Bamberg or Como?

Neither is a beach destination, but Como at least gives you a proper summer swim. Its lidos, with the one beside Villa Olmo the best known, and the pebble strands and jetties of Cernobbio and Moltrasio make a dip a natural part of a warm day from June to early September.

Bamberg is far from any sea and offers river bathing in the Hain park and gravel-pit lakes at the edge of town, fine for cooling off but nothing to plan a trip around.

Bamberg has the more distinctive table, and it is built around beer: smoky Rauchbier poured from wooden barrels in old brewery taverns, summer evenings under the chestnuts of the hillside Bierkeller, and plates of Schäufele with dumplings. Visiting the small breweries in the surrounding villages is a trip in itself.

Como cooks lake and mountain dishes, perch risotto, missoltini and polenta, and has the aperitivo ritual on its squares, but lakefront terraces often charge for the view and the better meals tend to be up the lake. Neither city offers much international range.

Bamberg is the richer place to explore on foot. Its old town came through the war intact and is listed as a whole, so the cathedral hill with the Bamberg Horseman, the Old Town Hall on its island in the Regnitz and Little Venice form one continuous townscape that rewards two or three days.

Como's sights are fine but fewer: the marble cathedral, the Romanesque San Fedele and Sant'Abbondio, Terragni's Casa del Fascio for architecture lovers and the Tempio Voltiano. Most visitors cover them in a day before turning to the lake.

Both are quiet after dark, but Bamberg has more going on. Brewery taverns fill after work, the student bars of the Sand quarter stay lively in term time, and summer evenings stretch out in the beer cellars.

Como's evening is an aperitivo, a long dinner and a lakefront stroll, with a few wine bars around the cathedral squares and little open late. For clubs, Bamberg sends you to Nuremberg and Como to Milan.

Here Como is in a different league. Steep wooded mountains rise straight from the lake, the funicular lifts you to Brunate and the ridge trails towards the Volta lighthouse in minutes, and the water itself is for kayaking, sailing and paddling. Road cyclists have the climb to the Madonna del Ghisallo.

Bamberg's countryside is gentle: the limestone valleys and crags of Franconian Switzerland under an hour away, the beech forests of the Steigerwald, and river cycle paths linking brewery villages. Pleasant, but rolling rather than dramatic.

Both are strong bases, Como the stronger. Ferries reach Bellagio, Varenna and the gardens of Villa Carlotta and Balbianello, Milan's Last Supper is about forty minutes by train, and Lugano is closer still, so one stay can mix lake villages, a major city and Switzerland.

Bamberg's outings run by train through Franconia: Nuremberg's castle, Würzburg's Residence, Coburg and Bayreuth, each about an hour away, plus the baroque basilica of Vierzehnheiligen nearer home. It is a fine list, though more alike in character.

Neither is built around children, and both work best for a slow family stay. Bamberg offers playgrounds in the Hain park, boats on the Regnitz, a leisure pool with slides for wet days and beer gardens where children play among the tables, though the cobbled climb to the cathedral is hard with a pushchair.

Como's appeal for children lies in getting about: boat rides, the funicular up to Brunate and summer paddling at a lido, with the flat promenade and Villa Olmo's gardens easy going for pushchairs.

Bamberg is the simpler place to get around. The island town, the cathedral hill and Little Venice are minutes apart on foot, bikes handle the flat lower town, and the only effort is the short, steep cobbles up the hills.

Como's centre is just as flat and walkable, but the lake is the catch. Ferries are scenic yet slow to the far villages, and the shore roads clog in summer, so exploring beyond the city takes more time than it seems on the map.

Como has the one thing worth shopping for that Bamberg lacks: silk. Scarves, ties and fabric from old-town specialists and mill outlets make a real souvenir, and Via Vittorio Emanuele II adds Italian clothing and shoe boutiques.

Bamberg's pedestrian streets are mostly chains and bookshops, and its best buys are edible: market-garden produce and bottled smoked beer, with antiques near the cathedral. Neither has a fashion scene of its own, though from Como, Milan is close.

Bamberg is the cheaper stay by a clear margin. Brewery-tavern meals and local beer cost less than in big German cities, rooms are moderately priced outside weekends and the Christmas market, and walking replaces transport.

Como draws an international luxury crowd, and lakeside hotels in summer are expensive. Staying back from the water, eating in old-town trattorias and travelling by train and ferry all help, as does coming in spring or autumn.

Bamberg has the stronger music, thanks to the Bamberg Symphony, an orchestra of international reputation that plays its home season in the concert hall on the Regnitz. Drama at the ETA Hoffmann Theatre and organ concerts in the cathedral add to it, and the Bayreuth Festival is an hour away.

Como has what Bamberg lacks, an opera house: the neoclassical Teatro Sociale, with its open-air Arena in summer and chamber concerts in lakeside villas. The programme is provincial, though, and La Scala is the bigger draw, a short train ride away.

The two are level here, and both rest on mood rather than facilities. Bamberg's calm comes from riverside mornings and beer-garden afternoons, and it is the one with thermal bathing nearby, in the warm brine pools of Bad Staffelstein about half an hour away by train.

Como has no springs either. Its restorative pull is the still lake, the gardens and the slow ferries, with spa treatments found in the grand villa hotels, and spring or autumn suit a quiet stay better than the busy midsummer lakefront.