Baden-Baden or Rothenburg ob der Tauber?

Neither town has anything for a beach vacation, and both are a long way inland. What differs is the summer swim: Baden-Baden has outdoor pools and flooded gravel pits on the Rhine plain, while from Rothenburg you go to the town pool or drive about an hour to grassy shores on Franconian lakes such as the Altmühlsee. In Baden-Baden, water really means the hot thermal baths.

Baden-Baden eats noticeably better. It sits in one of Germany's strongest food regions, and French influence from across the Rhine shows in Flammkuchen on menus beside venison, Black Forest ham and cherry gateau. The Rebland villages on the slopes outside town make Riesling and Pinot Noir and pour them in their own taverns. The town itself has a limited range, but some of Germany's most celebrated restaurants are a short drive into the northern Black Forest.

Rothenburg keeps to hearty Franconian food such as Schäufele, bratwurst and dumplings, with Silvaner from the round Bocksbeutel bottle. Many kitchens around the Marktplatz cook for coach groups, so the better meals are in family-run guesthouses away from the square.

Rothenburg has the stronger pull here because the whole town is a near-intact medieval walled town. You can walk the covered ramparts above the rooftops, see the Plönlein between its gate towers, and stand before Riemenschneider's carved Holy Blood Altar in St Jakob's.

Baden-Baden's townscape belongs to a different age: Belle Époque spa architecture around the Kurhaus, the Trinkhalle and the villas above Lichtentaler Allee, with Roman bath ruins below. It is also stronger for art, with the Museum Frieder Burda and the Kunsthalle side by side. Both towns repay a day or two, not a week.

Neither is a place for a night out, but Baden-Baden has slightly more going on after dinner. The gilded casino in the Kurhaus is a dressed-up evening in its own right, and there are hotel bars and wine bars, though the crowd is older.

Rothenburg goes almost silent once the day visitors leave. The night watchman's lantern tour is the main evening event, then come wine taverns and an early night. For clubs, people from Baden-Baden go to Strasbourg or Karlsruhe, and people from Rothenburg go to Würzburg or Nuremberg.

Baden-Baden is far stronger outdoors, because the northern Black Forest starts at the edge of town. You can circle the town on the Panoramaweg through woods and vineyards, or walk between the Rebland wine villages. A drive up into the hills brings the dark Mummelsee, waterfalls and mountain-bike routes, and there is some skiing in a good winter.

Rothenburg's countryside is more for an afternoon than for several days out. Paths drop from the walls into the Tauber valley, past mills and the little Topplerschlösschen, and the riverside cycle path runs at an easy pace through vineyards and villages. This is farmland and orchards, at their best in spring blossom and autumn colour, with no higher or wilder ground within reach.

Both towns make good bases, and Baden-Baden has the richer choice. Strasbourg is about an hour away, with the Alsace wine villages and Colmar beyond, and Heidelberg and Freiburg are each about an hour by direct train. Speyer cathedral and Maulbronn monastery add two UNESCO sites.

Rothenburg's outings follow the Romantic Road, to the walled towns of Dinkelsbühl and Nördlingen, which can feel too much like the town you just left. Würzburg's Residenz and Nuremberg are about an hour away. With the branch line and its changes, you will want a car for almost all of them.

Baden-Baden does a little better for children, mostly thanks to what lies nearby. Europa-Park, one of Europe's biggest theme parks, is about an hour south, Karlsruhe zoo is closer, and the funicular and forest trails are good for children. The catch is that the Friedrichsbad turns away young children and the town itself is very grown-up.

In Rothenburg, children get a storybook to walk through: ramparts, the Rathaus tower and the night watchman. Older children often love the Crime Museum. One or two days covers it, though, and the cobbles are hard work with a pushchair.

Both centres are small and easy on foot, so for getting around there is little to choose between them. The difference lies in arriving and leaving. Baden-Baden's station is a few kilometres out, with frequent buses into town, but it sits on a main line with easy trains to Karlsruhe and Freiburg.

Rothenburg's station is a short walk from the gates, but it is at the end of a branch line, so most journeys mean changing at Steinach, and regional buses are sparse. Expect steep streets in Baden-Baden and cobbles inside Rothenburg's walls. In both towns a car makes the countryside far easier.

Baden-Baden is the better place to shop, especially at the upper end. Jewellers, watchmakers, fashion boutiques and delicatessens line Sophienstraße and Lange Straße, though there are no department stores, and serious shoppers go on to Strasbourg.

Rothenburg sells mostly souvenirs, with Christmas at the centre. Shops sell glass baubles, nutcrackers and Erzgebirge carvings all year, and the Christmas market on the Marktplatz is one of Germany's most atmospheric. Beyond that, fashion and everyday shopping are hard to find.

Rothenburg is easier on the wallet. It has normal small-town German prices with an added cost for the setting, and staying in a village or just outside the walls saves a good deal.

Baden-Baden was built for wealthy guests and still takes its cue from its grand hotels. Every visit to the baths is paid separately, so a stay built around the spas adds up quickly, although bakeries and wine taverns are reasonable.

Baden-Baden has much more for an evening at a performance. Its Festspielhaus is one of Germany's biggest opera and concert halls, so you can plan a stay around a leading orchestra or a full opera production. The small, ornate old theatre and the town's own orchestra fill other nights, and Brahms and Clara Schumann both worked here. If you want jazz or rock, though, you will find little.

In Rothenburg you would be lucky to find anything on a particular night. The costumed Meistertrunk play comes once a year, summer brings open-air theatre, and St Jakob's holds organ and choral concerts. There is no season of performances to plan around.

Baden-Baden exists because of its hot springs, and nowhere else in Germany beats it for wellness. In the domed Friedrichsbad you follow a silent sequence of hot rooms, scrubs and pools, while Caracalla adds modern indoor and outdoor pools and a large sauna area. The rest of the day can go on Lichtentaler Allee and cake.

Rothenburg has no bathing tradition of its own, only a few small hotel spas. Its calm comes from the empty lanes early in the morning and late in the evening. For thermal water you drive about an hour to Bad Windsheim's salt-water float pool or to Bad Mergentheim.