Brno or Krakow?

Neither city is a beach destination, and both offer only a cool-off on hot summer afternoons. In Brno that means the reservoir on the Svratka, with grassy banks, small beaches and a boat ride out, though algae can spoil the water in heat waves. Krakow's version is Zakrzowek, a flooded quarry with turquoise water and cliffs, where swimming is restricted to fenced areas. The Vistula is only for sitting beside.

Krakow is the more satisfying place to eat. Pierogi, zurek served in bread, obwarzanek from street carts, cheap milk-bar lunches and the late-night zapiekanka stalls of Plac Nowy give it more variety and more food worth seeking out on the street.

Brno's kitchen is plainer: svickova, goulash and dumplings in beer halls, with few good bistros. It is stronger on drink, with careful specialty coffee, cocktail bars and Moravian wine from vineyards just south of town. In both cities fine dining is limited.

Krakow has far more to see. The Main Market Square with the Cloth Hall and St Mary's altarpiece, the royal castle and coronation cathedral on Wawel, the synagogues of Kazimierz and the Schindler Factory museum make a full programme. The city's history shows on almost every street.

Brno's appeal is more specialised. Villa Tugendhat and the interwar functionalist buildings around it will draw architecture lovers, and Spilberk, the cathedral, the Capuchin Crypt and the Mendel Museum add character. For a general sightseer, though, it is a smaller old town with fewer headline sights.

Krakow is clearly the livelier city at night. The vaulted cellar bars of the Old Town and the courtyards and vodka bars of Kazimierz keep going well past midnight, drinks are cheap enough for long bar-hops, and there are more clubs. Weekend stag groups are the main drawback.

Brno's evenings are quieter and more considered. They centre on small cocktail bars behind unmarked doors around Jakubske namesti, plus wine bars and student cellars. It also empties out noticeably in July and August once term ends.

Both cities have limestone country about half an hour north. Brno's Moravian Karst is the bigger area, with the boat ride through the Punkva Caves and the Macocha Abyss. Krakow's Ojcow valley is smaller, with rock pinnacles and castle ruins.

Krakow edges ahead because of what lies further out. The Tatras offer real alpine hiking and the Pieniny has rafting on the Dunajec, both about two hours away. Brno has no mountains, but the Palava ridge, Podyji's river valley and long cycle routes through the vineyards make gentle, sunny outings.

Both cities are excellent bases, but the trips are very different. From Brno you can reach a string of UNESCO sites: the Lednice-Valtice estate, Kromeriz, Trebic, Telc and Zelena Hora. There are also the Austerlitz battlefield, Baroque Olomouc and the wine towns, and Vienna and Bratislava are each about an hour and a half by train.

From Krakow, most day trips go to two major sites: the salt chapels of Wieliczka and the Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial, which takes a full and sombre day. Zakopane and the Tatras, Wadowice and Czestochowa add a mountain and pilgrimage side that Brno does not have.

Brno is easy and safe with children, but little in it is made for them. The VIDA science centre with its hands-on exhibits is the main draw. The wooded zoo, the Anthropos mammoths and the planetarium on Kravi hora fill out a day or two, and the underground boat through the Punkva Caves is the trip they talk about afterwards. Beyond that the choice soon runs thin.

Krakow keeps younger children busier. The metal dragon below Wawel breathes fire at intervals beside its cave, the car-free Main Square has horse carriages and street performers, and the water park is open all year. Wieliczka suits older children and Energylandia is about an hour away by car, though several major sights deal with history too heavy for the very young.

Getting around is easy in both, with small walkable centres, dense tram networks and cobbles that are slow going with luggage. Brno has the edge for day trips because one integrated ticket covers city transport and regional trains across South Moravia. Krakow's sights are spread across several districts, from the Old Town and Wawel to Kazimierz and Podgorze, so there is more walking within the city itself, and its trams can get stuck in traffic.

Brno gives a shopper little reason to linger. The centre is mostly familiar high-street names, and its few independent design and vintage shops take some finding. Its best souvenir is one Krakow cannot offer: Moravian wine bought straight from the cellar door during a day in the vineyards.

Krakow is the better city for browsing. The Cloth Hall has traded in the middle of the Main Square since the Middle Ages, and its stalls sell amber, carved wooden boxes, lace and embroidered linen. Blue-patterned Boleslawiec pottery is the classic buy, and Kazimierz adds vintage and antique shops and a weekend flea market on Plac Nowy. Neither city is a place for luxury fashion.

Both are cheap by European standards, so the difference is in where the costs fall. Krakow is a little cheaper overall, with milk bars and inexpensive beer and vodka, but prices rise near the Main Square and on busy summer weekends. Brno's prices are more even across town. Its cocktails and specialty coffee are the main splurge, and the only time rooms get tight is during big trade fairs at the exhibition grounds.

The two are evenly matched, but the music is different. Brno is built around Janacek: his operas at the Janacek Theatre, the festival in his name, the Brno Philharmonic and the historic Reduta, where the young Mozart played. Krakow is more informal. There are Chopin recitals in churches and palaces most evenings, jazz in brick cellars, klezmer in Kazimierz and the Jewish Culture Festival's open-air finale. Drama in both cities is almost all in the local language.

Neither city has a spa tradition, but Krakow has more options for a slow day. There is salt-air therapy deep in the Wieliczka mine, a water park with saunas, and naturally hot thermal pools near Zakopane two hours south. In town you can rest in the Planty or on the riverbanks below Wawel.

Brno offers public pools with saunas and a few day spas. What helps most is its unhurried pace and green spaces such as Luzanky park and the Spilberk slopes.