Brno or Salzburg?

Neither city is a place for a beach vacation, but Salzburg has the more appealing water. Brno's options are the reservoir on the Svratka, reached by tram and river boat, where algae can spoil the water in hot spells, or the Nove Mlyny lakes an hour south.

Salzburg's Fuschlsee, Wolfgangsee and Mondsee lie under an hour east, clear and green, entered from lawns and wooden jetties rather than sand. The swimming season is short there too, but a lake afternoon in the Salzkammergut is a real pleasure rather than a stopgap.

Both kitchens are hearty and meat-heavy, so the difference lies in what you drink and where you sit. Brno's strength is in the glass: lager in beer halls, light Moravian whites and Frankovka reds from vineyards just south, and a specialty coffee and cocktail culture unusual for its size, though fine dining is thin.

Salzburg's best moments are coffee and cake in its old coffee houses, a Salzburger Nockerl, and beer from wooden barrels in the Augustiner monastery garden in Mülln. Avoid the old-town tourist menus and head for the inns on the outskirts, where you will also find the few serious fine-dining kitchens.

Salzburg has the grander and more concentrated set piece: a UNESCO-listed Baroque old town of cathedral, Residenz and arcaded squares, with Hohensalzburg fortress above and Mozart's birthplace and Mirabell Palace a short walk away. It feels like one coherent work built on salt money.

Brno's appeal is more specialised. Villa Tugendhat and the functionalist buildings around it draw anyone interested in modern architecture, and the Capuchin Crypt, Spilberk and the Mendel Museum add variety. Both need only two or three days.

Brno is the better place for a night out, as long as you come during term. Its cocktail bars hide behind unmarked doors and down cellar steps, and the streets off Namesti Svobody stay busy late, though the city goes quiet in July and August.

Salzburg's evenings revolve around a concert and a beer hall table, and the old town empties by midnight. Neither has much of a club scene.

This is where Salzburg pulls well ahead. Wooded ridges with walking paths rise in the city centre, the Untersberg cable car climbs to about 1,800m, the Gaisberg is used for paragliding, and the Salzkammergut lakes, Berchtesgaden National Park and ski areas all lie within an hour or so.

Brno's outdoors is gentler: the caves and forest trails of the Moravian Karst, the Palava limestone ridge above the vineyards, and cycling through wine country. There are no mountains, so it suits cyclists and cave visitors more than hikers chasing views.

Both cities make excellent bases, and the difference lies in the kind of day out. Brno's trips are mostly about heritage: the chateaux, follies and parkland of Lednice-Valtice, the Austerlitz battlefield and Slavkov, and a string of UNESCO towns such as Kromeriz, Trebic and Telc, with wine days in Mikulov and Znojmo. Olomouc, Vienna and Bratislava are each an easy train ride away.

Salzburg's trips lean towards lakes, mountains and salt: Hallstatt on its narrow shore below a prehistoric mine, St Wolfgang and the old imperial spa of Bad Ischl, the salt mines at Hallein and Berchtesgaden, and Werfen's fortress on its cliff. Munich gives a big-city day by train. From Brno you collect towns and castles, and from Salzburg the views.

Salzburg has more to keep children entertained. The trick fountains at Hellbrunn, the zoo beside them, Haus der Natur, the funicular up to the fortress and the marionettes fill a few days, and the wooden slides in nearby salt mines are a highlight.

Brno is safe and easy but has less made for children: VIDA science centre, the hillside zoo and the Anthropos mammoths, with the boat ride through the Punkva Caves as the standout trip. In both, cobbles make a pushchair hard work.

Both centres are compact and largely pedestrianised, crossed on foot in about fifteen minutes. Brno adds a dense tram network and a single ticket that also covers regional trains across South Moravia, which makes its day trips simple without a car.

Salzburg has no trams, relying on trolleybuses and buses, but its flat riverside paths are good for cycling. The regional buses to the lakes are slow, so many visitors hire a car for those outings.

Salzburg is the better place to shop, mainly for its Alpine dress: dirndls, loden jackets and leather goods, some made to measure, plus the guild signs of Getreidegasse and the Advent market on Domplatz. Brno offers high-street chains and a few independent shops, and its best souvenir is Moravian wine bought straight from the cellar.

Brno costs far less. Rooms are cheap for central Europe, weekday lunch menus are very good value, and beer, wine and museum tickets barely dent a budget, though big trade fairs can fill hotels.

Salzburg is expensive for its size, especially in the old town and at festival and Advent time. Staying across the river and eating in the outer-district inns softens the bill, but it remains the pricier trip.

Brno's stage life rests on one composer. Janacek lived and worked here, and his operas, staged in the large modernist theatre that carries his name and celebrated in a festival of their own, give the city a repertoire few places its size can match. Spoken theatre is mostly in Czech, so an evening of opera, ballet or the Philharmonic is the visitor's way in.

Salzburg plays on another scale. Its summer festival brings top international performers to halls such as the Felsenreitschule, carved into the cliff, and further festivals at Easter and in winter keep the calendar full. Between them, concerts run on most evenings, so music can shape a Salzburg trip in a way it rarely does in Brno. For the festivals, though, seats have to be secured long before you travel.

Salzburg is the better choice for a restful trip. The Paracelsus Bad offers saunas with a view of the Kapuzinerberg, and the brine spa of Bad Reichenhall and the Gastein valley's thermal springs are within reach.

Brno has neither springs nor a spa tradition, only swimming complexes with saunas and quiet corners such as Luzanky park.