Bavaria or Cinque Terre?

Neither is a classic beach destination, but only Cinque Terre has the sea. Bavaria's swimming is in lakes south of Munich, such as the Starnberger See and Chiemsee, from jetties and grassy meadows, plus quick dips in the Isar. The season is short and depends on the weather.

Cinque Terre's water is clear and warm through the summer. Monterosso has proper sand and fine pebble at Fegina. Elsewhere you swim from rock shelves and harbour slipways at Vernazza and Manarola, which are better for a dip between walks than for a lazy day on the beach.

Bavaria has more to offer at the table, largely because of what it pours: Munich's beer gardens and beer halls, Bamberg's smoked beer and the Silvaner in Würzburg's wine taverns. Munich adds fine dining and the Viktualienmarkt, though once you leave the cities the cooking is heavy and much the same everywhere.

Cinque Terre's food is lighter and its range even narrower: trofie with pesto, focaccia, Monterosso's anchovies and fried fish in paper cones, with Sciacchetrà as the local rarity. In the busiest villages, menus written for day-trippers are the risk, and for real variety you go to La Spezia.

Here the gap is wide. Munich has great collections, from the Old Masters in the Alte Pinakothek to the Deutsches Museum. Around it are Nuremberg's castle, the UNESCO-listed old towns of Bamberg and Regensburg, Tiepolo's ceiling in Würzburg and Ludwig II's castles, enough to fill weeks spread across several bases.

In Cinque Terre the sight is the landscape as a whole: colour-washed villages above terraced cliffs, striped Ligurian Gothic churches and the watchtower above Vernazza. It is lovely to wander through, but with no museums of any size, a day or two covers it.

Bavaria has proper evenings out, and Cinque Terre largely does not. Munich has cocktail bars in Glockenbachviertel, a club scene and student bars in Schwabing. Bamberg, Würzburg and Regensburg have pub streets full of students, and Oktoberfest turns Munich into one enormous party in late September.

In Cinque Terre, the night out is a sunset drink on a harbour wall, with a few bars open later in Monterosso and Riomaggiore in summer. The villages are quiet well before midnight, so anyone after more goes to La Spezia.

Both are made for walking, but Bavaria has more range. Its southern edge has the Zugspitze above Garmisch, the Königssee in Berchtesgaden National Park, hut-to-hut routes in the Allgäu and skiing in winter. In the north, the Bavarian Forest and long river cycle paths add more.

Cinque Terre's outdoors is one remarkable stretch of coast. The Sentiero Azzurro links the villages, the higher Sentiero Rosso runs through pine and chestnut woods, and you can kayak or dive in the marine reserve. It is short and steep rather than vast, and summer heat makes walking at midday hard.

Bavaria gives more choice of outings from wherever you stay. From Munich, Augsburg, Nuremberg, Regensburg and Salzburg are all easy by train. Franconia works as a second base for Bamberg, the wine villages along the Main and the Romantic Road towns of Rothenburg and Dinkelsbühl.

For such a small coast, Cinque Terre's railway still opens up a good spread. Portovenere is a boat ride away, Lerici and Sarzana are close, Pisa and Lucca lie in Tuscany, and Portofino and Genoa are to the north. Almost every outing follows the one coastal line, though, so the variety is narrower.

Bavaria is far easier with children. Beer gardens have playgrounds, and Munich has the Hellabrunn zoo and the children's section of the Deutsches Museum. The lakes have shallow, grassy bathing spots, and Alpine resorts add summer toboggan runs and gentle cable-car walks.

Cinque Terre is built of steps, so a pushchair is no use. Summer trains are packed, and nothing on the coast is aimed at children. It suits older children who enjoy walking and swimming off rocks, and families with toddlers do best in mostly flat Monterosso, by the beach.

You can manage both without a car, and in Bavaria the trains cover far more ground. Munich has a walkable centre with the U-Bahn, S-Bahn and trams, and regional trains reach the Alps, the lakes and the Franconian towns on one day ticket. Remote valleys and villages still mean infrequent buses or a car.

Cinque Terre's local train links all five villages a few minutes apart, with ferries in season and footpaths in between, and a car is only a burden. The effort here comes from crammed summer platforms and steep stairways rather than distance.

Bavaria has real shopping in Munich, with luxury houses on Maximilianstrasse, department stores between Marienplatz and Karlsplatz and independent shops in Glockenbach. Away from the city there are crafts such as Oberammergau's woodcarving, and the Christmas markets fill December. Cinque Terre has small produce and souvenir shops, where the best things to take home are pesto, anchovies, lemon liqueur and Sciacchetrà.

Neither is cheap, but Bavaria gives you more ways to keep costs down. Munich is expensive, especially during Oktoberfest and the big trade fairs. Franconian towns, the Bavarian Forest and Alpine guesthouses are moderate, though, and beer gardens let you bring your own food.

In Cinque Terre the cost is in the beds, because village rooms are few and much in demand, and there is a charge for the park's paths. Food and the train are reasonable, which is why many travellers on a budget sleep in La Spezia or Levanto and take the train in.

This is one of the starkest differences between the two. Bavaria has the Bavarian State Opera, two orchestras of international rank, the rococo Cuvilliés Theatre and Bayreuth's Wagner festival, which is reason enough to travel for many devotees. Cinque Terre has only the odd summer concert in a church or on a square and the bands of saints' days, so for a play or an orchestra you go to La Spezia or Genoa.

Bavaria has a deep spa tradition. There are Bad Kissingen's colonnades, the brine baths of Bad Reichenhall, the thermal resort at Bad Füssing, Bad Wörishofen where Kneipp's water cure began, and Munich's Art Nouveau Müller'sches Volksbad. Saunas are taken the German way, mostly nude and mixed.

Cinque Terre's rest comes only from its pace: car-free villages, a terrace over the sea and quiet evenings, best in spring, autumn or early in the morning. There are no spas, and a crowded summer afternoon is anything but restful.