Cesky Krumlov or Freiburg?

Neither is a swimming destination, and both send you to fresh water in summer. From Cesky Krumlov the swim is at Lipno, a large reservoir about half an hour south with sandy and grassy shores and water near 20°C in high summer. The Vltava in town is for rafting, not bathing.

Freiburg's options are different in character: grassy gravel-pit lakes on the Rhine plain that locals cycle to, the city's open-air pools, and the cooler, more scenic Titisee and Schluchsee about an hour into the Black Forest.

Freiburg is the better place to eat. Its Baden cooking has a French lightness, and there are Kaiserstuhl and Markgräflerland wines, the morning market around the Münster and some of Germany's best fine dining in the surrounding region.

Cesky Krumlov feeds you well but plainly, with roast pork, duck, dumplings and river trout in vaulted cellars, and its own beer is the high point. Many menus are written for day-trippers, so the choice starts repeating after a night or two.

Cesky Krumlov has the stronger sightseeing because the whole town is the sight. Its Renaissance and Baroque townscape is intact on a bend of the river, below one of the country's largest castles, and the castle's Baroque theatre keeps its original stage machinery. Freiburg's Münster, gates and Bächle are handsome, but the centre was largely rebuilt after wartime bombing and feels historic rather than truly old.

Freiburg is better on collections, with the medieval sculpture and painting of the Augustinermuseum, and its university quarter keeps the streets busy with everyday life. Either town fills a day or two. In Cesky Krumlov, the best hours are early morning and evening, once the tour buses have gone.

Freiburg is clearly livelier after dark. Its large student population fills the pubs, wine bars and beer gardens around the Martinstor, summer evenings spill onto the squares and along the Dreisam, and a few clubs play techno and indie, especially in term-time.

Cesky Krumlov offers a beer on a riverside terrace and a handful of cellar bars, some popular with backpackers. There are no clubs, and outside summer the lanes empty early.

Both are green, but Freiburg has bigger country right on its doorstep. The Black Forest begins at the edge of town, the Schauinsland cable car takes you up to a ridge at about 1,280m, and the Feldberg offers proper summer hiking and winter skiing, with the Kaiserstuhl vineyards and the Rhine plain for cycling.

Cesky Krumlov's outdoors is softer and centred on water. A day floating down the Vltava by canoe or raft is the outing to plan around. The Bohemian Forest's quiet spruce woods, bogs and cross-country trails start about half an hour away, and Klet hill gives views closer to town.

Freiburg's position where three countries meet gives it the wider choice. Basel is under an hour by train, and Colmar and the Alsace wine villages, Strasbourg, Baden-Baden and a string of Baden wine towns are all within reach, most of them without a car.

Cesky Krumlov's excursions stay within South Bohemia and work on a smaller scale. They include the arcaded square of České Budějovice, Hluboká castle, the Baroque farmhouses of Holašovice and the monastery of Zlatá Koruna. Prague is too far for a comfortable day trip, and a car makes most of the others much easier.

Freiburg is far easier with children. It is flat, green and full of families on bikes, the Bächle channels and the free Mundenhof animal park keep small children busy, and Europa-Park, Germany's largest theme park, is about 40 minutes away.

Cesky Krumlov suits a shorter family stay. The bears in the castle moat, the tower climb and a gentle raft trip stick in children's memories, and Lipno's treetop walk adds a day. The steep cobbles are hard going with a pushchair, though, and the castle interior tours are aimed at adults.

Both centres are small enough to walk, but the difference shows once you leave them. Freiburg has trams, bike lanes everywhere and regional trains into the Black Forest and down to Basel, and many hotels give guests a card for local buses and trains.

You can cross Cesky Krumlov on foot in a quarter of an hour, cobbles and castle climb permitting. Beyond České Budějovice, though, buses and trains are thin, so exploring the countryside usually means hiring a car or joining a tour.

Neither town is a shopping destination, but Freiburg gives you more to browse: the chains and department stores of Kaiser-Joseph-Strasse, independent boutiques and bookshops in the Gerberau and Konviktstrasse quarters, and wine, ham and schnapps at the Münster market. Cesky Krumlov's lanes sell souvenirs and regional crafts such as Bohemian glass, garnet jewellery, marionettes and green moldavite, plus a few ceramic and print workshops.

Cesky Krumlov makes a budget go further. Family guesthouses in the old houses, Czech meals and local beer stay moderately priced. Only castle-view rooms, restaurants on the main lanes and the separately ticketed castle tours push costs up.

In Freiburg the expense is mostly in accommodation, which is scarce and dear for a city of its size, above all on summer weekends and during trade fairs. Once you have a bed, market snacks, student-quarter restaurants and the free Münster keep daily spending reasonable, though trips into Switzerland cost noticeably more.

Freiburg has a programme you can rely on in any season: opera, drama and dance at Theater Freiburg, the period-instrument Freiburger Barockorchester at the Konzerthaus, student jazz clubs and the summer Zelt-Musik-Festival. Cesky Krumlov's stage life is mostly confined to summer, when plays and opera are staged in the revolving open-air theatre in the castle garden and a classical festival fills the castle and churches. The rare performances in the Baroque castle theatre are its unusual prize.

Freiburg is the clear choice for spa time. There is a mineral thermal bath on the city's eastern edge, Bad Krozingen and Badenweiler, with its Roman ruins, are short trips south, and the bathhouses of Baden-Baden are an hour away by train.

Cesky Krumlov has no bathing tradition, just a few hotel wellness rooms and beer baths. Its restfulness comes from the stillness of the old town once the day visitors leave, and Třeboň's peat baths make a day out if you want proper treatments.