Baden-Baden or Cesky Krumlov?

Neither town is a place for beaches, but Cesky Krumlov at least has somewhere to swim. Lipno, the large reservoir about half an hour south, has grassy and sandy shores and water warm enough for July and August. The Vltava in town is for rafting, not swimming.

Baden-Baden has only gravel pits on the Rhine plain and outdoor pools for a hot afternoon. Its water is thermal and indoors.

Baden-Baden eats better. Baden is one of Germany's strongest food regions, with French influence from across the Rhine, Flammkuchen, venison and Black Forest ham, and Riesling and Pinot Noir from the Rebland villages. Some of Germany's most celebrated restaurants are a drive away in the northern Black Forest.

Cesky Krumlov serves hearty South Bohemian roast pork, duck and dumplings in vaulted cellars, and its own beer is the high point. The range is narrow, though, and many menus are written for day-trippers.

Cesky Krumlov has the stronger sightseeing. Its whole old town is a UNESCO-listed set piece of painted Renaissance and Baroque houses below one of the country's largest castles, with the Cloak Bridge and a Baroque theatre whose original stage machinery survives.

Baden-Baden is also a sight in itself, a Belle Époque spa resort with the Kurhaus, the Trinkhalle and the Lichtentaler Allee. It has better art, at the Museum Frieder Burda and the Kunsthalle. In both, a day or two covers the main things.

Both towns are quiet after dinner, and neither has clubs. The difference is in the kind of evening. Baden-Baden's night out is the gilded casino in the Kurhaus, with a dress code, hotel bars and an older crowd. Cesky Krumlov is more casual, with cellar bars that draw backpackers and riverside terraces that stay busy on summer nights.

Both are good bases for gentle green countryside, but the outdoors works differently. From Baden-Baden you walk or climb. The Merkur funicular, the Battert cliffs and the Panoramaweg start at the edge of town, and the Black Forest High Road runs up to the Hornisgrinde moorland and the Mummelsee.

Cesky Krumlov's outdoors centres on water. Its classic day is a canoe or raft trip down the Vltava, and then there is sailing on Lipno and long quiet walks and rides in the Bohemian Forest national park.

Baden-Baden is much better placed for day trips. Strasbourg and the Alsace wine villages, Heidelberg, Freiburg, Speyer's cathedral and the Maulbronn monastery are all about an hour away, giving you two countries and several major cities to choose from.

Cesky Krumlov's outings are smaller and more local: the arcaded square of České Budějovice, Hluboká castle, the farmhouse village of Holašovice and Zlatá Koruna. They fill a few pleasant days, but Prague is too far to visit comfortably in a day.

Baden-Baden does a little better for children, mostly because of what lies nearby. Europa-Park, one of Europe's largest theme parks, is about an hour away, and the funicular and forest trails suit children. The town itself is made for adults, and the Friedrichsbad turns young children away.

In Cesky Krumlov, children get a storybook castle with bears in the moat and a gentle raft trip, but the steep cobbles are hard work with a pushchair.

Both centres are small and easy to walk, though both involve some climbing. Baden-Baden has the edge for getting further afield, with frequent buses to the station in Oos and easy trains to Karlsruhe and Freiburg. Cesky Krumlov's stations are within walking distance of the old town, but links to the forest and the smaller castles are thin. In either town, a car helps for the countryside.

Baden-Baden is the better place to browse. Sophienstraße and Lange Straße have jewellers, watchmakers, boutiques and delicatessens for a wealthy spa crowd, even if serious shoppers still go to Strasbourg. Cesky Krumlov's lanes sell mostly souvenirs, such as Bohemian glass, garnets, marionettes and green moldavite, plus a few ceramics workshops.

Cesky Krumlov is far cheaper. Family-run guesthouses, Czech meals and beer are moderately priced, and staying just outside the centre or coming outside summer saves more.

Baden-Baden was built for the wealthy and is still priced for them. Grand hotels set the tone and every bath visit costs extra, so only the wine taverns, bakeries and simple guesthouses are easy on the budget.

Baden-Baden is far ahead for live performance. The Festspielhaus, one of Germany's largest opera and concert houses, hosts leading orchestras through its seasons, alongside the town's own philharmonic and the small nineteenth-century theatre. Brahms and Clara Schumann both worked here.

Cesky Krumlov's performances happen mainly in summer, with the revolving open-air theatre in the castle garden and a long-running music festival. For the rest of the year there is little on.

This is where the two differ most. Baden-Baden exists for its hot springs, and its two baths, the silent Friedrichsbad and the modern Caracalla with its sauna area, set the slow pace of a stay alongside grand hotel spas.

Cesky Krumlov has no bathing tradition, only a few hotel wellness rooms and beer baths. Its restfulness comes from quiet evenings by the river, and anyone wanting real treatments would need a day trip to Třeboň's peat baths.