Black Forest or Lake Como?

There is no sea at either, so this means lake swimming, and Lake Como does it better. The lidos at Bellagio, Lenno and Menaggio, the stone jetties between ferry stops and the longer pebble shores around Gravedona and Domaso make a swim part of most summer days, and the water is noticeably warmer.

In the Black Forest, Titisee and Schluchsee have small beaches and boat hire, and the spa towns have heated outdoor pools. It is a pleasant cool-off after a hike, but the season is short.

The Black Forest eats better and more widely. Its cooking leans towards neighbouring France, and the village of Baiersbronn has a rare cluster of top restaurants. Country inns serve smoked ham, trout and venison, and Kaiserstuhl and Markgräflerland wines are poured in seasonal farm taverns.

Lake Como has a few memorable dishes, such as perch in butter and sage on risotto, and the rustic crotti set against the rock. Its lakefront terraces often charge for the view rather than the cooking, though, and beyond Italian food the choice is narrow.

The two are broadly level, but the heritage is very different. Lake Como's highlight is one connected set of aristocratic villas and gardens, such as Carlotta, Balbianello and Melzi, which you reach by boat. Como town adds its marble cathedral and Terragni's rationalist buildings.

The Black Forest's sights are spread across a wider area. Freiburg has its red sandstone Minster and car-free old town, Baden-Baden its grand spa quarter, and between them lie half-timbered towns such as Gengenbach, the Maulbronn monastery and the clock museum at Furtwangen. You will need a car to string them together.

Neither is a place for late nights, but the Black Forest has the slight edge because of Freiburg. Its student pubs, wine bars and summer beer gardens keep the old town lively at term-time weekends. On Lake Como, the waterfront villages go quiet after the last ferry, and anyone wanting a real night out takes the train to Milan.

Lake Como has the more dramatic landscape. Mountains rise straight out of deep water to over 2,000m, and you can walk the Sentiero del Viandante above the eastern shore or climb the Grigna. The breva wind on the upper lake also supports serious windsurfing and kitesurfing.

The Black Forest is gentler: rounded hills covered in fir, high pastures and gorges such as the Wutach. It suits long-distance walking on the Westweg, mountain biking around Todtnau and cross-country skiing on the Feldberg in winter.

Both are excellent bases for day trips, but in different ways. From the Black Forest you cross borders. Basel is a short train ride from Freiburg, Strasbourg's cathedral is under an hour from Offenburg, and the Alsace wine villages of Colmar and Riquewihr are an easy drive.

From Lake Como, the big draw is Milan by train for the Duomo and the Last Supper, with Bergamo's upper town and Lugano just as close. The lake also offers its own trips, where a ferry hop between Bellagio, Varenna and Menaggio fills a day with no planning.

This is where the two differ most. The Black Forest is built for children, with Europa-Park and its water park at Rust, cable cars up the Feldberg, pedal boats on Titisee and plenty of farm stays. In winter there are also sledging slopes.

Lake Como is safe and calm, but it offers families little beyond boat rides, the Brunate funicular and gelato. The steep lanes of Bellagio and Varenna are hard work with a pushchair, so families do best on the flatter upper lake near Domaso and Colico.

The Black Forest is slightly easier overall, mainly because many hosts give guests a card for free local buses and trains. The Rhine valley line and the scenic Schwarzwaldbahn and Höllentalbahn make car-free stays possible, but you still need a car for remote villages and trailheads.

On Lake Como, the ferries are both transport and a pleasure, especially around the central triangle. Driving is the weak point, with narrow, tunnelled shore roads, summer queues and very little parking.

Neither is a shopping destination, and each has one local craft worth buying. In the Black Forest, that is cuckoo clocks and wood carving around Triberg, plus fruit brandy and an upmarket corner of Baden-Baden. Lake Como has centuries of silk-making behind it, with scarves and fabrics from Como's mills and outlets, and anyone after serious fashion heads to Milan.

The Black Forest is the cheaper of the two. Valley guesthouses, filling inn meals and free transport cards keep everyday costs down, though Baden-Baden and the top restaurants are expensive.

The central lake around Bellagio, Tremezzo and Cernobbio is a costly part of Italy in summer, with lakefront prices and boat taxis that add up quickly. To spend less, stay in Como town, Lecco or the campsites of the upper lake, or come in spring or autumn.

The Black Forest has the stronger programme, centred on Baden-Baden's Festspielhaus, one of Germany's largest opera and concert halls, with its Easter festival. Freiburg adds a municipal theatre, a respected baroque ensemble and a summer tent festival.

Lake Como offers a real season at Como's Teatro Sociale and summer concerts in villa gardens and churches. For a major night at the opera, visitors go to La Scala in Milan.

Thermal bathing has been part of life in the Black Forest since Roman times, and Lake Como has nothing like it. Baden-Baden is the centre, with the Friedrichsbad's hot rooms and pools under a nineteenth-century dome, the Caracalla baths next door, and parks and promenades made for slow days. The tradition carries on in Badenweiler beside its Roman bath ruins, in Bad Wildbad and in Bad Krozingen. Forest bathing trails and hotel sauna areas fill in the rest.

On Lake Como, rest comes from the pace. You can spend hours moving between a terrace, a villa garden and a ferry, and the villages go quiet once the day-trippers leave. The grand hotels near Cernobbio and Tremezzo have serious spas, some with pools above the water. For thermal baths, though, you face a long drive north into the Valtellina.