Utrecht or York?

Neither city is a place for a beach vacation, but the swimming they offer is different. Utrecht has recreation lakes on its edge, such as the Maarsseveense Plassen, where people go for a quick dip on a hot day. The Dutch North Sea coast is more than an hour away.

York has nothing to swim in nearby, but Scarborough's sandy bays, along with Filey and Whitby, make a classic British seaside day out about an hour away. They are good for a change of scene, though the sea is bracing.

The two eat about as well as each other, in very different styles. In Utrecht the setting matters most, with tables on the old wharves at the water's edge. The student population also brings variety, including Indonesian and Surinamese kitchens and casual bistros around Lombok.

York is more traditional and narrower in range. It does afternoon tea and fat rascals, Sunday roasts and real ale in old pubs very well, but international cooking is thin. Look away from the streets around the Minster to avoid tourist menus.

York has the deeper heritage. The Minster is among the great Gothic cathedrals of northern Europe, you can walk most of the way round the city on its medieval walls, and Jorvik and the Yorkshire Museum make two thousand years of Roman, Viking and medieval history easy to follow.

Utrecht's appeal is more architectural and more compact. Climb the Dom Tower and walk the two-level Oudegracht, then see the Rietveld Schröder House for modern design. Its museums are good but on a smaller scale than York's.

Utrecht has more going on after dark. Students keep the bars and terraces around the Neude, the Janskerkhof and the canal busy on weeknights as well as weekends, and Amsterdam's clubs are less than half an hour away.

York's evenings centre on its old coaching inns and ale houses, which make for a fine pub crawl. Micklegate fills with stag and hen parties at weekends, but on other nights the city winds down early and club-goers head to Leeds.

York has the better countryside within reach. The heather moors of the North York Moors, the limestone and waterfalls of the Dales and the coastal path above Robin Hood's Bay offer real walking. The catch is that most of it is far easier to reach by car.

Utrecht's surroundings are gentler. You can cycle along the Vecht past estates and windmills, walk or mountain-bike the sandy Heuvelrug ridges, or sail on the Loosdrecht lakes. It is pleasant, easy country rather than somewhere for serious hikers.

Both cities make excellent bases, but Utrecht's is the easier kind. As the hub of the Dutch railways it has Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Delft, Leiden and Gouda all close by on simple trains, so the whole country is within reach without a car.

From York, Harrogate, Leeds, Durham and Scarborough are just as easy by rail. Many of its best outings, though, such as Castle Howard, Fountains Abbey and the abbeys of Rievaulx and Whitby, work best by car or on a coach tour.

Both are easy with children, and each has a superb railway museum. Utrecht has a slight edge for younger children, with the Miffy museum for toddlers, the Speelklok's barrel organs and a calm centre, though you will need to keep an eye out for bikes.

York suits slightly older children best. The Jorvik Viking Centre, the Victorian street in the Castle Museum, walking the walls and the ghost tours all bring history to life. Expect the medieval lanes to be crowded on summer weekends.

Getting around is simpler in Utrecht. The country's busiest station sits on the edge of the old town, trams and buses use the same card as the trains, and hiring a bike is the local way to travel.

York is just as pleasant on foot, with a flat, largely pedestrianised centre inside the walls. The difference shows once you leave the city: rural buses to the moors and the country houses are sparse, so you may need a car.

Utrecht offers more variety. Independent fashion, design and book shops fill the wharves and side streets such as the Twijnstraat, the Hoog Catharijne mall by the station covers the chains, and there are flower and textile markets as well.

York's best shopping is in the antiques dealers, jewellers and bookshops of Stonegate and Petergate. The Shambles leans towards souvenirs, though, and the Christmas markets are its seasonal highlight. Neither city is a place for luxury fashion.

Neither is cheap, and in both the main cost is a bed. In Utrecht the old centre has few hotels, but cheap student lunch spots and a centre you can cover on foot or by bike keep daily spending down.

York's rates jump at weekends, on race days and at Christmas, so staying midweek or just outside the walls makes a real difference. Several of its best experiences cost nothing: the National Railway Museum, the walls and the Museum Gardens are all free.

Utrecht has the much fuller programme. TivoliVredenburg puts classical music, the Radio Philharmonic, pop and jazz under one roof, and the Festival Oude Muziek and the national film festival add to the calendar. Its theatre, however, is mostly in Dutch.

York has more English-language drama at a smaller scale. Choose it for the Theatre Royal and its pantomime, free choral evensong at the Minster, the early-music concerts in a medieval church and the occasional street performances of the Mystery Plays.

Utrecht offers a little more for unwinding close at hand. Large Dutch sauna complexes with outdoor pools lie in the green belt around the city, and the centre grows calm in the evening, with quiet spots like the Pandhof cloister garden.

York's own options are mostly hotel spas, and the centre is packed on summer and December weekends. For a proper soak, take the half-hour train to Harrogate for the Victorian Turkish baths at the Royal Baths.