Chamonix or Freiburg?

Neither is a place to swim, but the water is different in each. Chamonix's best option is Lac de Passy down the valley, which has a small sandy strip and Mont Blanc straight ahead. Lake Annecy is over an hour away.

Freiburg's locals cycle out to the flooded gravel pits on the Rhine plain, where the water warms up nicely and the banks are grass. The Black Forest lakes of Titisee and Schluchsee are prettier but colder.

Chamonix eats like a ski resort. There is plenty of melted Reblochon and Beaufort in fondue and tartiflette, and the best meals are on mountain terraces facing the ice. Down in town, menus repeat and many kitchens close between seasons.

Freiburg has more range and a lighter touch. Baden cooking with a French accent, Schäufele, trout and spring asparagus come with Kaiserstuhl wine, the morning market around the Münster is a daily event, and serious fine dining is close by.

Chamonix's heritage is the story of climbing: the 1786 ascent of Mont Blanc, the first Winter Olympics, and the Musée Alpin in its Belle Époque former hotel. It is interesting, but you will finish it in a morning.

Freiburg gives you a day or two of proper sightseeing. There is the red sandstone Münster with its lace-like tower, the Historisches Kaufhaus, the medieval gates, the Bächle channels and the Augustinermuseum. Much of it was rebuilt after the war, but it still makes a coherent historic centre.

Both give you a lively but small night out. The difference is who you go out with and when. In Chamonix it is a winter scene: après-ski from late afternoon, then a lane of loud pubs full of guides, seasonal workers and young English-speaking visitors, and a couple of late clubs.

Freiburg runs on students. You get wine bars and beer gardens around the Martinstor and summer evenings out on the squares and by the Dreisam. It is at its best during term rather than in ski season.

This is Chamonix's great strength. From a valley floor at about 1,000m, lifts climb to 3,842m on the Aiguille du Midi, among hanging glaciers and granite needles. That terrain supports real mountaineering, the Vallée Blanche ski descent and the Tour du Mont Blanc.

Freiburg's outdoors are gentler and closer to hand. The Schauinsland and Feldberg have forest ridges and winter snow, and the volcanic Kaiserstuhl vineyards and the flat Rhine plain are good for cycling. It is excellent walking and biking country, but nothing like the high Alps.

Both towns sit near a three-country border, but Freiburg gets more out of it. Basel is a short train ride away. Colmar, Riquewihr and Eguisheim in Alsace are about an hour by car, and Strasbourg, Baden-Baden, Staufen and Breisach add plenty of variety, mostly by rail.

From Chamonix, the tunnel to Courmayeur and Roman Aosta, the drive to Annecy or Geneva, and the train over to Martigny give you a handful of good outings. After those, slow mountain roads lead mainly to other resorts.

Freiburg is the easier family base. The centre is flat and car-free, children love the Bächle, the Mundenhof animal park is free, and Europa-Park, Germany's biggest theme park, is about 40 minutes away.

Chamonix suits active families. There are nursery slopes, the Merlet park's ibex and marmots, and the little red train to the Mer de Glace. But the highest cable cars are no place for toddlers, steep terrain is better for teenagers, and costs mount quickly. Rainy days are thin in both towns.

Chamonix's compact centre is walkable, and the guest card covers the valley buses and the Mont Blanc Express. In winter, though, you spend a lot of time on packed ski buses, and services thin out in the evening.

Freiburg is better connected. The largely car-free old town has trams beyond it, cycle lanes everywhere, and regional trains up the Höllental and along the Rhine to Basel. You only really need a car for the Alsace wine villages.

Chamonix is a specialist stop. Climbers and skiers save up for its generations-old technical gear shops, but apart from those it sells cheese, génépi, crystals and souvenirs.

Freiburg has more ordinary choice. There are chains and department stores on Kaiser-Joseph-Strasse, independent bookshops and boutiques in the Gerberau quarter, and wine, ham and cuckoo clocks at the market. Neither has luxury shopping, so serious shoppers go on to Geneva or Basel.

Chamonix is a much bigger outlay. Peak-season chalets, lift passes, the big cable cars and guided climbs all cost a lot, though self-catering, picnics and trails that start from the valley floor without a lift help.

In Freiburg, the main expense is the room, which can be easier to find in Black Forest villages nearby. After that, tavern meals, trams and largely free sights such as the Münster keep daily spending moderate.

Freiburg has a real season. Theater Freiburg stages opera, drama and dance, and the Freiburger Barockorchester, a leading period-instrument ensemble, plays at the Konzerthaus. The summer Zelt-Musik-Festival fills a tent village with concerts.

In Chamonix, live performance mostly means the summer jazz festival, some of it played up in the mountains, plus mountain film evenings. For opera you would have to drive to Geneva.

In Chamonix, you relax after effort. Hot outdoor pools face the glaciers at the town's Italian-style spa, and Saint-Gervais has warm springs in a wooded gorge. But early starts and busy streets mean the town itself is not restful.

Freiburg sits in true spa country and sets a slower pace. It has a thermal bath of its own, Bad Krozingen and Badenweiler with its Roman ruins are a short drive south, and Baden-Baden is an hour away. In between there are café terraces and walks along the Dreisam.