Bamberg or Prague?

Neither city is a beach destination, and both keep swimming for warm summer days. Bamberg's spots are close to the centre: the long-established river bathing place in the Hain park on the Regnitz and the gravel-pit lakes on the edge of town. Prague's are further out. You can swim at the Dzban reservoir in the Sarka valley or the wooded Slapy reservoir an hour south, but not in the Vltava in town.

Both are beer towns with heavy pork-and-dumpling cooking, but Bamberg does it with more character. Smoked Rauchbier drawn from wooden barrels in old brewery taverns, the Bierkeller under chestnut trees and the market gardeners' produce on Grüner Markt give every meal a strong local identity, even though international kitchens and fine dining are thin.

Prague's pilsner is poured with great care, and svickova and chlebicky are worth seeking out. The streets around Old Town Square, though, are full of tired tourist menus, so a good meal usually means a tram ride to Vinohrady, Karlin or Letna. Its Moravian wine bars add some range, but less of what you eat tastes of the place.

Bamberg's cathedral hill, with the Bamberg Horseman and the rose garden of the Neue Residenz, plus the Old Town Hall on its island and the fishermen's houses of Little Venice, fill a day or two of easy walking. Its museums are small, and what it offers in return is a historic townscape without heavy crowds.

Prague works on a far larger scale. The castle with St Vitus Cathedral, the palaces of Mala Strana, the statue-lined Charles Bridge, the Old Jewish Cemetery and its rare Cubist buildings take three or four days. The National Gallery, spread across several palaces, adds collections Bamberg cannot match.

Bamberg's evenings mean brewery taverns, the student bars of the Sand quarter in term time and long summer nights in the hillside beer cellars. Most of the town is asleep before the small hours, and anyone wanting a big night takes the train to Nuremberg.

Prague is a far stronger night out. Plain local pubs in Zizkov stay full late, Vinohrady has cocktail and wine bars, and Letna and Riegrovy sady have summer beer gardens. The clubs run from big all-night venues near Wenceslas Square to techno spaces in Holesovice's old industrial buildings.

Both sit in gentle limestone and sandstone country rather than mountains, so the difference is in what lies closest. Bamberg's best walking is just outside town: the rock towers, caves and castle crags of Franconian Switzerland are less than an hour east, and cycle paths along the Main link one village brewery to the next.

Prague has more wild green inside the city itself, with the orchards of Petrin Hill, the old royal park of Stromovka and the rocky Divoka Sarka gorge. For bigger hikes, the sandstone gateways of Bohemian Switzerland are about two hours away.

Both are excellent bases, and the difference lies in the kind of outing. From Bamberg, the trips are to other historic German towns on a fast rail line. Nuremberg's castle, Würzburg's Residence, Bayreuth's opera house and Coburg's fortress are each about an hour away, and the baroque basilica of Vierzehnheiligen is closer still.

Prague's outings lead into Bohemian castle country. Choose from Karlstejn above its wooded valley, silver-mining Kutna Hora with its bone ossuary, the memorial town of Terezin and the vineyards of Melnik. Dresden is two hours away by train, and Cesky Krumlov is best done with an overnight stay.

Bamberg is calm and easy for families on a small scale. There are playgrounds in the Hain, rowing boats on the Regnitz and beer gardens where children play between the tables. Beyond the leisure pool, though, little is aimed at young visitors.

Prague gives children more to do. The zoo at Troja, on a riverside hillside with its own chairlift, is one of Europe's best, and the apostles of the astronomical clock, the funicular and mirror maze on Petrin, and the National Technical Museum fill further days. Both have cobbled climbs that are hard work with a pushchair, and Prague adds summer crowds.

Bamberg needs hardly any transport: the island town, the cathedral hill and Little Venice are minutes apart on foot, and buses and bicycles cover the rest. Prague covers far more ground and handles it better. Three metro lines, a tram network that reaches nearly every neighbourhood and runs through the night, and one ticket for trams, funicular and ferries make it easy.

Both have steep cobbled climbs, but in Prague a tram will take you up to the castle. Watch your bags on Prague's crowded trams through Mala Strana.

In Bamberg, shopping fills an hour between sights: chain stores and bookshops on Lange Strasse, bottled smoked beer, market-garden produce and the antique dealers near the cathedral.

Prague has much wider range. Parizska has luxury labels under Art Nouveau facades, and the Czech buys are distinctive: Bohemian glass, garnet jewellery, wooden toys and marionettes. Skip the souvenir strip in the old centre and look for design and vintage shops in Vinohrady and Holesovice.

Neither is expensive by Western European standards. In Bamberg, cheap beer and brewery-tavern meals keep costs down, and walking everywhere saves on transport. Rooms in the old town get dearer at weekends and during the Christmas markets, though.

Prague goes a little further for the money once you leave the centre. Beer, pub lunches and trams stay inexpensive, and a base a few stops out in Vinohrady or Zizkov keeps costs low. The hotels around the old core and the exchange booths are priced for tourists.

Bamberg has one real asset in the Bamberg Symphony, an orchestra of international standing that plays in its concert hall on the Regnitz. Add drama at the ETA Hoffmann Theatre and organ concerts in the cathedral, but there is no opera company, and for opera the region looks to Bayreuth.

Prague is in another league. It has opera on three stages, including the Estates Theatre where Mozart premiered Don Giovanni, the Czech Philharmonic at the Rudolfinum and the Prague Spring festival. Black-light theatre and marionette shows also need no Czech.

Neither town has a bathing culture of its own, so the real difference is how far you have to go for one. Bamberg makes it easy. A short train ride up the Main valley takes you to the thermal brine at Bad Staffelstein, close enough to fit around a morning of sightseeing, and the sauna at the town's leisure pool covers a wet day.

From Prague, the great Bohemian spa towns take most of a day there and back. In the city, the choices are hotel spas, massage studios and beer baths, which are more fun than restful. Calm in a busy capital depends on where you stay. A residential base away from the tourist core does more than any treatment room, with a coffee house or a castle garden for breaks between sights.