Annecy or Colmar?

This is no contest. Annecy's lake is clean and clear, and it warms to swimming temperature in midsummer. There are lawn beaches at Albigny and the Marquisats and smaller beaches in villages such as Talloires and Doussard, though the season only runs from late June to early September.

Colmar is far from any water worth a trip. Swimming there means a municipal pool or a drive up to a small Vosges lake.

Both towns eat hearty mountain food, but Colmar has more depth. Alsace cooking draws on both France and Germany: choucroute, baeckeoffe and tarte flambée served in wood-panelled winstubs. The local Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris are poured everywhere, and you can taste them in cellars a short drive away.

Annecy's Savoyard menu of fondue, raclette and tartiflette is narrower and feels heavy in summer, though lake fish and the market mornings help. In both towns the best tables are out in the villages and the busiest streets serve tired tourist menus.

Colmar is the stronger choice for sightseeing. Its painted half-timbered streets, Petite Venise and buildings such as the Maison Pfister form a single preserved townscape. The Unterlinden Museum adds a true masterpiece in Grünewald's altarpiece, and Schongauer's Madonna in the Dominican church is another reason to come.

Annecy's beauty is its setting more than its heritage. The Palais de l'Isle on the Thiou and the castle museum above it make a lovely day's wander, but there is little beyond that.

Neither town suits serious going out, but Annecy has a little more life after dinner. Its students keep a few cocktail bars and one or two small clubs busy, and in summer the lakefront stays lively until late.

Colmar's evenings centre on a long dinner and a glass of wine in Petite Venise, and the streets are quiet early. For a real night out, Annecy people head to Geneva or Lyon, and Colmar people take the train to Strasbourg.

Annecy is in another league here. Real Alpine walking starts at the edge of town, the Col de la Forclaz is one of Europe's great paragliding launches, the lake is made for paddling and sailing, and the Aravis ski resorts and Mont Blanc are close.

Colmar's landscape is gentler: vineyard paths between wine villages, then the rounded, forested Vosges along the Route des Crêtes. It is lovely in autumn and good for cycling, but it is about long walks rather than high peaks.

Colmar makes the better base for a different place every day. Riquewihr, Eguisheim and Kaysersberg are only a few kilometres apart, Strasbourg is half an hour by train, and Basel and Freiburg put two more countries within an hour.

Annecy has strong outings too: Geneva, Chamonix under Mont Blanc, and Chambéry and Aix-les-Bains to the south. They are more spread out, though, and Lyon is a long day.

Both towns are small, flat and safe with children, but they keep them busy in different ways. Annecy is a summer playground of lake beaches, pedal boats, the shore cycle path and mountain toboggan runs. It has no zoo or theme park, though, and once the water turns cold it has much less to offer children.\n\nColmar has boat rides through Petite Venise, storks nesting on the rooftops and a children's Christmas market. The bigger draws are a drive away: the macaques at Kintzheim, the Hunawihr stork park, the Mulhouse zoo and Europa-Park. You will need a car for most of them, but unlike Annecy's lake they don't depend on a hot summer day.

The two are much alike: you can walk around either town easily, and you will want a car or a bike once you leave it. Annecy adds a shore cycle path and summer lake boats, but heavy lakeside traffic. Colmar has the better rail links, with quick trains to Strasbourg and Mulhouse, while the wine villages are best reached by car or by cycling the vineyard roads.

Neither town is for serious shoppers, and in both the best buys are edible. In Annecy, that means Savoyard cheese, génépi and honey from the markets, plus outdoor gear and kitchen knives. Colmar's specialities are wine bought from the grower, Soufflenheim pottery and printed table linen, and its Christmas markets give it a seasonal peak that Annecy cannot match.

Colmar is the easier town on the budget. Set lunches and wine are reasonable, and village tastings are often free. Rooms are the main cost, especially during the Christmas market weeks.

Annecy charges resort prices, kept high all year by nearby Geneva. Its saving grace is that the lake beaches, trails and cycle path cost nothing, and self-catering or a shoulder-season visit helps.

The two are broadly level, but their calendars work differently. Annecy has Bonlieu, a national stage by the lake that runs contemporary theatre, dance and circus throughout the season, plus the Fête du Lac fireworks in August.

Colmar is more about festivals: classical music in July, jazz in autumn, wine fair concerts and visits from the Opéra national du Rhin, with little in between. For major opera, both send you elsewhere.

Annecy is the more restful of the two. Lakeside mornings and calm hotel spas around Talloires and Veyrier set the pace, and there are real thermal baths at Aix-les-Bains and Saint-Gervais within reach.

Colmar has no bathing tradition at all. What it offers is quiet canal-side evenings and slow walks through the vines once the day-trippers leave.