Baden-Baden or Lubeck?

Neither town is a beach destination, but only Lübeck has a coast. Travemünde, with its wicker beach chairs and long stretch of sand, is about twenty minutes away by regional train. The calm, shallow Baltic is gentle for paddling, but it stays cool even at the height of summer.

Baden-Baden is far inland. A hot afternoon there means an outdoor pool or a gravel lake on the Rhine plain, and the water people actually come for is in the thermal baths.

Both towns serve a good meal without being worth the journey for food alone, and their kitchens point in opposite directions. Baden-Baden draws on Baden's rich regional cooking, with venison, Flammkuchen, Black Forest ham and cherry gateau, a French touch from across the Rhine, and Riesling and Pinot Noir from the Rebland villages just outside town. Some of Germany's most celebrated restaurants lie a drive away in the hills.

Lübeck tastes of the north: herring, plaice and fish sandwiches from the harbour kiosks, Rotspon aged in the old cellars, and marzipan in every form around the town hall. Supper at the long tables of the Schiffergesellschaft guild house is an experience Baden-Baden has no match for.

Lübeck has more to see. Almost the whole island old town is a World Heritage site, with the Holstentor, the Marienkirche that set the pattern for brick Gothic across the Baltic, and lanes of stepped-gable houses. The museums are strong too, from the European Hansemuseum to the Buddenbrookhaus for Thomas Mann, plus houses devoted to Günter Grass and Willy Brandt.

Baden-Baden's appeal is atmosphere more than monuments: the gilded Kurhaus, the Trinkhalle colonnade and the hillside villas of a nineteenth-century spa resort. Add the Museum Frieder Burda, the Fabergé collection and the Brahms house, and it fills a day or two less densely than Lübeck does.

Both towns are quiet after dark, though Lübeck has slightly more going on. It has student bars and pubs along the Obertrave and around the cathedral, and Travemünde's promenade on summer nights, and Hamburg is close by for anything bigger.

An evening in Baden-Baden is a dressed-up affair: a round in the Kurhaus casino, then a hotel bar or a wine bar among an older crowd. For clubs, people go to Karlsruhe or Strasbourg.

Baden-Baden has much the better outdoors. The northern Black Forest starts at the edge of town. The Merkur funicular climbs to views across the Rhine plain to the Vosges, climbers use the Battert cliffs, and the High Road runs past the Mummelsee to moorland above 1,100m, with mountain biking in summer and some skiing in winter.

Lübeck's countryside is gentler and flatter. You can canoe the reedy Wakenitz, walk the clay cliffs of the Brodtener Steilufer, explore the Holstein Switzerland lakes and cycle long, easy coastal routes. It is pleasant, but it lacks the hills and forest that make Baden-Baden a walking base.

Baden-Baden is the better base for day trips, because it sits where Germany meets France. Strasbourg's cathedral and Petite France are about an hour away, with Colmar and the Alsace wine villages beyond. Heidelberg and Freiburg are each about an hour by train, and Speyer cathedral and Maulbronn monastery are both within reach.

From Lübeck, Hamburg is the obvious day out at about 45 minutes away, and Wismar and Schwerin's island castle are each about an hour. Ratzeburg and Eutin are closer still, but the choice runs out sooner than it does around Baden-Baden.

Lübeck is the easier choice with children. Its flat, compact old town and the Holstentor are ideal for exploring, Travemünde's shallow beach suits toddlers, and Hansa-Park is about half an hour up the coast. Outside summer, though, it has much less on offer.

Baden-Baden is safe and calm, and children enjoy the funicular and the forest trails, but the town is designed for adults. The Friedrichsbad does not admit young children, so families tend to spend their days at Europa-Park, about an hour south, or Karlsruhe zoo.

Lübeck is simpler to get around. The main station is just across the river from the Holstentor, the old town is a flat island about 2km long, and trains run to the beach, so you won't need a car.

Baden-Baden's centre is also small enough to walk, but some streets are steep and the station is a bus ride away in Oos. The Black Forest High Road, the wine villages and Alsace are far easier with a car.

Shopping is evenly matched, but the two towns cater to different shoppers. Baden-Baden is small and upmarket, with jewellers, watchmakers, boutiques and delicatessens on Sophienstraße and Lange Straße aimed at spa guests. Lübeck is more everyday: chain stores and a department store on Breite Strasse, with independents and craft shops tucked around Hüxstrasse.

Marzipan is Lübeck's essential souvenir, while Baden-Baden offers cuckoo clocks and local wine. Strasbourg and Hamburg respectively are where serious shoppers end up.

Lübeck is noticeably kinder on the wallet. Its old-town hotels are moderately priced, fish kiosks and taverns are reasonable, and walking the old town costs nothing. The exception is Travemünde in July and August, when beach stays become dearer.

Baden-Baden was built for the wealthy and still prices itself that way. Grand hotels set the tone and every visit to the baths costs extra, so a stay centred on the spas adds up quickly, even though the wine taverns and guesthouses are fair.

For classical music, Baden-Baden is the stronger town. The Festspielhaus is one of Germany's largest opera and concert houses and brings in leading international orchestras and soloists. The town's own philharmonic plays in the Kurhaus, and the legacy of Brahms and Clara Schumann is still part of its identity.

Lübeck offers solid seasons at its Art Nouveau theatre and the riverside concert hall. Its own speciality is organ music in the Marienkirche, where Buxtehude once played, and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival comes to town in summer. Neither town has much rock or jazz.

This is where the two towns differ most. Baden-Baden exists because of its hot springs. You can follow the silent sequence of hot rooms and pools in the domed Friedrichsbad, then move next door to the saunas and outdoor pools of Caracalla, and the whole town keeps to that unhurried pace.

Lübeck has no bathing tradition of its own. Travemünde has been a seaside spa since the early nineteenth century, and wellness hotels and the seawater pool at Scharbeutz keep that going. It makes for a restful few days, but not a spa vacation to rival Baden-Baden.