Bavaria or Lake Garda?

Both offer lake swimming rather than sea, but Lake Garda does it far better. Its water warms properly in July and August, and the south and east shores are lined with grassy lidos, jetties and rock shelves, such as those below Sirmione and at Punta San Vigilio.

Bavaria's lakes south of Munich, the Starnberger See, Chiemsee and Tegernsee, are pleasant for a dip. Still, the season is shorter, a rainy spell can end swimming for a week, and the mountain lakes stay cold. In Bavaria a swim is something you add to a summer day. At Garda, the lido can be the main point of the stay.

Bavaria has a slight edge, mainly because of Munich: its fine-dining scene, the Viktualienmarkt and the beer gardens. Franconia's village breweries and Silvaner taverns add depth, though the food in country inns is hearty and much the same from place to place.

Garda's strength is its wine and lake fish. Bardolino, Lugana and the nearby Amarone go well with grilled perch, local olive oil and bigoli pasta. The catch is that the busiest harbour fronts serve tourist menus, so the good meals are usually in agriturismi up in the hills.

There is no real contest here. Bavaria has major collections in Munich, including the Alte Pinakothek and the Deutsches Museum, plus Nuremberg's castle and national museum and the intact medieval centres of Bamberg and Regensburg. It also has Tiepolo's ceiling in Würzburg and Ludwig II's fairy-tale castles in the south.

Garda's heritage is pleasant but small: the moated castle and Roman villa ruins at Sirmione, d'Annunzio's odd Vittoriale estate at Gardone, and a ring of lakeside castles. Each makes a good half-day, but none is reason enough to choose the lake.

Bavaria has more to offer at night, almost all of it in Munich. There are cocktail bars in Glockenbachviertel and Maxvorstadt, a decent club scene and beer halls that get loud by evening, and Oktoberfest takes over the city every autumn.

At Garda, an evening usually means an aperitivo, dinner and a walk along the promenade. Desenzano, with its summer clubs and students, is the only real exception. Most towns go quiet early, and outside the summer months there is little going on.

These two are evenly matched outdoors, but the landscapes work differently. Bavaria's Alps run along its whole southern border, from the Zugspitze above Garmisch to the Königssee at Berchtesgaden. They are good for hut-to-hut hiking, and in winter for proper skiing. Further north are the wild Bavarian Forest and long cycle paths along the rivers.

Garda packs its best scenery into the narrow northern end. There, Monte Baldo's ridges, Arco's limestone climbing walls and the reliable wind at Torbole for windsurfing and sailing are all close to one another, and you can do everything from a single base.

Both are excellent bases for day trips, but the trips go in different directions. From Bavaria, most outings stay inside the region: Augsburg, Nuremberg and Regensburg from Munich, and the Romantic Road towns and Main wine villages from Franconia. Salzburg and Innsbruck are just across the border.

From Garda, the best trips leave the lake altogether. The railway along the south shore runs to Verona in well under an hour, and Venice, Vicenza and Padua are on the same line. Mantua and Bergamo are close by too, which adds a lot of art and history to a lake stay.

Both are very easy with children, but in different ways. Garda's south-east shore is set up for a family summer, with Gardaland, a safari park, water parks and large campsites with pools. The shallow lidos and ferry rides fill the remaining days.

Bavaria spreads its attractions over cities and mountains and works in any season. It has Legoland at Günzburg, the hands-on children's section of the Deutsches Museum, zoos in Munich and Nuremberg, and playgrounds in the beer gardens. In the Alps there are summer toboggan runs, and in winter there are gentle ski slopes.

Bavaria is much easier without a car. Munich has the U-Bahn, S-Bahn and trams, regional trains reach Nuremberg, Garmisch, Füssen and the lakes, and one day ticket covers much of the state. Only remote valleys and Franconian villages depend on infrequent buses.

At Garda, the railway touches only the south shore. Elsewhere you rely on slow ferries, shore buses or a car on narrow roads that jam in summer and through tunnels in the north. It works best if you stay in one town and travel by boat.

What you bring home says a lot about each trip. Munich's best browsing is off the main streets, in the independent shops of Glockenbach and Schwabing, the delicatessen stalls of the Viktualienmarkt and the tailors selling Dirndl and Lederhosen. Nuremberg adds toys and gingerbread. In December the Christmas markets in dozens of Bavarian towns are worth planning a whole trip around.

Garda has far less choice, and much of it is practical. Riva and Arco have outdoor gear shops for the climbers, bikers and windsurfers at the north end. On market days in Desenzano, Lazise and Bardolino, stalls selling clothes and leather fill the lakefront. These are weekly errands rather than a reason to come, and beyond a bottle of Lugana or Bardolino there is little to hunt for.

Both cost about the same overall, but what drives the price differs. In Bavaria it depends on where you stay: Munich is expensive, especially during Oktoberfest and trade fairs, while Bamberg, Würzburg and the Bavarian Forest are moderate. Bringing a picnic to a beer garden is an easy way to save.

At Garda it depends on when you go and how close you stay to the water. Lakefront hotels in Sirmione or Limone charge high prices in summer, while campsites and agriturismi back from the shore cost noticeably less. Spring and autumn are cheaper across the lake.

Bavaria is far ahead for music and theatre. The Bavarian State Opera performs most nights in season, Munich has two orchestras of international rank and the rococo Cuvilliés Theatre, and each summer Bayreuth stages Wagner in the composer's own theatre.

Garda has little of its own: summer concerts in the Vittoriale's open-air amphitheatre and band music in the town squares. Its best night out at the opera is in Verona's Roman arena, outside the region, and there is little to see outside summer.

Bavaria has the deeper spa tradition. It has a whole network of Bad towns: grand colonnades at Bad Kissingen, brine baths at Bad Reichenhall, thermal pools at Bad Füssing and Kneipp's water cure at Bad Wörishofen. There is also the large sauna complex at Erding, and saunas are taken the German way, mostly nude and mixed.

Garda's spa life centres on Sirmione's sulphurous springs and the open-air thermal park near Lazise, with hotel spas along the western shore at Gardone and Salò. It is a good place for a few slow days, but the choice is much smaller.