Cesky Krumlov or Strasbourg?

Neither is a swimming destination, but Cesky Krumlov has the better option. Lipno, a big reservoir with grassy and sandy shores, is half an hour's drive away and adds sailing and windsurfing to a summer swim.

Strasbourg has only its gravel-pit lakes, such as the Baggersee on the tram line. They are fine for cooling off on a hot afternoon but too small to plan a day around.

Strasbourg eats far better. Alsace mixes French and German cooking into choucroute, baeckeoffe and tarte flambée, served in wood-panelled winstubs with wine from vineyards a short way south, and there are good markets and fine dining as well.

Cesky Krumlov has hearty roast pork, duck and river trout in vaulted cellars, and excellent local beer, but the choice is narrow and many menus are aimed at day-trippers. It is pleasant enough, but food is not a reason to choose it.

Both towns are UNESCO-listed, but they reward different visits. Cesky Krumlov is a single, complete townscape: the castle with its painted tower, Cloak Bridge and rare Baroque theatre above a bend of the Vltava, all seen within a day or two.

Strasbourg has slightly more depth. Alongside the pink sandstone cathedral and Petite France it has the imperial Neustadt, the three museums in the Palais Rohan, a large modern art museum and the European institutions, which is enough for two or three days of museums as well as streets.

Strasbourg has livelier evenings, thanks to its university. Krutenau and the streets around Place Saint-Étienne fill with student bars and beer cellars, and the summer terraces along the quays stay busy, though the city still has few clubs.

Cesky Krumlov's nights amount to a beer on a riverside terrace or in a cellar bar, and outside summer the lanes are empty early.

The two are about equal, but they offer different kinds of countryside. From Cesky Krumlov the outdoors starts on the river, with a canoe or raft day through wooded meanders, and the spruce woods and peat bogs of the Bohemian Forest are half an hour away.

Strasbourg is flat and built for cycling, with level routes along the Rhine and storks in the riverside forests. Its hills are further out: the Vosges to the west and the higher Black Forest to the east, both about an hour away.

Strasbourg is the better base. Colmar and the Alsace wine villages are close by train or car, and across the Rhine you can reach Baden-Baden, Freiburg and Heidelberg, with Basel and Nancy also within reach. Trains cover most of these.

Cesky Krumlov has a good regional circuit: České Budějovice's arcaded square and brewery, Hluboká castle, the farmhouse village of Holašovice and the monastery at Zlatá Koruna. Most of these are much easier with a car, and Prague is too far for a comfortable day out.

Strasbourg is the easier town with children. It is flat and mostly car-free, with boat trips, rowing on the Orangerie lake and a hands-on science centre, and Europa-Park is about an hour away.

Cesky Krumlov is more of a storybook. The castle moat still has bears and a gentle raft trip is a highlight for most children, but steep cobbles, adult-oriented interior tours and fewer rainy-day options make it better for a short family stop than a long one.

Both centres can be crossed on foot in under half an hour, but Strasbourg is easier to move around in and beyond. It has a tram network running out to the station, the European quarter and over the Rhine to Kehl, plus separated cycle lanes almost everywhere.

Cesky Krumlov's tiny old town involves cobbles and a climb to the castle, and public transport into the surrounding countryside is thin. If you want to see the region, a hire car or a tour is close to essential.

Strasbourg offers a real shopping trip. Place Kléber and the Rue des Grandes Arcades have chain stores and a department store, and the lanes near the cathedral have delicatessens and bookshops. Alsace wine, Soufflenheim pottery and the December Christmas market are good for things to take home.

Cesky Krumlov is almost entirely souvenirs: Bohemian glass, garnets, marionettes and green moldavite, with a few craft workshops and no fashion streets.

Cesky Krumlov is noticeably cheaper. Family guesthouses, Czech meals and local beer stay moderately priced, and staying just outside the centre or coming out of summer lowers costs further.

Strasbourg is priced like a French regional city. Winstub meals, wine by the pichet and trams are reasonable and many sights are free, but hotels are expensive, especially during the Christmas market and Parliament weeks.

Strasbourg has a full year-round programme: the Opéra national du Rhin, the Philharmonic, the Théâtre National de Strasbourg, the Musica festival of contemporary music in autumn and a jazz festival.

Cesky Krumlov is mostly a summer-only treat. Plays and opera are staged in the castle garden's revolving open-air theatre and a classical music festival plays in the castle and churches. Outside summer there is little to see.

Strasbourg has more for a restful break. Its early twentieth-century Bains municipaux has a hammam and saunas, and the thermal baths of Baden-Baden are less than an hour away.

Cesky Krumlov offers calm rather than treatments: a still old town once the day visitors leave and slow evenings by the river. For a proper spa you need a day trip to the peat baths at Třeboň.