Luxembourg or Rotterdam?

Neither city is a beach destination, but only Rotterdam has a coast. Hoek van Holland's broad sand and dunes, with ships passing at the harbour mouth, are a metro ride away. The cold, windy North Sea means most people walk there rather than swim.

Luxembourg has only lakes: the Upper Sûre reservoir about an hour north and the flooded gravel pits at Remerschen. In high summer the lakes are warmer for swimming than Rotterdam's sea, but they make an afternoon by a lake, not a day at the seaside.

The two eat equally well but in different ways. Luxembourg's strength is French-led cooking, with more fine dining than a city its size would suggest, and Moselle Riesling and crémant are served everywhere. Local dishes are hearty but few, and cheap eating is hard to find.

Rotterdam's best food comes from its port communities: Surinamese roti, Turkish bakeries and Indonesian, Moroccan and Cape Verdean kitchens. The Markthal and the Binnenrotte market are easy places to start. Local craft beer takes the place of wine, and the top end is thin.

Both fill two or three days well, but they show opposite things. Luxembourg is about the past: a UNESCO-listed fortress on a plateau, the Bock casemate tunnels and the Corniche looking down on the Grund. The palace and cathedral stand at the top of the town, and MUDAM's contemporary art is across the bridge on Kirchberg.

Rotterdam lost its centre in 1940 and is about the modern city that replaced it: the Erasmus Bridge, the Cube Houses, the Markthal and the mirrored Depot Boijmans. Its history survives in pockets such as Delfshaven, and its museums, including the Kunsthal and the Maritime Museum, are solid rather than grand.

Rotterdam has far more to offer after dark. The bar streets around the Witte de Withstraat and the Oude Haven fill on summer evenings. The clubs are the real draw, with techno and house in warehouse and harbour venues in the city where gabber began.

Luxembourg's evenings are smaller and quieter. They centre on the Rives de Clausen, the Grund's riverside pubs and a few later venues in Hollerich, and are busiest on Thursdays and Fridays. Expect a glass of crémant and an early night rather than a club.

Luxembourg has much the better outdoors. Wooded gorges run through the centre and the Müllerthal's sandstone ravines and beech forest are half an hour away. The Ardennes hills and the cycle paths through the Moselle vineyards are within easy reach, and autumn is the best season for all of them.

Rotterdam's landscape is flat and man-made. It offers the Kralingse Bos lake, cycling through the polders along the dykes, canoeing and birdwatching in the creeks of the Biesbosch, and dune walks at Hoek van Holland. It is pleasant, but there are no hills.

Both are good bases, but Rotterdam has more within a short train ride. Delft is a quarter of an hour away and The Hague only a little further. Amsterdam, Utrecht, Leiden, Haarlem and Antwerp are all about an hour or less by train, and a water bus reaches the Kinderdijk windmills.

Luxembourg's advantage is its borders: Roman Trier and Gothic Metz are each under an hour by train. Within the country, free trains reach Vianden castle, Echternach and the Moselle wine villages for slower outings.

Rotterdam gives children more to do. Blijdorp zoo with its ocean section, the hands-on harbour area at the Maritime Museum, boat tours, water taxis and the Euromast can fill several days. Madurodam is a short train ride away.

Luxembourg is calm and safe, and the casemate tunnels and ramparts feel like an adventure. Beyond those there is only the small Parc Merveilleux at Bettembourg, plus castle and gorge outings for older children. With no zoo or aquarium, it suits two or three days rather than a week of school vacation.

Both are easy without a car, in different ways. Luxembourg's public transport is free across the whole country, and public lifts and a funicular link the compact old town to the river quarters below. That matters in a city built on several levels.

Rotterdam is more spread out, with long, windy walks between its postwar sights, so the metro, trams and above all the bike paths do most of the work. Water taxis across the Maas make the river itself part of the route.

Rotterdam is the better place to shop for most visitors. The Lijnbaan, one of Europe's first pedestrian streets, keeps the chains close together, and the Meent and Nieuwe Binnenweg add vintage, record and independent design shops. The Binnenrotte market is large and lively.

Luxembourg's Grand-Rue leans towards luxury and premium labels for a wealthy local clientele, with little independent or bargain shopping. The best things to take home are the locally made porcelain and a bottle of Moselle crémant.

Neither city is cheap, but Rotterdam is noticeably easier on the budget. It has plenty of hotels and they cost less than in the best-known Dutch cities. Market stalls and Surinamese and Turkish snack shops keep simple meals reasonable, even though restaurants and beer are expensive.

Luxembourg is expensive almost across the board, with hotels and restaurants priced for business travellers. Free public transport, free museums and lunch menus help, and some visitors stay in Trier or Metz and come in by train for the day.

Both have a fine orchestra and concert hall, with Rotterdam slightly ahead. Its Philharmonic plays a full season at De Doelen, and small jazz and pop venues benefit from the music conservatory. The North Sea Jazz Festival makes July a major draw, though much of the theatre needs Dutch.

Luxembourg's Philharmonie on Kirchberg has excellent acoustics and attracts touring orchestras. The Grand Théâtre often stages opera and drama in French or English, which helps visitors. Most of it, though, is brought in from elsewhere.

Luxembourg is the easier place to unwind. Mondorf-les-Bains, half an hour away, has a thermal spa fed by a mineral spring, set in a landscaped park. Back in the city, the quiet evenings and the river walks through the Grund and the Pétrusse valley keep the pace slow.

Rotterdam moves at a brisker pace, but it has the Dutch sauna tradition in large wellness complexes on the edge of the city. The sauna areas are usually textile-free. In the centre, calm means the Kralingse Bos or a terrace by the water.