Rotterdam or York?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Rotterdam at least has one on its metro. Hoek van Holland is a wide sandy strand backed by dunes, with ocean-going ships passing close offshore, and it makes a good half-day outing even if the cold, windy sea means most people walk rather than swim.

York is inland. Its nearest sand is at Scarborough, about an hour away by train, a traditional seaside town on an even cooler stretch of the North Sea, so it works best as a day out on the coast.

Rotterdam eats better and more widely, mostly thanks to the port's immigrant communities. Surinamese, Moroccan, Cape Verdean and Indonesian cooking sits next to bistros in converted harbour buildings, and the Markthal and the Binnenrotte market make it easy to graze.

York is more traditional and narrower in range: afternoon tea with fat rascals, real ale from Yorkshire breweries, Sunday roasts and pies from the Shambles Market. It is good at what it does, but there is little international cooking, and many tables near the Minster serve tourist fare.

York has much more history to show. The Minster's medieval glass, nearly three miles of walkable walls, timber-framed lanes such as Stonegate, the excavated Viking street at Jorvik and the abbey ruins in the Museum Gardens give layer after layer of the past, all within a short walk.

After the bombing of 1940, Rotterdam rebuilt as a modern city, so its draw is the buildings: the Erasmus Bridge, the Cube Houses, the mirrored Depot Boijmans. The old city survives mainly in Delfshaven. Fans of modern architecture will enjoy it more, but almost everyone else will find more to see in York.

Rotterdam goes out harder. It is the city where gabber was born, and its warehouse and harbour venues hold techno and house nights that draw people from across the Netherlands. The Oude Haven and the Nieuwe Binnenweg add terrace bars and brown cafés for a gentler evening.

In York a night out means the pub. Its centuries-old inns on Micklegate and Stonegate make a lovely ale crawl, but weeknights end early, weekends bring stag parties, and anyone who wants to go clubbing usually takes the train to Leeds.

York has the better landscape within reach. The North York Moors begin about 40km away and run to the sea cliffs at Robin Hood's Bay, and the Dales with their waterfalls and stone walls are about an hour west. A car makes most of it far easier to reach.

Rotterdam's outdoors is flat and shaped by people. You get the lake and woods of the Kralingse Bos, dyke-top cycling into the polders, canoeing among the tidal creeks of the Biesbosch, and kitesurfing off the dunes. It is pleasant, but there is no hiking country nearby.

Both make excellent bases, but for different kinds of outing. From Rotterdam you hop between cities by fast train: Delft in a quarter of an hour, The Hague, Leiden and Amsterdam within the hour, Antwerp to the south, and the Kinderdijk windmills by water bus, all without a car.

York's outings are more about countryside and monuments. Harrogate, Leeds and Durham are easy by rail, but Castle Howard, Fountains Abbey, Rievaulx and the steam railway from Pickering are much easier by car or on a coach tour.

Rotterdam has a slight edge with younger children. Blijdorp is one of the best zoos in the Netherlands and has a large ocean section, the Maritime Museum has a hands-on harbour area, and water taxis turn crossing the river into a ride.

York's appeal is history brought to life: the locomotive hall at the National Railway Museum, Jorvik, the Victorian street in the Castle Museum, and ghost walks for older children. Its compact centre is easy to manage, but the zoo, the theme park and the beach are all about an hour away.

Both are easy without a car, in different ways. Rotterdam relies on its network: metro, trams and water buses on one tap-in system, reaching from the beach to Kinderdijk. You will need them, because the postwar centre is spread out and windy to walk.

York is a city for walking. Almost everything lies within or just outside the walls, and the station is about fifteen minutes on foot from the Minster. The weak spot is the countryside, where rural buses are sparse.

Rotterdam offers more choice. The Lijnbaan, one of Europe's first pedestrian streets, and the Bijenkorf cover the chains, while the Meent and the Nieuwe Binnenweg add vintage, records and independent design, and the Binnenrotte market is large.

York's strength is its setting. Bookshops, jewellers and antiques dealers trade in medieval buildings on Stonegate and Petergate, and its Christmas markets are a draw of their own, but the Shambles leans heavily towards souvenirs, and for serious fashion shopping locals go to Leeds.

The two cost about the same, but the pressure falls in different places. In Rotterdam rooms are plentiful and often cheaper at weekends, when the business districts empty, while restaurant meals, beer and coffee are where the money goes. The snack shops and market stalls keep lunch cheap.

York is the opposite on rooms: hotels inside the walls are in heavy demand and rates climb at weekends, on race days and at Christmas, so a midweek stay helps. Several of its best things cost nothing, including the National Railway Museum and the walls.

Rotterdam has the stronger music. The Rotterdam Philharmonic plays a full season at De Doelen, there are small jazz and pop venues supported by the conservatory, and every July the North Sea Jazz Festival is one of the world's major jazz gatherings. Much of the theatre is in Dutch.

York's programme is smaller and closer to its past: drama and pantomime at the Theatre Royal, early music performed in a medieval church, free choral evensong at the Minster, and the Mystery Plays performed from wagons in the streets when they are revived.

Neither city is a place to unwind, but Rotterdam has the Dutch sauna culture: large complexes on the city's edge with steam rooms, outdoor pools and gardens. Most are textile-free in the sauna areas.

York itself has only hotel spas and quiet early mornings on the walls. For a proper soak, take the train to Harrogate, where the Victorian Turkish baths in the Royal Baths are worth half a day.