The Hague or Amsterdam?

The Hague has a beach inside the city. Scheveningen's long, wide sand, with its pier and promenade, is a quarter of an hour from the centre by tram, and the quieter, dune-backed Kijkduin lies to the south. From Amsterdam you take the train to Zandvoort or Bloemendaal, or on a hot weekend join the locals at the man-made beaches of IJburg or the Sloterplas.

The water is the same cold, windy North Sea at both, good for a quick dip rather than a real swim. The difference is convenience. In The Hague an evening on the sand fits easily after a day of sightseeing, while in Amsterdam the beach takes up half a day.

Amsterdam is the better place to eat and drink overall. De Pijp, the Jordaan and Oost have proper neighbourhood restaurants, and there is Surinamese roti, herring stalls, the Albert Cuyp market and an old drinking culture of brown cafés and jenever tasting rooms. The tourist food around Damrak is best avoided.

The Hague's strength is one thing it does exceptionally well: Indonesian cooking, from a full rijsttafel to simple plates of rendang and sate, rooted in families from the former Dutch East Indies. Apart from that and the seafood by Scheveningen harbour, the bistros on the Denneweg are pleasant but not a reason to come.

Amsterdam has more to see and more variety. The Rijksmuseum with the Night Watch, the Van Gogh Museum and the Stedelijk all stand around one square, the Anne Frank House needs booking ahead, and the UNESCO-listed canal ring is a sight in its own right. It takes three or four days to see properly.

The Hague is smaller and more stately, centred on the Binnenhof and the Mauritshuis, whose Girl with a Pearl Earring and View of Delft are a match for anything in Amsterdam. The Peace Palace, the Kunstmuseum's Mondrians, Escher in a former royal palace and Panorama Mesdag fill two or three unhurried days.

This is where the two differ most. A night out in Amsterdam can be anything from a candlelit brown café to a club in an old industrial building or across the IJ in Noord. The city has a strong name in electronic music, and the Amsterdam Dance Event takes over every October. Locals drink in the Jordaan, De Pijp and Oost, while Leidseplein and Rembrandtplein are louder.

The Hague goes to bed early. After-work terraces on the Plein, student bars around the Grote Markt and summer sundowners at the Scheveningen beach pavilions make for a pleasant evening. For a proper night out, people take the train to Amsterdam or Rotterdam.

Neither city has hills or wild country, and both suit a bike more than walking boots. Amsterdam's countryside is classic Dutch polder: a ferry across the IJ leads to the meadows and wooden villages of Waterland, and within the city the Vondelpark and the Amsterdamse Bos offer rowing and woodland trails.

The Hague swaps windmill country for coast. Meijendel's protected dunes, woods and ponds and the Westduinpark begin at the edge of the city, the old Haagse Bos reaches almost into the centre, and on windy days kitesurfers and surfers take to the water along the shore.

Both cities sit on the same dense Dutch rail network, so the choice comes down to which towns are nearest. From Amsterdam, Haarlem is a quarter of an hour away, Zaanse Schans and the old Zuiderzee villages of Volendam, Marken and Edam are easy outings, and Antwerp can be reached in a day.

The Hague is the better base for the south. Delft and Leiden are about fifteen minutes away, Gouda about twenty, Rotterdam under half an hour, and Amsterdam itself under an hour. Kinderdijk and the Keukenhof gardens are easy from either city.

Both are safe, flat and easy with children, but the outings are different. Amsterdam is about animals, science and canals: the Artis zoo, NEMO's hands-on exhibits, boat trips and city farms. Parents have to watch for fast bikes and unfenced canal edges.

The Hague leans towards the seaside and the miniature. There is Madurodam, the beach, pier and sea aquarium at Scheveningen, the Museon, and the Duinrell amusement and water park just outside the city. In both cities a wet day sends everyone indoors.

Amsterdam is easier to cover. Nearly all the main sights are within half an hour's walk of each other, trams and a north-south metro fill the gaps, free ferries cross the IJ and Schiphol is a short direct train ride away. The busy bike lanes take some confidence.

The centre of The Hague is just as walkable around the Binnenhof, but the beach, Madurodam and the Peace Palace are spread out, so you rely more on the tram. In return, its two main stations make Delft, Leiden and Rotterdam as easy to reach as a suburb. In both cities a car is more trouble than it is worth.

Amsterdam is the better place to shop, with more depth and a wider range. Its strength is the independents. An afternoon in the Nine Streets and the Jordaan turns up vintage clothes, specialist shops and small galleries, and the city also has a proper luxury end on PC Hooftstraat, which The Hague cannot match. Delft blue, Dutch cheese and design pieces are easy to find when it is time to take something home.

The Hague is smaller and more genteel. Antique dealers, interior shops and a few fashion boutiques along the Denneweg and Noordeinde make for a pleasant browse rather than a shopping trip, and beyond them the main streets mostly carry familiar chains. Its one real draw is the Haagse Markt, a huge open-air market of fabrics, spices and produce that is worth the visit even if you buy nothing. There is no local craft to bring home.

Neither city is cheap, but The Hague is easier on the wallet. Central rooms are easier to find at a fair price at weekends, after government and business travellers have left. Indonesian and Surinamese eateries and the Haagse Markt keep food costs down, though Scheveningen's seafront hotels charge more in summer.

In Amsterdam, hotels around the canal ring are among the most expensive in Europe, and a substantial tourist tax and museum tickets add to the bill. Staying in Haarlem or Utrecht is the usual way round it.

Amsterdam has the fuller programme. The Concertgebouw and its orchestra give concerts most days of the season, opera and ballet play at the house on the Amstel, and the Muziekgebouw has contemporary music and the Bimhuis jazz club. Paradiso and the Melkweg bring in touring bands.

The Hague offers less, but what it has is distinctive. Nederlands Dans Theater, one of the world's leading contemporary dance companies, performs at home here. The Residentie Orkest and the Royal Conservatory add concerts, but there is no resident opera company, and in both cities most theatre is in Dutch.

Wellness in both cities means the Dutch sauna: large day complexes of saunas, steam rooms and cold plunge pools, usually mixed and nude, with hotel spas for the rest and no thermal baths in either. What sets them apart is the setting.

In Amsterdam, with its crowded centre, you have to look for calm: the quieter canals early in the morning, the Vondelpark or a ferry across the IJ. The Hague is calm by nature, with quiet residential streets, little noise late at night and the old seaside-resort air of the Kurhaus at Scheveningen, so it is easier to unwind.