Chamonix or Rothenburg ob der Tauber?

Neither town is a place for swimming, though Chamonix does a little better. At Lac de Passy, down the Arve valley, you can swim in July and August with Mont Blanc straight ahead, and the clear water of Lake Annecy is a little over an hour away.

Rothenburg has its outdoor pool, or the artificial lakes of the Franconian lake district about an hour's drive away. Their grassy shores are pleasant enough but have no view to compare with Mont Blanc.

Chamonix eats better, mainly thanks to its setting and range. Savoyard cheese dishes made with local Reblochon and Beaufort are served on refuge terraces facing the glaciers. The international crowd also keeps bistros and a few ambitious hotel kitchens going, even if menus repeat and many places close between seasons.

Rothenburg's choice is narrower: roast pork, Schäufele and bratwurst with Silvaner or a regional beer, and too many Marktplatz menus aimed at coach parties. The better meals are in family guesthouses and Tauber valley wine taverns away from the square.

Here the order is reversed, and sharply. In Rothenburg the walled old town is the sight itself. You can walk long stretches of the covered ramparts, look down on the Plönlein and stand before Riemenschneider's Holy Blood Altar in St Jakob's, a high point of late Gothic carving.

Chamonix has a good story rather than great buildings. It is the birthplace of alpinism and hosted the first Winter Olympics, a history told in the Musée Alpin and around the old guides' quarter. Half a day covers it all, while Rothenburg's lanes reward a full day of wandering.

Of the two, only Chamonix has a real night out. In winter, après-ski fills the bars from late afternoon. Later, a lane of pubs in the old town keeps guides, seasonal workers and visitors together until late, and a couple of small clubs carry on after that. The crowd is young and English-speaking, and the scene goes quiet in the shoulder seasons.

In Rothenburg an evening means a wine tavern, dinner and the night watchman's tour, and the lanes are silent by eleven. For anything livelier you would have to drive to Würzburg or Nuremberg.

This is Chamonix's defining strength, and nowhere are the two further apart. The Aiguille du Midi lifts you to 3,842m among the glaciers, and the Lac Blanc and Tour du Mont Blanc trails start from town. The valley has serious skiing, mountaineering, climbing and paragliding.

Rothenburg's countryside is soft by comparison. There are green paths into the Tauber valley below the walls, the family cycle route through vineyards and villages, and orchards in blossom in spring. It suits an easy afternoon walk or ride, not a vacation built around the outdoors.

Rothenburg has the stronger choice of outings, because the towns around it rival it. Dinkelsbühl, and Nördlingen inside its meteorite crater, are short drives along the Romantic Road. Würzburg's Residenz and Nuremberg's castle are each about an hour away, though in practice you need a car.

Chamonix's trips cover more varied country but there are fewer of them. Courmayeur and Roman Aosta are through the tunnel, Annecy and Geneva are a little over an hour away, and the Mont Blanc Express runs to Martigny. After those, most places within reach are other resorts.

Chamonix gives children more to do, as long as the family enjoys being outside. In winter there are nursery slopes and sledging. In summer the luge, treetop courses, the Merlet animal park and the little red train to the Mer de Glace fill several days. The highest cable cars are unsuitable for small children, though, and costs add up.

Rothenburg works like a storybook for a day or two, with the covered ramparts, the Rathaus tower and the night watchman with his lantern. Older children are often gripped by the Crime Museum. After that, the cobbles are hard work with pushchairs, and families tend to head off on excursions.

Both centres are easy on foot, but Chamonix's is flat. Along the valley, guests ride the buses and the Mont Blanc Express free, so you can do without a car altogether. Expect packed ski buses in winter and thin evening services.

You can cross Rothenburg's walled town in fifteen minutes, but on cobbles and with a steep climb back from the valley. Leaving it is harder. The branch line usually means a change at Steinach and the buses are sparse, so a car is the practical way to explore.

Neither town is a shopping destination, and what each sells reflects what it is. Chamonix's pedestrian streets are lined with long-established climbing and ski shops with expert staff, worth saving a big gear purchase for. There are also Savoyard cheeses, génépi and rock crystals from the massif.

Rothenburg sells Christmas all year: glass baubles, nutcrackers and Erzgebirge carvings along the Herrngasse. In December it holds one of Germany's most atmospheric Christmas markets on the Marktplatz.

Rothenburg is clearly easier on the wallet. Prices are those of small-town Germany with a tourist premium, beer and wine in the inns are reasonable, and the sights charge little. Staying just outside the walls cuts costs further.

Chamonix is expensive, especially in the peak weeks, and lift passes, the big cable cars and mountain guides add up fast. Free valley transport, self-catering and trails that need no lift all help, as do the cheaper shoulder seasons.

Both are thin on performance, and neither has a theatre or concert season. Rothenburg's moments come from its history: the costumed Meistertrunk play, summer open-air theatre and organ concerts in St Jakob's.

Chamonix's are tied to the mountains, with a summer jazz festival that plays some sets high up on the slopes, and mountain film evenings. For opera or an orchestra, you would go to Geneva.

Chamonix has more for genuine pampering. Its large Italian-style day spa has hot outdoor pools facing the glaciers, many chalets have saunas, and the old thermal springs of Saint-Gervais are about 25 minutes away. The town itself is busy and starts its days early in high season.

Rothenburg's calm costs nothing: the lanes are empty at dawn and after the coach groups leave. For thermal bathing you drive about an hour to the salt-water pool at Bad Windsheim or to Bad Mergentheim.