Limerick or Liverpool?

You can't really swim in either city, but Liverpool at least has sand close by. Merseyrail reaches the dunes at Formby and Crosby, where Gormley's iron figures stand, without a car, and New Brighton and West Kirby are just across the river. The sea stays cold and the tide goes out a long way, so these are beaches for walking.

Limerick has no shore of its own. The Atlantic beaches at Kilkee, Lahinch and Ballybunion are grander, with real surf, but each is an hour or more away by car and suits surfers in wetsuits more than anyone hoping to lie on the sand.

Limerick's food comes from its farmland: Munster beef and lamb, cheese, smoked fish and the city's own cured ham, all best seen at the Milk Market at the weekend. Apart from a few modern Irish restaurants and gastropubs, though, there is not much variety if you are staying several nights.

Liverpool has more choice and its own dish, scouse. Bold Street's independent cafés and small international kitchens, the Baltic Triangle's street-food halls and a long-standing Chinatown give you several evenings of options, and the Victorian gin palaces are worth a visit in their own right.

Limerick's history is compact and medieval. King John's Castle and St Mary's Cathedral stand on King's Island, the Treaty Stone waits across Thomond Bridge, and the Hunt Museum's collection fills the old Custom House. It makes a satisfying day or two, but it is not a reason to travel on its own.

Liverpool has much more to see, and a bigger story, that of a great Atlantic port. The Three Graces, the Royal Albert Dock with its Maritime and International Slavery museums, the Walker Art Gallery and two very different 20th-century cathedrals fill two or three days, and most of the big collections are free.

In Limerick, a night out mostly means a pub with a snug and an open fire. Students fill them in term time, and so do Munster rugby match days, and a handful of clubs stay open late at weekends. It is a night for talk more than dancing.

Liverpool is a real party city. Bars and clubs fill Concert Square, Seel Street and Wood Street, along with stag and hen groups. The Baltic Triangle's warehouses lean towards electronic club nights, and Lark Lane has quieter local bars. Many nights go on well past 2am.

Limerick is the better base for landscape, as long as you have a car. Lough Derg is under an hour north for sailing and kayaking, the Galtees and Ballyhoura have proper hills and mountain-bike trails, and the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher are some of Ireland's finest scenery.

Liverpool's outdoors is gentler and closer to hand: Sefton Park and its palm house, the long Mersey promenade, the pinewoods at Formby where red squirrels survive, and the Wirral Way out to the Dee estuary. For mountains, North Wales and the Lake District are each about two hours away.

Both are good bases for day trips, and the difference is in the kind of outing. From Limerick it is castles, ancient sites and small towns: Bunratty and Adare are about twenty minutes away, then there are Lough Gur's stone circle and the Rock of Cashel, with Galway and Cork further out. Most of these mean driving yourself or joining a coach tour.

From Liverpool you mostly take the train, to cities and the seaside: Roman Chester in about 45 minutes, Manchester, the model village of Port Sunlight and Southport's pier. Conwy and Llandudno make a longer day by car.

Next to Liverpool, Limerick has little built with children in mind, with no zoo, aquarium or theme park within reach. King John's Castle, with its siege displays and battlements, is the best outing in town, and the farm animals and old cottages of Bunratty Folk Park are a short drive away. Wet weather often decides how the day goes.

Liverpool keeps children busier, and often for free. The World Museum has dinosaurs, an aquarium room and a planetarium, the Museum of Liverpool has a play gallery, and the Mersey ferry is an easy treat. Chester Zoo and Knowsley Safari Park are both close enough for a day out, though the loud weekend nights in the centre are worth planning around.

Both centres are small enough to walk. Limerick's flat core runs from the castle to the Georgian Quarter in under half an hour. Beyond the city buses and the trains to Dublin, Ennis and Galway, though, exploring the region really means hiring a car at Shannon Airport.

Liverpool is easier without a car. Merseyrail's underground loop and coastal lines run often to Crosby, Formby, Southport and the Wirral, and the ferry crosses the river. Only places like Sefton Park and Anfield need a bus or a taxi.

Shopping in Limerick is practical: high-street chains on O'Connell Street, a few independent shops, and the Milk Market as the most characterful stop. For woollens and crafts, the shops of Clare and Kerry have more choice.

Liverpool has more to browse. Liverpool ONE brings the big chains and department stores together in open-air streets, Bold Street adds vintage clothes, records and independent boutiques, and the Baltic Triangle has small makers' studios. Most visitors take home Beatles or football souvenirs.

Limerick is fairly priced by Irish standards, but Ireland is an expensive country. Meals, drinks and above all the hire car you need for the region add up quickly.

Your money goes further in Liverpool. Hotels cost less than in Britain's most visited cities, except on big match, race and concert weekends. The major museums and galleries are free, pubs serve good-value meals, and the compact centre means you spend little on transport.

Limerick's best offering is traditional Irish music, with regular sessions in the pubs that draw on the university's strong music and dance programme. The Irish Chamber Orchestra plays at the University Concert Hall, and the Lime Tree and the Belltable stage drama and comedy. For opera or a big production, though, you would have to go to Dublin.

Liverpool's music scene is bigger and louder. Bands play most nights around Mathew Street, Seel Street and the Baltic Triangle, the Cavern's cellar draws Beatles pilgrims, and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic plays a full season in its art deco hall on Hope Street. The Everyman, the Playhouse and the Empire cover home-grown theatre and touring musicals, and opera comes to the city on tour.

Neither city is built for rest, and in both, spa time mostly means a hotel spa. The difference is where you find calm. Around Limerick it means the country-house spas of Adare and Lough Derg, or the Atlantic coast's hot seaweed baths about an hour away. In Liverpool it comes from Sefton Park, a slow ferry crossing or an afternoon in the free galleries, away from the loud weekend nights in the centre.