Maastricht or Strasbourg?

Both cities are a long way from any sea, so swimming means the old gravel-pit lakes in either place. Maastricht's lakes along the Maas have small sandy shores and are spread across the Dutch and Belgian sides.

Strasbourg's lakes have grassy banks instead. The Baggersee is the easiest to get to because the tram runs there. Either way, they are for a hot afternoon, not a reason to choose one city over the other.

Both cities eat heartily, but Strasbourg has more depth. Alsace mixes French and German cooking: choucroute, baeckeoffe and tarte flambée eaten in wood-panelled winstubs, with a pichet of Riesling from the nearby vineyards. Add foie gras, Munster cheese and a good covered market, and there is more to explore. Avoid the tourist menus around the cathedral.

Maastricht's Limburg cooking is a narrower range: sweet-sour zuurvlees, vlaai tarts and seasonal asparagus and game. Where it does well is the setting, with long meals on terraces on the Vrijthof and in Wyck, and Belgian beer at every table.

Maastricht's heritage is on a smaller scale. There are two Romanesque basilicas, the Helpoort, which is the oldest city gate in the Netherlands, stretches of medieval wall along the Jeker, and guided tours of the tunnels under the Sint-Pietersberg. The Bonnefanten adds art by the river. Two days covers it well, but no single sight holds you the way a great cathedral does.

Strasbourg has that cathedral, in pink sandstone, and a far larger townscape around it. The timber-framed Grande Ile, the locks and covered bridges of Petite France and the German-built Neustadt make up a complete historic city. Its museums go further too, from the cathedral's original sculptures to a large modern art museum on the river.

Neither city is a place for clubbing. Both have large student populations that keep bars busy, and people wanting a big night head somewhere bigger. Maastricht's evenings revolve around brown cafés and Belgian beer around the Markt and the Platielstraat.

Strasbourg's nights centre on student bars and beer cellars in the Krutenau, and on summer terraces by the river. Most of the city is quiet by midnight on weeknights. What sets Maastricht apart is carnival, when the whole city parties in the streets for days.

The countryside is close to both cities, but it is different in character. Around Maastricht it is gentle and pastoral. Paths start right at the edge of the city on the marl cliffs of the Sint-Pietersberg, and the Heuvelland to the east has sunken lanes, orchards and short steep climbs that road cyclists know well.

Strasbourg is flat itself, with stork-filled forests along the Rhine. Within about an hour you reach proper hills: forest trails and castle ruins in the Vosges, and the higher, denser Black Forest. That suits keen walkers better.

Both cities sit right by a border, so they make excellent bases for day trips. From Maastricht you get three countries in a short radius. Aachen and Liège are each about half an hour away, Tongeren and Valkenburg are closer still, and Cologne and Brussels are within reach for a longer day.

Strasbourg combines a wine region with a second country. The Alsace wine route runs through villages like Riquewihr and Eguisheim towards Colmar, and across the Rhine you can reach Baden-Baden, Freiburg and Heidelberg.

Strasbourg works better with children. Trams and car-free streets make getting about easy, boat trips through Petite France are a hit, and the Orangerie has playgrounds, storks and rowing boats. Le Vaisseau is a science centre built for children, and Europa-Park is about an hour away.

Maastricht is safe and easy with a buggy, but in the city itself the tunnel tour is the main outing for children. Most of the fun is a short trip out, at Valkenburg's caves and fairy-tale park or the zoo in Kerkrade.

You can walk both centres comfortably, and both are good cycling cities. In Maastricht, almost everything is within a fifteen-minute walk on either side of the Maas, and the station is just over the bridge.

Strasbourg adds a tram network that runs out to the European quarter and across the Rhine to Kehl. That makes the outskirts easier to reach without a car.

Maastricht is the better place to shop, and people from three countries come for the weekend to do it. The Stokstraat quarter has fashion and designer boutiques in restored old houses, and Wyck is good for interiors, vintage and food.

Strasbourg's shops around Place Kléber are mostly chains. What it does well is regional goods: Alsace wine, Soufflenheim pottery, printed linens and gingerbread, with December's Christmas market as the peak for crafts.

Neither city is cheap, but Strasbourg is the slightly easier one on the budget. Winstub meals and wine by the pichet are fair value, trams and bike hire cost little, and the cathedral and old town streets are free. Hotel rooms are the main expense, and they go up sharply during the Christmas market and sessions of the European Parliament.

Maastricht has Dutch prices across the board, though you save on transport because everything is walkable. Staying from Sunday to Thursday avoids the weekend demand.

Strasbourg is the place for an arts evening. Its opera house on Place Broglie, a full philharmonic season and the Théâtre National de Strasbourg give it the programme of a much larger city, and the Musica festival makes autumn a time for contemporary music.

Maastricht's performances are mostly at the theatre on the Vrijthof, with regional orchestra and opera, plus organ concerts in the churches. Its distinctive moments are outdoors, with big summer concerts on the Vrijthof and brass bands during carnival.

Both cities rely mostly on spa towns nearby. From Maastricht you can reach the thermal pools above Valkenburg, Aachen's Roman-era baths and Spa itself.

Strasbourg has its own historic bathhouse, the Bains municipaux, with tiled pools and a hammam. Baden-Baden's Friedrichsbad and Caracalla baths are under an hour away. Both are restful, slow-paced cities, apart from Strasbourg in December.