old swimming pool, is a short tram ride away.

Rotterdam lost its old centre in 1940, so its interest lies in the architecture that replaced it: the Erasmus Bridge, the Cube Houses, the Markthal and the mirrored Depot Boijmans. Its museums are good rather than great, and history survives mainly in Delfshaven and the Old Harbour.

The two are evenly matched for a night out, in different ways. Lille is a bar city. Its large student population fills Rue Masséna and Rue Solférino on Thursdays, there are quieter beer and cocktail cellars in Vieux-Lille, and for serious clubbing locals have traditionally crossed into Belgium.

Rotterdam's bar streets around the Witte de Withstraat and the Oude Haven go quiet earlier midweek, but clubs are its stronger side. This is where gabber began, and techno and house nights in harbour warehouses draw crowds from across the country.

Both sit on flat, densely settled land, but Rotterdam has more within easy reach. Kralingse Bos has a lake for sailing, bike paths run straight out along the dykes, and the Biesbosch national park, about forty minutes away, adds tidal creeks for canoeing and birdwatching.

In Lille, outdoor time means the Citadel park and level towpath cycling along the Deûle, with short walks on the low Monts de Flandre. Its best scenery, the chalk cliffs of Cap Blanc-Nez, is a long day out.

Both are superb bases, and the real question is which countries you want to see. From Lille, Brussels is about half an hour away, Ghent and Bruges around an hour, and Paris and even London are possible in a day, with Amiens, Arras and the First World War battlefields on the French side.

Rotterdam's trips are mostly Dutch: Delft and The Hague in minutes, Amsterdam, Utrecht and Haarlem within an hour, and the Kinderdijk windmills by water bus. Antwerp is easy from either city, but Bruges and Ghent are much closer to Lille.

Rotterdam is the easier choice with children. Diergaarde Blijdorp is one of the best zoos in the Netherlands, the Maritime Museum has a hands-on harbour area, and the Euromast, harbour boats and water taxis are outings in themselves. Madurodam's miniature Netherlands is a short train ride away.

Lille manages well enough, with a small zoo and playgrounds in the Citadel park and a science centre reached by metro. Its bigger attractions lie across the border or on the coast, though, and the cobbles of Vieux-Lille are hard work with a pushchair.

Both are easy without a car, but they feel different on foot. Lille's centre is compact and flat, its two stations stand beside the old town, and most visitors simply walk, using the automated VAL metro or the tram for Roubaix and Tourcoing.

Rotterdam's rebuilt centre is spread out, with wide roads and windy stretches between the sights, so most visitors mix walking with trams, the metro and a bike. What it adds is the river: water taxis and water buses cross the Maas and run out to Kinderdijk.

There is little between them for everyday shopping, as both have the main chains in an easy, walkable core: Rue Neuve and Euralille in Lille, the pedestrian Lijnbaan and the sunken Beurstraverse in Rotterdam. Lille's independent fashion and delicatessens fill the narrow streets of Vieux-Lille, while Rotterdam's vintage, record and design shops cluster on the Meent and the Nieuwe Binnenweg.

What sets Lille apart is the Braderie in early September, a weekend flea market that takes over the whole city. Rotterdam has its large twice-weekly market on the Binnenrotte instead.

Lille is the cheaper stay. Hotels are reasonable outside the Braderie and the trade fairs, and estaminet meals, beer and museum visits are fairly priced, though it is comfortable rather than cheap.

Rotterdam's hotels can be good value for the Netherlands, especially at weekends in the business districts, but restaurant meals, drinks and coffee cost more. Market stalls and Surinamese and Turkish snack shops keep lunch down, and it works out cheaper than sleeping in Amsterdam.

Rotterdam has the edge, thanks to the Rotterdam Philharmonic at De Doelen and above all the North Sea Jazz Festival each July, one of the world's major jazz gatherings. Small jazz and pop venues, helped by the conservatory, keep music going through the year. Much of its theatre needs Dutch, however, and the city has no opera house of its own.

Lille is the place for opera: the Opéra de Lille on the Place du Théâtre stages opera and dance, alongside the Orchestre National de Lille and the Théâtre du Nord. It is a solid season, though rarely the reason for a trip.

Rotterdam is better for a restful stay, mainly through the Dutch sauna tradition. Large wellness complexes on the edge of the city have saunas, steam rooms, outdoor pools and quiet gardens, and most are textile-free in the sauna areas. Between visits, Kralingse Bos and the waterside terraces give calm.

Lille has no bathing culture of its own, so rest means hotel spas and long afternoons in Vieux-Lille tea rooms. The nearest thermal bath is a train ride away at Saint-Amand-les-Eaux.