Oxford or St Andrews?

Neither town is a swimming destination, but St Andrews does have real beaches. West Sands is a long, pale strand below the dunes, East Sands is a sheltered beach by the harbour and Castle Sands lies under the cliffs, all within walking distance of the centre. The North Sea stays cold, though, so they are for walks, kites and a brisk dip.

Oxford is about as far from the coast as you can get in England. Swimming there means river water at Port Meadow and on the Cherwell, or the open-air pool at Hinksey. That is pleasant on a hot afternoon, but it is no substitute for sand.

Both towns eat well without being worth the journey for food alone, and in both the pub and the café carry most meals. The difference is in kind. Oxford offers range: the Covered Market's counters, cheap Middle Eastern, South Asian and Caribbean food along Cowley Road, and neighbourhood bistros in Jericho.

St Andrews offers a sense of place instead. It has Fife lamb, East Neuk crab and lobster, fish and chips by the harbour and smoked fish down the coast, and on summer evenings people queue for ice cream.

Oxford has far more to see. Its colleges, the Bodleian, the Radcliffe Camera and the Sheldonian make a working medieval university town packed into a few streets, and the Ashmolean, the Pitt Rivers and the Natural History Museum hold collections of national importance. Allow two or three full days.

St Andrews' heritage is smaller in scale and partly in ruins. It has the cathedral and St Rule's Tower, the clifftop castle with its bottle dungeon and siege tunnels, and St Salvator's Chapel, plus the golf heritage of the Old Course and the British Golf Museum. A day or two does it justice.

Neither town suits a big night out, and in both an evening out means the pub. Oxford gives you more choice: historic taverns, riverside pubs on summer evenings, late bars and a couple of small clubs on Cowley Road, and cocktail bars in Jericho.

St Andrews is quieter still, with traditional bars, golfers' lounges and the students' union. Anyone after something livelier goes to Dundee or Edinburgh. Both towns go quiet when the students leave for the summer.

St Andrews has the wilder setting. The Fife Coastal Path runs past cliffs, dunes and rocky shore, wading birds gather on the Eden estuary, seals haul out beyond Tentsmuir Forest, and the Lomond Hills offer proper hill walking a drive away. Golf on the links is the town's defining outdoor pursuit.

Oxford's countryside is gentler but begins right in town, with Port Meadow, Christ Church Meadow and the riverside paths, and punting and rowing on the Thames and the Cherwell. The Cotswolds, the Chilterns and the Ridgeway are within an hour for long, mild walks.

Both make good bases, but Oxford's reach is wider and easier. Blenheim Palace is twenty minutes away, the Cotswold villages are within an hour and London is an hour by train. Stratford, Warwick, Windsor and Bath all make comfortable days out.

St Andrews has fine trips of its own: the East Neuk harbours, Falkland Palace, Dundee's V&A and the ship Discovery, and Edinburgh as a full day out. Most of the inland castles and abbeys need a car, though, and without one the outings take some planning around buses.

Both are small, safe and easy to walk with children. Oxford comes out ahead thanks to the free Natural History Museum with its dinosaurs, the curiosities of the Pitt Rivers, punting on the Cherwell and the Harry Potter connections at Christ Church, with Blenheim's maze a short trip out.

St Andrews swaps museums for the seaside. Children can build sandcastles and search rock pools on East Sands, visit the small aquarium, crawl through the castle's siege tunnels and ride the miniature railway at Craigtoun Park. The weather can cut those days short, though.

In both towns you walk almost everywhere. Oxford does better on connections: its station is a short walk from the centre with direct trains to London and the Midlands, buses run out to the suburbs and bicycles are everywhere. A car is more of a nuisance than a help.

St Andrews has no station of its own, so trains arrive and leave at Leuchars, about 8km away by bus or taxi. Buses cover the coast, but the inland countryside is much easier with a car.

Oxford has more depth. Alongside a shopping centre and the usual chains there are the Covered Market's small traders, independent shops in Jericho and on Little Clarendon Street, antique map sellers and the enormous Blackwell's bookshop. The Bicester outlet village is twenty minutes away for designer labels.

St Andrews is an afternoon's browse along its three main streets. It is strongest in golf gear, cashmere, knitwear and tartan, and serious shoppers go on to Edinburgh.

Both are expensive places to stay, for similar reasons: there are few rooms, and demand rises sharply around graduations, with Oxford's conferences and St Andrews' golf tournaments on top. Once you are there, Oxford's free museums and Cowley Road cafés keep daily costs down, though college entry fees and library tours add up.

In St Andrews the sights cost little and takeaway fish and chips keep lunches modest, but a round on the famous courses is a serious expense.

Oxford's great draw is Evensong sung by the choirs of Christ Church, Magdalen and New College. It also has orchestral concerts at the Sheldonian and chamber music and jazz at the historic Holywell Music Room, while the Playhouse and the New Theatre bring touring drama and musicals.

St Andrews has a modest programme built around the Byre Theatre and the university's concerts and choral evenings in term, with folk sessions in a few pubs. For orchestras or bigger productions, visitors go to Edinburgh or Dundee.

Neither is a spa town, and both offer calm rather than treatments. Oxford's calm is green and enclosed: the Botanic Garden, the walled college gardens, Addison's Walk and a slow afternoon on a punt. St Andrews' calm is open and bracing, with long walks on West Sands, a cold dip off East Sands with the locals, and full spas at the golf resorts that are open to non-residents.