The Hague or Utrecht?

The Hague has a real beach and Utrecht does not. Scheveningen's long, wide sand, with its pier and summer pavilions, is about a quarter of an hour from the centre by tram, and Kijkduin, backed by dunes, is a calmer alternative. The North Sea stays cold, so it is a beach for sunbathing and short swims.

From Utrecht, that same coast is an hour or more away by train. On hot days locals cool off instead at the Maarsseveense Plassen or the Loosdrecht lakes, which are pleasant but not something to plan a trip around.

The Hague has the edge, almost entirely thanks to its Indonesian kitchen. Long-established families from the former Dutch East Indies mean a rijsttafel or a plate of rendang here is unusually good, and Scheveningen harbour adds fish and raw herring.

In Utrecht the setting counts for more than what is on the plate. Eating on the old Oudegracht wharves at water level is the memorable part, while student-driven lunch cafés and the bistros around the Twijnstraat and Lombok keep everyday meals casual and varied.

The Hague has the stronger collections. The Mauritshuis holds Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring and Rembrandt's Anatomy Lesson, the Kunstmuseum has the world's largest Mondrian collection, and the Binnenhof and Peace Palace give the city a stately, governmental character.

Utrecht's appeal lies more in its townscape than its galleries. The free-standing Dom Tower, which you can climb, and the two-level Oudegracht make a medieval centre unlike any other in the country, and the Rietveld Schröder House is a small modernist landmark. The museums themselves are good but modest.

Utrecht is the livelier of the two, because its students fill the bars around the Neude, the Janskerkhof and the canal edge on weeknights as well as weekends. Brown cafés and beer bars set the tone rather than clubs.

The Hague goes to bed earlier. After-work terraces on the Plein and the weekend bars on the Grote Markt are the core, with beach pavilions at Scheveningen adding music and dancing in summer. In both cities, a serious night out means a train to Amsterdam or Rotterdam.

Both are flat and green and roughly level overall, but the scenery differs. The Hague looks to the coast: the Meijendel dunes, the Westduinpark, the Haagse Bos forest and year-round beach walks, with kitesurfing when the wind picks up.

Utrecht's countryside lies inland. You can cycle along the Vecht past country estates, walk on the heath and wooded ridges of the Utrechtse Heuvelrug, or sail on the Loosdrecht lakes.

The Hague and Utrecht make equally strong bases, but they lead to different outings. From The Hague, Delft and Leiden are about fifteen minutes away and Gouda about twenty, and the Keukenhof bulb fields and the windmills of Kinderdijk are within easy reach. That puts the old coastal-province towns almost on the doorstep, with Amsterdam under an hour by train.

Utrecht sits at the hub of the rail network, so Amsterdam is under half an hour away and a wider spread of the country opens up. Close to home are the neo-Gothic Kasteel de Haar and the fortified town of Naarden. Further afield, and easier from here than from The Hague, are the Kröller-Müller Museum, the open-air museum near Arnhem and the old centre of Den Bosch.

The Hague gives children more to do. Madurodam's miniature Netherlands, the beach, pier and sea aquarium at Scheveningen, and the Duinrell water park nearby fill several days, though rain pushes everything indoors.

Utrecht is gentler and centres on museums. The Railway Museum is among the country's best for children, and Miffy has her own museum for toddlers. The main watch-point is the stream of bikes in the narrow streets.

Utrecht is easier on foot. Utrecht Centraal sits right at the edge of the old town, so the Dom, the canals and even the Railway Museum are a short walk on flat streets.

The Hague's sights are more spread out. The Binnenhof area is compact, but the beach, Madurodam and the Peace Palace need the tram, which is frequent and simple. Both cities are made for cycling, and in neither is a car any help.

Both are about equal, offering independent boutiques but no real luxury. The Hague leans refined, with antique dealers and galleries on the Denneweg and Noordeinde, the 1880s Passage and the large Haagse Markt full of fabrics and spices. Utrecht leans towards design and books along the Oudegracht wharves and the Twijnstraat, with the Hoog Catharijne mall for chains and a flower market on the Janskerkhof.

Neither city is cheap, but the costs fall differently. In The Hague, government and business travellers fill central hotels from Monday to Thursday, so a weekend outside the beach season is the easiest time to find a reasonable room. Indonesian and Surinamese eateries and picnics from the Haagse Markt keep meals cheap.

In Utrecht the expensive part is the bed. The historic centre has few hotels, and weekends and festival weeks cost more, the reverse of The Hague's pattern. After that, the compact centre costs almost nothing to get around, and the student cafés and snack bars near the university keep lunches cheap.

The two are level overall, but each has a different strength. The Hague's highlight is dance: seeing Nederlands Dans Theater at home is the reason to book, and the Residentie Orkest adds a full symphony season.

Utrecht is stronger on music. TivoliVredenburg stacks classical, pop and jazz halls in one building, and the Festival Oude Muziek is a major draw for early-music lovers. Theatre in both cities is mostly in Dutch, and neither has an opera company of its own.

The Hague is a little better for unwinding. Its large Dutch sauna complexes are closer to hand, and the seaside setting at Scheveningen, with the Kurhaus as a reminder of its bathing-resort past, adds a sense of calm. Expect nudity in most saunas.

In Utrecht the saunas sit out in the green belt and need a bus or a drive. Relaxing there means slow evenings on the canal wharves and the quiet of the Pandhof cloister garden beside the Dom.