Lille or Strasbourg?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Lille at least has the sea within reach. The wide sands of Malo-les-Bains at Dunkirk are about an hour away by train, and the dune beaches of the Opal Coast are a little further. The North Sea stays cold, so these are bracing days by the sea rather than swimming days.

Strasbourg has no coast at all. In summer, swimming means the gravel-pit lakes such as the Baggersee, which you can reach by tram. These calm, lifeguarded lakes with grassy banks are pleasant on a hot afternoon, but they cannot stand in for the sea.

The two regional kitchens are close in spirit, and Strasbourg's is slightly richer. Lille's estaminets serve Flemish dishes cooked in beer, such as carbonnade and the welsh, with Maroilles cheese on almost everything. Beer is the drink, and there are pastries from Meert and the Wazemmes market as well.

Strasbourg's winstubs pour Riesling and Pinot Gris from vineyards a short drive away to go with choucroute, baeckeoffe and tarte flambée. Foie gras and a stronger fine-dining tier in the city and nearby villages give it the edge. Avoid the tourist menus around the cathedral.

Strasbourg has the slightly stronger set of sights, and it is more of a whole: the pink sandstone cathedral with its astronomical clock, the Grande Ile, Petite France and the German-built Neustadt make up one UNESCO-listed townscape. The Palais Rohan's three museums add to it.

Lille's appeal rests more on one great collection. The Palais des Beaux-Arts, with its Flemish masters and relief maps, is set in Flemish baroque streets around the Vieille Bourse. La Piscine in Roubaix is a memorable extra. Each city takes about two or three days to see well.

Lille is the better city for going out. Its huge student population fills Rue Masséna and Rue Solférino on Thursday nights, and Vieux-Lille adds beer cafés and cocktail bars in old cellars. If you want to dance late, the Belgian clubs are close by.

Strasbourg's evenings are gentler. They centre on the Krutenau bars and the summer terraces along the quays, there are few clubs, and much of the city is quiet by midnight on weeknights.

Here Strasbourg is far ahead. The Rhine plain forests with their storks and beavers, and long level cycle routes into Germany, start at the edge of the city. Within about an hour you can walk among the vineyard slopes and castle ruins of the Vosges or the fir-covered ridges of the Black Forest.

Lille's surroundings are flat and farmed. The Citadel park and the Deûle towpaths are good for an easy ride, and the Monts de Flandre give short walks. The chalk cliffs of Cap Blanc-Nez are the only real scenery, and they take a long day to reach.

Both are excellent bases, but Lille's location is hard to beat. Fast trains put Brussels about half an hour away, Ghent and Bruges about an hour, and Paris around an hour. Closer to home there are Arras, Amiens cathedral, the Louvre-Lens and the First World War battlefields of Ypres and the Somme.

Strasbourg's trips are more rural. Colmar and the wine villages of the Alsace route lie to the south, and Baden-Baden, Freiburg and Heidelberg are across the Rhine. The villages are much easier with a car or a bike.

Strasbourg is clearly the easier city with children. Its car-free island centre, the boat trips through Petite France, the stork nests and rowing lake in the Orangerie, and the hands-on Le Vaisseau all make for full days. Europa-Park and the Vosges monkey parks are within reach for bigger outings.

Lille manages well enough. The Citadel park has a small zoo and playgrounds, and the Forum des Sciences is good on a wet day. The bigger draws, Pairi Daiza and Nausicaá, are further out, and the Vieux-Lille cobbles are hard work with a pushchair.

Both are easy to get around without a car, and both have compact, flat centres. Lille runs on the automated VAL metro, and its two stations stand right beside the old town, which makes leaving for day trips easy. Strasbourg relies on trams and bicycles instead, with separated cycle lanes, plenty of bike hire and a tram line across the Rhine to Kehl.

Lille has a slight lead. Rue Neuve and the Euralille mall cover the chains, and Vieux-Lille's narrow streets hold independent fashion, design shops and a few luxury labels. The Braderie, held each September, is a city-wide flea market worth planning a trip around.

Strasbourg is better for things made in the region: Alsace wine, Soufflenheim pottery, printed linens and kougelhopf moulds. Its Christmas market makes December the high point for crafts, but there is little fashion of note.

Costs are much the same: both are comfortable rather than cheap, as in most French regional cities. The difference is when hotel rooms get expensive. In Lille, that happens during the Braderie and the trade fairs. In Strasbourg, it happens during the Christmas market and the European Parliament sessions. Strasbourg's many free sights and its wine by the pichet help keep daily spending down.

Both have solid seasons, with an opera house, a symphony orchestra and one of France's national theatres each. Strasbourg goes further into the new. The Musica festival makes it a centre for contemporary music, and it also has a jazz festival and experimental theatre. Lille's strengths are contemporary dance in Roubaix and Tourcoing and the bigger touring rock acts at the Zénith and the Aéronef.

Strasbourg is much the better choice for rest. The tiled pools, hammam and saunas of the Bains municipaux are in the city itself, and the Friedrichsbad and Caracalla baths in Baden-Baden are under an hour away. Canal-side walks fill the slower days.

Lille has no bathing culture of its own. Its famous Art Deco pool in Roubaix is now a museum, so relaxing there means hotel spas and tea rooms. The nearest thermal bath is at Saint-Amand-les-Eaux.