Cesky Krumlov or Graz?

Neither is a swimming destination, but Cesky Krumlov has the better summer water within reach. Lipno, half an hour away in the Bohemian Forest, is a large reservoir with sandy and grassy shores, and sailing and windsurfing alongside the swimming make it a proper lake day.

Graz has to make do with former gravel pits south of the city, such as the Schwarzlsee. They warm up a little more, but they suit a dip on a hot afternoon rather than a day out, and the big Carinthian lakes are too far away.

Food is a reason to choose Graz, and in Cesky Krumlov it is only a pleasant part of the stay. Styrian cooking turns on pumpkin seed oil, cold fried chicken salad and root-vegetable pork, the markets at Kaiser-Josef-Platz and Lendplatz trade every morning but Sunday, and crisp Sauvignon Blanc comes from the vineyard taverns less than an hour south.

Cesky Krumlov serves solid roast pork, duck and dumplings in vaulted cellars, and its own beer is the high point. Beyond that the choice is narrow, and too many menus are written for the tour buses.

The two are equally rewarding for sightseeing, but in different ways. Cesky Krumlov is a single set piece: the painted houses in the river bend, the vast castle with its Cloak Bridge, and a Baroque theatre whose original stage machinery has survived. You come for the whole townscape, and a day or two covers it.

Graz has a larger historic centre and more inside its buildings. The Landeszeughaus armoury, still stacked with thousands of suits of armour, and the Baroque Schloss Eggenberg give it real collections, and the blue Kunsthaus across the Mur adds modern architecture that Cesky Krumlov has nothing to match.

Graz has a real night out, and Cesky Krumlov really does not. Students fill the lanes of the Bermuda Triangle around Mehlplatz, the artier bars in Lend and the university quarter, and a few clubs stay open late at weekends, though it all quietens in the long summer break.

In Cesky Krumlov the evening means a beer on a riverside terrace or in a cellar pub. There are no clubs, and outside summer the lanes are empty early.

Both have green country close by, but Cesky Krumlov's is softer and Graz's climbs higher. Around Cesky Krumlov the outdoors centres on water and forest: a day floating the Vltava's wooded meanders, quiet trails and cross-country skiing in the Bohemian Forest, and views towards the Alps from Klet.

Graz has its own mountain, the Schöckl, with a cable car and paragliders, plus the ladders of the Bärenschützklamm gorge and proper alpine hiking in the Gesäuse within about two hours. The South Styrian wine hills give it gentle autumn walking as well.

Both towns make good bases for excursions, and the difference is in what you go out to see. From Cesky Krumlov it is mostly castles and monasteries: white Hluboká, Zlatá Koruna and Vyšší Brod, along with the arcaded square of České Budějovice and the farmhouses of Holašovice.

Graz leans towards wine and countryside, with the South Styrian Wine Road, Riegersburg on its volcanic crag, the Lipizzaners at Piber and the great library of Admont Abbey. It also has Maribor in Slovenia an easy train ride away. Either way, most outings are much easier with a car.

Graz is the easier city with children. The glass lift up the Schlossberg and the long slide back down inside the hill, the Märchenbahn's fairytale tunnels and the FRida & freD children's museum fill the days, and parks and buggy-friendly trams make the in-between parts simple.

Cesky Krumlov charms younger visitors with the bears in the castle moat and a gentle raft trip. Its steep cobbles are hard going with a pushchair, though, and the castle interiors are built for adult attention spans.

In Graz, getting around takes no thought. The centre is flat and largely pedestrianised, and trams, buses, a funicular and easy cycling paths along the Mur cover the rest on one ticket.

Cesky Krumlov's old town is small enough to cross on foot in a quarter of an hour, but the cobbles and the climb to the castle make it tiring. Once you leave town, the connections thin out quickly, and a car or a tour is close to essential for the region.

Graz is the better place to shop, though neither is a shopping destination. It has high-street and traditional shops in the historic buildings of the Herrengasse and Sporgasse, a grand nineteenth-century department store with a roof terrace, and small design and vintage shops in Lend. Its best buys are edible: pumpkin seed oil, Schilcher rosé and regional chocolate.

Cesky Krumlov is a souvenir town of Bohemian glass, garnets, marionettes and green moldavite, with a few ceramic workshops for something more personal.

Cesky Krumlov is the cheaper stay. Guesthouses fill the old houses, and Czech meals and local beer stay moderately priced. The premiums come from rooms with castle views, tables on the main lanes and paying separately for each castle tour.

Graz is fair but priced like Austria. Student lunch menus and bakeries help during the day, and walking or cheap trams keep transport costs low, but dinners and wine cost noticeably more.

Graz has a year-round stage, while Cesky Krumlov mostly has summer shows. Graz's Opera, the second largest house in Austria, runs a full season, the Musikverein holds orchestral concerts, Styriarte and steirischer herbst bookend the summer, and the music university supports a strong jazz scene.

Cesky Krumlov's highlights are the castle garden's revolving open-air theatre and a summer music festival in the castle and churches. For the rest of the year there is very little to see.

For proper spa days, Graz has the advantage. It is the gateway to Styria's thermal villages about an hour east, including Hundertwasser's Bad Blumau and the big warm pools of Loipersdorf, and the Stadtpark and its coffee houses set a slow pace in town.

Cesky Krumlov offers little beyond hotel wellness rooms and beer baths, with Třeboň's peat baths as a day trip. What it does have is real calm once the day visitors have gone.