Cesky Krumlov or Nuremberg?

Neither town is a swimming destination, but Cesky Krumlov has water closer at hand. Lipno reservoir, with grassy and sandy shores, is about half an hour's drive away, while Nuremberg's Franconian lakes around the Brombachsee take about an hour and feel like a side trip, leaving the city with outdoor pools and leisure baths. In both, lake swimming is really a July and August affair.

Both serve heavy, pork-based cooking with excellent local beer, but Nuremberg gives you more to explore. Its finger-sized bratwurst grilled over beechwood, Sunday Schäufele and centuries-old Lebkuchen are dishes worth seeking out, and Franconia's dense spread of small breweries means smoky Kellerbier and beer gardens along the Pegnitz.

Cesky Krumlov's roast duck, svíčková and river trout in vaulted cellars make pleasant meals, and the town's own beer is the high point. The choice is narrow, though, and many menus are aimed at day-trippers.

Both have a castle above a historic old town, and the difference is one of kind. Cesky Krumlov is an intact UNESCO townscape of painted houses in a bend of the Vltava, with the Cloak Bridge and a Baroque castle theatre that keeps its original stage machinery. It is a picture to walk through, seen in a day or two and best early or late.

Nuremberg's walled centre was carefully rebuilt after wartime bombing, so it is less untouched but has more depth. There is the Kaiserburg, Dürer's house, a full day's worth of the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, and then the Rally Grounds and Courtroom 600, which carry the weight of the twentieth century.

Nuremberg is the place for an evening out. Bars rather than clubs set the tone: taverns and wine bars in the old town, students on the squares and riverbanks in summer, and small alternative bars in Gostenhof's old working-class streets. Cesky Krumlov has a handful of pubs and cellar bars and busy riverside terraces in summer, but no clubs, and outside high season its lanes are empty early.

Cesky Krumlov has the outdoors closer to the door. The Vltava float by canoe or raft through wooded meanders starts in town, the Bohemian Forest national park with its spruce woods and peat bogs begins half an hour away, and Klet offers views towards the Alps on clear days.

Nuremberg has the Reichswald at its edge for easy walks and rides, but its finest country, Franconian Switzerland, is about an hour away. Its limestone towers and caves do give it some of Germany's best-known rock climbing, which Krumlov's softer landscape lacks.

Nuremberg is the stronger base, and you can do it all by train. Bamberg, Regensburg and Würzburg are each about an hour or less away, Rothenburg and Dinkelsbühl a little further, and Munich within reach by fast train.

Cesky Krumlov's surroundings are attractive, with České Budějovice's arcaded square, Hluboká's white castle, the Baroque farmhouses of Holašovice and Třeboň's fish ponds. These are smaller places, though, best reached by car, and Prague is too far for a comfortable day.

Cesky Krumlov gives children a storybook castle, with bears kept in the moat for centuries and a tower for older ones to climb. A gentle raft trip on the Vltava is the day most of them remember, and Lipno's treetop walk and lake shores make a good outing nearby. That is a short list for a longer stay, though. The steep cobbles are hard work with a pushchair, and the castle interiors are aimed at adults.

Nuremberg keeps young visitors busy for much longer. Its centuries of toy-making show in collections that run from wooden dolls to model railways, the first German train stands among the locomotives, and the zoo has a dolphin and manatee house. In Advent, a separate children's market adds carousels and a small steam train.

Both centres are compact enough to walk, each with a cobbled climb to its castle, and the gap opens up beyond the old town. Nuremberg's U-Bahn, trams, buses and S-Bahn share one ticket system, and regional trains run deep into Franconia. Cesky Krumlov can be crossed in a quarter of an hour, but links beyond České Budějovice are thin, so most visitors exploring the region hire a car or join tours.

Cesky Krumlov's lanes sell what the region is known for: Bohemian glass and crystal, garnet jewellery, marionettes, wooden toys and moldavite, the green stone found nearby, with a few workshops selling ceramics and prints. Beyond souvenirs there is little, with no fashion streets or department stores.

Nuremberg has more range, though little of it is special. Chain and department stores line Königstraße, the walled Handwerkerhof by the station gate gathers craft workshops, and Lebkuchen comes in decorated tins. In Advent the Christkindlesmarkt on the Hauptmarkt, one of Germany's oldest, fills with plum-figure dolls, ornaments and gingerbread. Outside that season there is not much to draw a shopper.

Cesky Krumlov is the cheaper stay. Guesthouses in old houses, Czech meals and local beer stay moderately priced, though rooms with castle views and restaurants on the main lanes charge for their position, and each castle tour is paid separately.

Nuremberg is mid-priced, with inexpensive beer and transport. Hotel rates jump during the big trade fairs and the Advent market season, so dates matter more there.

Nuremberg has a proper season: the Art Nouveau Staatstheater for opera, ballet and drama, two orchestras, and in summer the free Bardentreffen folk weekend and a large rock festival. Cesky Krumlov's performances are mostly in summer, with the castle garden's revolving open-air theatre and a classical music festival, and little to attend the rest of the year.

For a real spa day, Nuremberg is better placed. There is a large thermal spa with sauna gardens a short U-Bahn ride away in Fürth, leisure pools with nude mixed saunas, and saline pools to float in at Bad Windsheim.

Cesky Krumlov has only hotel wellness rooms and beer baths, with Třeboň's peat baths a day out. Its rest comes from the stillness of the lanes after the day visitors leave.