Maastricht or Rotterdam?

Neither city is a beach destination, but only Rotterdam has a coast at all. Its metro runs out to Hoek van Holland, a wide North Sea strand backed by dunes, with huge ships passing close offshore. It makes a good windy walk even if the water is too cool for most swimmers. Maastricht has only the gravel-pit lakes along the Maas, which are fine for a hot afternoon and nothing more.

Maastricht has the edge for anyone who eats to enjoy a place. Its cooking is rooted in Limburg, with zuurvlees, vlaai in every bakery, seasonal asparagus and game, Belgian beer and local white wine. It also has a fine-dining tier that is unusually good for a small city, plus terraces on the Vrijthof and the Markt.

Rotterdam eats more widely but less memorably. Its port history shows in Surinamese roti, Turkish bakeries and Cape Verdean and Indonesian kitchens, and the Markthal and the Binnenrotte market make good grazing. It has the variety Maastricht lacks, but it has very little Dutch cooking of its own.

These two cities are broadly level, but they show you opposite ends of Dutch history. Maastricht is old: the basilicas of Saint Servatius and Our Lady, the Helpoort and the medieval walls along the Jeker, the 13th-century bridge and the tunnels in the Sint-Pietersberg, with the Bonnefanten for art.

Rotterdam lost its centre in 1940, and people visit to see what replaced it: the Erasmus Bridge, the Cube Houses, the Markthal and the mirrored Depot. The old city survives only in Delfshaven and the Old Harbour. Choose the city by whether you would rather wander old lanes or look at bold modern buildings.

Rotterdam gives you more choice after dark, and the difference is in the clubs. The city where gabber was born still runs techno and house nights in warehouse and harbour venues, and the Witte de Withstraat and the Oude Haven take care of the bars.

Maastricht's nights belong to brown cafés and student terraces around the Markt and the Vrijthof, and the club scene is small. Carnival is the exception: for a few days before Lent the whole town parties in the streets, and nothing in Rotterdam compares.

Maastricht sits in the only corner of the Netherlands with real relief. Marl cliffs and reserves on the Sint-Pietersberg, the green Jeker valley and the orchards and steep lanes of the Heuvelland all start close to town, and Hoge Kempen and the Ardennes lie across the border.

Rotterdam's outdoors is flat and watery: the woods and lake of the Kralingse Bos, dyke rides into the polders, and canoeing among the Biesbosch's tidal creeks. It is pleasant, but there is nothing here for real walking.

Both cities make excellent bases, and Rotterdam has the wider reach. It sits at the heart of the Dutch rail network, so Delft and The Hague are minutes away and Amsterdam, Leiden, Utrecht and Antwerp are each about an hour. The windmills of Kinderdijk are a water-bus ride away.

Maastricht's strength is its border position. Aachen, Liège and Tongeren put you in a different country and language within half an hour, and Cologne and Brussels are within range. Some of its best outings, such as Thorn and the hill villages, are easier with a car.

Rotterdam keeps children busier without leaving town. Blijdorp is one of the country's best zoos, the Maritime Museum has a hands-on harbour, and the Euromast and water taxis are treats in themselves. Madurodam and the Efteling are within a day out.

Maastricht is calm and easy to manage with a buggy, but its main family outings are the Sint-Pietersberg tunnels and, about twenty minutes away, the caves, cable car and fairy-tale park at Valkenburg.

Both are easy, but in different ways. Maastricht is a walking city where nearly everything lies within fifteen minutes on foot either side of the Maas, though the hill villages are best reached by bike or car. Rotterdam's postwar centre is spread out and windy, so you rely more on the metro, trams and water buses, which together cover everything from the river crossings to the beach.

Shopping is about level, but the character differs. Maastricht's draw is browsing boutiques in the restored houses of the Stokstraat quarter and the independents in Wyck, which is why weekenders cross the border to shop here. Rotterdam is stronger on chains and department stores along the Lijnbaan and at the Bijenkorf, with vintage, records and design along the Nieuwe Binnenweg and a large market on the Binnenrotte.

Costs are much the same, at the Dutch norm for meals and drinks, but the cheap days fall at opposite ends of the week. Maastricht's rooms are in demand at weekends, so a Sunday-to-Thursday stay saves the most, and walking costs nothing.

Rotterdam's business hotels empty at weekends, and its plentiful rooms make it an inexpensive base for the Randstad. Market stalls and Surinamese snack shops keep lunch cheap.

Rotterdam is the city for live music. The Rotterdam Philharmonic plays a full season at De Doelen, there are good small jazz and pop venues, and each July North Sea Jazz brings hundreds of acts.

Maastricht's offer centres on the theatre on the Vrijthof and on church concerts, with big open-air summer concerts on the square and brass bands at carnival. Oddly, it is Maastricht that has a resident opera company, which Rotterdam lacks.

Maastricht is the more restful choice. The thermal pools above Valkenburg, Aachen's baths and the original Spa across the Belgian border are all within an hour, and the city's slow lunches and riverside walks set an easy pace.

Rotterdam is brisk and practical. Its wellness means large Dutch sauna complexes on the outskirts, textile-free in the sauna areas, or a hotel spa in the centre.