Cesky Krumlov or Krakow?

Neither is a place for beach time, but Cesky Krumlov has the better summer swim. Lipno, a large reservoir half an hour's drive south, has grassy and sandy shores and water that warms to about 20°C in high summer.

Krakow's nearest equivalent is Zakrzowek, a turquoise flooded quarry reached by tram, where swimming is limited to fenced bathing areas in summer. Otherwise it is the Vistula banks for sitting and the indoor water park for actually getting wet.

Krakow gives you far more to eat your way through: pierogi with every filling, zurek served in a bread bowl, cheap milk-bar lunches, obwarzanek from street carts and late zapiekanki in Kazimierz, plus flavoured vodkas and a solid craft beer scene. Stary Kleparz market adds a local produce stop.

Cesky Krumlov serves hearty South Bohemian plates of roast duck, dumplings, svíčková, trout and game in vaulted cellars and on river terraces, and its long-brewed local beer is the highlight. The choice is narrow, though, and many menus are aimed at day-trippers.

Krakow has the deeper set of sights. Around the vast Main Square stand the Cloth Hall and St Mary's Basilica with Veit Stoss's altarpiece, Wawel holds the royal castle and coronation cathedral, and Kazimierz, the Schindler Factory and Leonardo's Lady with an Ermine add whole further layers of history.

In Cesky Krumlov the town itself is the attraction: painted Renaissance and Baroque houses packed into a bend of the Vltava under a huge castle, with the Cloak Bridge and a rare Baroque theatre with its original stage machinery. It is a superb single setting rather than a city of collections, and a day or two covers it.

Krakow is one of the livelier places in Central Europe after dark, with a big student crowd, brick-vaulted cellar bars under the Old Town and shabby-chic bars and vodka bars around Plac Nowy in Kazimierz. There are clubs too, though weekend stag groups crowd parts of the Old Town.

Cesky Krumlov offers a beer on a riverside terrace and a few backpacker-friendly pubs, with no clubs and early-emptying lanes outside summer.

The two are close on the outdoors, but the landscapes sit at different distances. Cesky Krumlov's green surroundings start at the edge of town: canoe or raft trips down the wooded Vltava meanders, Klet hill with its observatory, and the spruce woods and bogs of the Bohemian Forest half an hour away, with cross-country skiing in winter.

Krakow has its green spaces inside the city, from the Planty and Blonia meadow to the Kosciuszko Mound and Vistula cycle paths, plus Ojcow's limestone valley nearby. Its real drama is further out: alpine hiking in the Tatras and rafting the Pieniny gorge, each about two hours away.

Krakow has the bigger day trips and they are easy without a car. The Wieliczka salt mine with its underground church is half an hour away, the Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial takes a full sobering day, and Zakopane, Wadowice and Kalwaria Zebrzydowska add more variety.

Cesky Krumlov's region is gentler and best with a car: the arcaded square and Budvar brewery in České Budějovice, white Hluboká castle, the Baroque farmhouses of Holašovice and the fish-pond spa town of Třeboň. Linz across the Austrian border is also within reach.

Krakow keeps children busier for longer. The dragon legend at Wawel comes with a fire-breathing statue and a cave to explore, and there is a zoo, an indoor water park and a large amusement park an hour away, though some major sights deal with subject matter unsuitable for younger children.

Cesky Krumlov works as a storybook stop for a day or two, with bears in the castle moat, a tower to climb and a gentle family raft trip. Its steep cobbled lanes are hard going with a pushchair, and the castle interiors suit adults more than children.

Both centres are walked on cobbles, but Krakow is far easier once you look beyond them. A dense tram network, an airport train and simple rail and bus links to Wieliczka and Auschwitz mean you never need a car.

Cesky Krumlov can be crossed on foot in a quarter of an hour, with a climb up to the castle, yet connections into the forest and to the smaller castles are thin, so most visitors exploring the region hire a car or join tours.

Krakow has more to browse. The medieval Cloth Hall sells amber, carved boxes, embroidered linen and lace, Boleslawiec pottery is the classic buy, Florianska and Grodzka mix high-street fashion with souvenirs, and Kazimierz adds vintage shops and a weekend flea market.

Cesky Krumlov is a souvenir town: Bohemian glass, garnet jewellery, marionettes and the local green moldavite, with a few ceramic and print workshops but no fashion streets at all.

Krakow stretches a budget further, with milk-bar lunches, cheap beer and vodka, and inexpensive trams and city museums. Prices rise around the Main Square and on summer weekends, and Kazimierz or Podgorze are cheaper bases.

Cesky Krumlov is still good value next to Western Europe, but rooms with castle views and lane-side restaurants carry a premium, and each castle tour is paid for separately. Staying just outside the old town helps.

Krakow has a year-round programme a visitor can enjoy without speaking Polish: the Philharmonic and opera seasons, Chopin recitals in churches and palaces most evenings, jazz in brick cellar clubs and klezmer in Kazimierz, ending each summer with the Jewish Culture Festival's open-air concert on Szeroka Street.

Cesky Krumlov's stage life is seasonal. Its revolving open-air theatre in the castle garden and an international music festival fill summer evenings, but the Baroque theatre rarely hosts shows, and the rest of the year is almost empty.

Neither has a bathing culture, and the gap is small. Krakow offers a little more to book, with salt-air therapy deep in the Wieliczka mine, saunas at the water park and naturally hot thermal pools in the Podhale region two hours south.

Cesky Krumlov's strength is stillness. When the tour buses leave, the old town goes quiet, beer baths and hotel wellness rooms cover the basics, and Třeboň's peat baths make a restful day out.