Maastricht or Oxford?

Neither city is a place to swim, so the real difference is where you would cool off on a hot day. In Maastricht locals use the old gravel-pit lakes along the Maas, which have small sandy shores and lifeguarded areas on both sides of the Belgian border. In Oxford people swim from grassy banks into the cool Thames at Port Meadow or the Cherwell, or use the large open-air pool at Hinksey.

Maastricht eats better. It has a regional kitchen of its own: Limburg's sweet-sour zuurvlees with fries, vlaai in every bakery, and asparagus and game in season. On top of that come Belgian beer, white wines from the surrounding hills and a fine-dining tier that is unusual for a small city.

Oxford has no cuisine of its own and relies on the pub, with ale, a Sunday roast by the Thames and lunch stalls in the Covered Market. Where it wins is variety. The Middle Eastern, South Asian and Caribbean cafés on Cowley Road give it the international range that Maastricht lacks.

Oxford has more to see. The colleges, the Radcliffe Camera, the Bodleian and the Sheldonian form a working medieval university packed into a few streets of honey-coloured stone. The Ashmolean, the Pitt Rivers and the Natural History Museum add collections of real weight.

Maastricht's history goes back further, and you see it in its two Romanesque basilicas, the Helpoort and a bridge that has crossed the Maas since the 13th century. Add the tunnels under the Sint-Pietersberg and the Bonnefanten, and it fills two pleasant days, but there is no single headline sight.

Both are towns for drinking rather than clubbing, but Maastricht's evenings run a little livelier. Terraces and brown cafés around the Markt and the Vrijthof stay busy late at weekends, and carnival turns the whole city into a street party for days before Lent.

Oxford's nights revolve around old taverns and riverside pubs, with Cowley Road for late bars and a couple of small clubs. The centre is usually calm by midnight, and quieter still outside term.

Maastricht has more varied countryside on its doorstep. The marl cliffs and nature reserves of the Sint-Pietersberg begin at the edge of the city. The Heuvelland's sunken lanes and orchards bring real hills by Dutch standards, and the heath and forest of Hoge Kempen lie half an hour away, with the Ardennes beyond.

Oxford's green spaces reach right into the centre: Port Meadow, Christ Church Meadow and punting on the Cherwell. The Cotswolds and the Chilterns are within an hour. The land near town is flat, though, and suits long, mild walks rather than climbs.

Both make excellent bases, but Oxford has the stronger list. Blenheim Palace is about twenty minutes away, the Cotswold villages are within an hour, London is an hour by train, and Bath, Stratford, Warwick and Windsor are all within reach for a day.

Maastricht offers a range of countries rather than famous names. Aachen and Liège are about half an hour away, Tongeren and Valkenburg are nearer still, and Cologne and Brussels are further off. You can cross two borders in a day and change language each time, which Oxford cannot offer.

Both are small, safe and walkable with children, and in both the adults get more out of the place. What differs is where the children's highlights are.

Oxford keeps them in town: dinosaur skeletons at the Natural History Museum, the curiosities of the Pitt Rivers, punting, and the Harry Potter settings at Christ Church. In Maastricht the tunnel tour of the Sint-Pietersberg is the main exception. Otherwise plan on trips out to Valkenburg's caves, cable car and fairy-tale park, or the zoo at Kerkrade.

Getting around is equally easy in both. The centres are flat and compact, many streets are closed to traffic, and the station is a short walk away.

In Maastricht that walk crosses the Maas into Wyck, and bikes on the riverside paths are the natural way to get about. Oxford relies more on frequent buses to its outer districts, and drivers use the park-and-ride sites. In both cities the countryside is easier with a car.

Maastricht is the better shopping weekend, and visitors cross borders for it. The restored houses of the Stokstraat quarter hold fashion and designer boutiques, the Grote Staat has the main brands, and Wyck has independent shops for interiors and vintage. The weekly market fills the Markt.

Oxford's centre is mostly chains and a shopping centre. Its character is in the Covered Market, the independents of Jericho, the antique map sellers and Blackwell's. Its trump card is out of town, at the Bicester outlet village with its luxury labels.

Neither city is cheap, but Maastricht is easier on a budget. Its hotels charge about the Dutch norm, and staying from Sunday to Thursday avoids the weekend demand for rooms. Bakery stops and Belgian beer in a brown café keep daily spending low.

In Oxford the few central hotel rooms are the main expense, pushed up by graduations and conferences, so many visitors stay out by the ring road. The free museums help, but college entries and library tours add up.

Oxford has the finer live experience. On most evenings in term, the choirs of Christ Church, Magdalen and New College sing Evensong, and visitors can sit in. There are also concerts at the Sheldonian, chamber music at the Holywell Music Room and touring shows at the Playhouse and the New Theatre.

In Maastricht, stage life centres on the theatre on the Vrijthof, home to the regional orchestra and opera, with organ concerts in the churches and small jazz cafés besides. Its big moments are seasonal: open-air summer concerts on the Vrijthof and brass bands at carnival.

This is one of the widest gaps between the two. Maastricht has a real thermal tradition close by: the spa above Valkenburg, Aachen's baths, in use since Roman times, and the town of Spa itself within an hour. The city also moves at a slow, almost southern pace.

Oxford has no bathing culture and few day spas. Its calm comes from gardens instead: the Botanic Garden, Magdalen's deer park and Addison's Walk early in the morning, or an afternoon drifting on a punt.