Baden-Baden or Verona?

Neither city is on the coast, but only Verona gives you real swimming. Lake Garda's southern shore at Peschiera, Lazise and Bardolino is about half an hour away, with calm, clear water, lidos, lawns running down to the shore and Sirmione's flat limestone shelves. It still works as a side trip rather than a beach vacation.

In Baden-Baden the water that matters is in the thermal baths. On a hot day locals swim in outdoor pools and in the flooded gravel pits of the Rhine plain, which is nice enough but not a reason to choose the town.

Both towns sit in good wine country, but Verona eats better. Baden-Baden's regional food is solid: Flammkuchen, venison, Black Forest ham and cherry gateau, with Riesling and Pinot Noir from the Rebland villages just outside town. In the centre itself you mostly find hotel dining rooms and cake-and-coffee cafés, and the celebrated restaurants are a drive away in the northern Black Forest.

Verona has more character on the plate and more places to try it. Wood-panelled osterie around Piazza delle Erbe and in Veronetta serve Amarone risotto, bigoli with duck and bollito misto with peppery pearà. Valpolicella, Soave and Bardolino are poured at counters with small snacks. Avoid the tourist menus around the Arena.

Verona has much more to see. Its UNESCO-listed centre layers a Roman amphitheatre and theatre, the della Scala lords' piazzas and tombs, the Romanesque San Zeno and Scarpa's Castelvecchio museum, enough for two or three full days.

Baden-Baden's appeal is narrower and more of a piece. The town itself is the sight: a preserved nineteenth-century spa resort with the Kurhaus, the Trinkhalle, hillside villas and Roman bath ruins, plus the Museum Frieder Burda and the Kunsthalle for art. That is a rewarding day or two, not a long stay.

Neither town is known for late nights, but Verona has more going on. Spritz and Valpolicella at tables in Piazza delle Erbe and along Corso Porta Borsari carry the evening, and Veronetta's student bars stay busy later. On summer opera nights the centre gets a second wind around midnight.

Baden-Baden's evening means a jacket and the gilded casino rooms of the Kurhaus, followed by a hotel or wine bar, and the streets are quiet by late evening. For clubs, either town sends you elsewhere.

Both are good bases for the outdoors, but the landscapes are different. In Baden-Baden the forest is on your doorstep: the Merkur funicular, the Battert cliffs for climbers, the Panoramaweg through woods and vineyards, and further in the Mummelsee and the moorland of the Hornisgrinde, with light skiing in winter.

Verona's countryside is more varied but further out. The Valpolicella hills and the Adige cycle route are close, while Monte Baldo's ridges, Garda's windsurfing and the Lessinia's gorges take an hour or so to reach.

Baden-Baden has a good spread of outings on both sides of the Rhine. Strasbourg, Heidelberg and Freiburg are each about an hour away, and Speyer's cathedral and the monastery at Maulbronn add two UNESCO sites. The Alsace wine route and Black Forest towns such as Gengenbach are much easier with a car.

Verona's list is longer, and the train covers most of it. Vicenza's Palladian buildings are under half an hour away, Padua's Scrovegni Chapel about forty-five minutes and Mantua under an hour. Venice is a little over an hour, close enough for a full day there. The Garda towns and the walls of Soave are nearer still.

Verona does more for children. Gardaland, Parco Natura Viva's drive-through safari and the shallow edges of Lake Garda are all about half an hour away. In town, the Arena catches a child's imagination, and the flat, pedestrian centre is easy with a pushchair.

Baden-Baden is safe and clean, and the funicular and forest trails go down well. But the Friedrichsbad turns away young children, the mood is hushed, and the big family day out, Europa-Park, is an hour south.

Both centres are compact and easy on foot, and Verona is a little easier. Its river loop is flat and mostly free of traffic, so everything from the Arena to Castelvecchio is a short stroll, with fast trains to Venice, Milan and the lake.

In Baden-Baden the baths, Kurhaus and museums are close together, but some streets climb steeply and the station is out in Oos, a bus ride away. In both places a car helps for the wine villages and the hills.

Baden-Baden's shopping is a short, smart stroll, not an afternoon. A couple of old-town streets cater to guests of the grand hotels with fine watches, jewellery, designer clothes and delicacies. They are pleasant to browse between visits to the baths, but you will see them all in an hour, and with no department stores or markets there is little else. For more choice, Strasbourg is across the Rhine.

Verona offers more range, though at a more everyday level. Via Mazzini runs from Piazza Bra to Piazza delle Erbe with mainstream Italian fashion labels, and the streets off it add shoes, accessories and small boutiques. The best things to bring home are edible: Amarone, olive oil from the Garda shore and the star-shaped pandoro cake. Baden-Baden's equivalents are a bottle of Rebland Riesling and, if you want one, a Black Forest cuckoo clock.

Neither is a bargain, but Baden-Baden costs more. Grand hotels set the tone, and every visit to the baths adds to the bill, although guesthouses, bakeries and wine taverns are fair by German standards.

Verona's main expense is rooms in the historic centre, especially on summer opera nights. Eating at Veronetta's student osterie and wine counters is reasonable, walking costs nothing, and staying across the river or near the station helps.

Classical music is a real draw in both, and Verona has the more memorable event. Grand opera in the Roman Arena on summer evenings, with candles on the stone tiers, is a once-in-a-lifetime night, and the Roman theatre adds Shakespeare and jazz. Outside summer the programme is much thinner.

Baden-Baden's strength is concert-hall music across its seasons. The Festspielhaus, one of Germany's largest, brings leading orchestras and soloists, and the town's philharmonic and the jewel-box theatre carry on a tradition that goes back to Brahms and Clara Schumann.

This is where Baden-Baden is far ahead. The town exists for its Roman-era hot springs, and a stay revolves around them: the silent, unclothed ritual of the domed Friedrichsbad, Caracalla's indoor and outdoor pools and saunas, hotel spas, and long walks under the trees of the Lichtentaler Allee.

Verona has no bathing culture of its own. Its warm springs are out of town, at Sirmione's thermal centre on the lake, the park near Lazise and Caldiero. In the city, relaxing means long lunches, the evening passeggiata and the terraces of the Giardino Giusti.