Basel or Nuremberg?

Neither city has a beach, but Basel has something close to a swimming culture. The Rhine runs fast and clean through the centre. In summer, locals walk upstream along the Kleinbasel bank with their clothes in swim bags and float back down, often in water above 20°C, then sunbathe on the gravel banks. It is only for confident swimmers, but it is right in town.

Nuremberg has nothing like it within the city, where swimming means outdoor pools and leisure baths. Its open water is the Brombachsee and the other reservoirs of the Franconian Lake District, about an hour away. They are pleasant with children on a hot day, but a visit is a planned outing rather than an afternoon whim.

Neither is a city you travel to just to eat, and the difference is one of character. Basel borrows from its neighbours, with Alsatian tarte flambée, Baden wines and a small, polished fine-dining tier, and the Markthalle and the Marktplatz market make good casual stops. Everyday meals feel expensive for what they are, though, and locals often cross the border to eat.

Nuremberg's food is more rooted and much heartier: finger-sized bratwurst grilled over beechwood, Schäufele with crackling, and Lebkuchen all year. Its real strength is beer. Franconia's small breweries supply local lagers and cloudy, unfiltered Kellerbier to taverns in the old town and beer gardens along the Pegnitz. Go to Basel for refinement and to Nuremberg for sausages and beer.

These two are evenly matched, but in very different ways. Basel is above all an art city. It has the Kunstmuseum's Holbeins, the Fondation Beyeler in its Renzo Piano building and the Museum Tinguely, with modern architecture by Herzog & de Meuron set among the red sandstone Münster and the guild lanes of the Spalenberg.

Nuremberg's draw is history. The walled old town, the Kaiserburg of the Holy Roman emperors, Dürer's house and the Gothic churches show the medieval city, carefully rebuilt after the war, and the Germanisches Nationalmuseum can fill a day. The Rally Grounds and Courtroom 600 carry a weight that Basel has nothing to match.

Both are quiet after dark, and neither is a reason to come. Basel's best evenings are summer ones on the steps by the riverside buvettes of the Kleinbasel bank, plus a few clubs in old harbour buildings, all at Swiss drink prices. Its one great exception is Fasnacht, three days and nights of drums and lanterns in late winter.

Nuremberg is a bar town and cheaper by the glass. The old town has taverns and wine bars, and Gostenhof has a more alternative scene of small bars and cafés. Students from Erlangen keep weekends busy.

Basel has the wider choice of landscapes on its doorstep. The Jura ridges begin just south of town, the Black Forest summits of the Feldberg and the Belchen are within an hour, and the Vosges lie to the west. Flat Rhine paths lead into France and Germany by bike, and the Black Forest adds some light skiing in winter.

Nuremberg has the Reichswald forest at its edge and Franconian Switzerland an hour away. That is gentler country of limestone towers and caves, with some well-known rock climbing. Both suit walkers and cyclists more than mountaineers, but Basel offers higher hills and three countries to explore.

Both are superb bases, but Basel's place on the border gives it the edge. Within about an hour you can reach Colmar and the Alsace wine villages, Freiburg in Germany, or Lucerne, Bern and Zurich in Switzerland. The Roman town of Augusta Raurica is a quarter of an hour away. Few cities can fill a week of excursions across three countries so easily.

Nuremberg stays inside Bavaria but chooses well. Bamberg, Regensburg and Würzburg are each about an hour away by train, and the walled Romantic Road towns of Rothenburg and Dinkelsbühl a little further. Munich and Wagner's Bayreuth are also within easy reach.

For families the two are broadly equal: both are small, safe and easy to manage. Basel's star is the Zolli, one of Europe's best zoos, a short walk from the station. Add the current-driven river ferries, the free animal park in the Lange Erlen and Europa-Park an hour away in Germany. The Rhine is too strong for young children to swim in, though.

Nuremberg plays on its toy-making past, with the Toy Museum, the railway museum's full-size locomotives, a zoo in wooded former quarries and a play park in Zirndorf. Lower prices help on a longer stay. The cobbled climb to the castle tests small legs and pushchairs.

Basel is the easier of the two to get around. Its green trams reach every corner and even cross into Germany and France. Hotel guests ride free, and the little ferries make crossing the Rhine part of the fun. Direct trains from the main station serve three countries.

Nuremberg is simple too. The walled centre is only about 1.5km across and easy to walk, and one ticket covers the U-Bahn, trams and S-Bahn out to the Rally Grounds and Fürth. Fares are low but not free, and the climb to the castle is steep and cobbled.

Neither city is a shopping destination, and both are at their best at Christmas. Basel offers Swiss watches, jewellery and chocolate along Freie Strasse and Gerbergasse, small design shops on the Spalenberg and a pretty market around the Münster.

Nuremberg's souvenirs are more about craft: Lebkuchen in decorated tins, wooden toys and tin figures, and the workshops of the Handwerkerhof. Its Christkindlesmarkt is one of Germany's oldest and most famous, and it is what draws many visitors in Advent.

Cost is the widest gap between them. Basel charges Swiss prices for rooms, meals, drinks and museums, and trade fairs such as Art Basel push hotel rates higher still. Free transport for hotel guests and cheaper meals over the border help, and some visitors stay in Germany or France instead.

Nuremberg is mid-priced and much kinder on the wallet, with filling tavern meals, cheap local beer and inexpensive transport. Its catch is hotel rates during the toy fair and the Advent market. Book around those weeks and the same budget goes a great deal further.

Basel has the stronger stage. Theater Basel is known well beyond Switzerland for bold opera, ballet and drama. The Stadtcasino's fine acoustics serve the Sinfonieorchester Basel and the Kammerorchester Basel, and early-music concerts are a local speciality. The season runs from autumn to early summer.

Nuremberg's Staatstheater, in its Art Nouveau opera house, is respectable and regional. Its summer is livelier than Basel's, though, with a large open-air concert in the Luitpoldhain, the free Bardentreffen folk festival and a big rock festival by the Zeppelinfeld.

Both cities are calm rather than spa towns, and the best bathing lies just outside each. From Basel, the saline thermal baths of Rheinfelden are twenty minutes away, and the mineral spas of southern Baden, even Baden-Baden, are within a day. Quiet Sundays and the riverside set an easy pace.

Nuremberg's nearest spa is the large thermal bath in Fürth, a short U-Bahn ride away, and Bad Windsheim's saline pools are an hour west. Expect nude, mixed saunas, and unwind as the locals do, slowly, in a beer garden.