Colmar or Genoa?

Colmar is in the Rhine plain, hours from any coast. In summer the swimming comes down to municipal pools and the small lakes up in the Vosges valleys.

Genoa can fill a beach afternoon without leaving the city: the pebble cove at Boccadasse, the bathing establishments over the rocks along the Corso Italia, and the platforms below the promenade at Nervi. The train runs on to Camogli, Sestri Levante and the sandier shore at Varazze. Expect pebbles, rented loungers and crowded summer weekends.

Colmar eats Alsatian food: choucroute, baeckeoffe and tarte flambée in panelled winstubs, with the region's white wines poured everywhere. It also has a few ambitious restaurants that Genoa largely lacks. But the choice beyond regional cooking is narrow, and the prettiest streets are full of tired menus.

Genoa eats well more easily and more cheaply. A day might run from focaccia dunked in cappuccino at breakfast to trofie with pesto at lunch, with farinata and fried fish from the old-town shops in between and seafood in the harbour trattorias. The Mercato Orientale shows the whole Ligurian larder in one place.

Colmar's strength is how complete it is. The old town reads as one painted whole, from the Maison Pfister to the canals of Petite Venise, and the Unterlinden Museum holds the Isenheim Altarpiece, a painting worth the journey on its own. Two days covers it.

Genoa has much more to see. Its caruggi form one of Europe's largest medieval quarters, and above them the Rolli palaces of Via Garibaldi hold Van Dyck and Rubens in painted halls. Add the cathedral of San Lorenzo, the Lanterna and the marble sculpture of Staglieno, and the city rewards several days of exploring.

A night in Colmar means a long dinner, a glass of Riesling on a terrace in Petite Venise and an early, quiet walk home. Anyone wanting more takes the train to Strasbourg.

Genoa is no party city either, but its evenings carry on longer. Students and locals fill the bars around Piazza delle Erbe and the university lanes at weekends, and in summer the crowd moves to waterfront bars at the Porto Antico and the beach clubs along the Corso Italia.

Colmar's countryside starts at the vineyards. Marked paths run through the vines between wine villages, the flat plain is good for cycling, and higher up the Route des Crêtes crosses the rounded, forested Vosges past the Hohneck and the Grand Ballon. You really need a car to reach much of it.

Genoa puts steep hills and the sea side by side, and you can reach much of it without a car. A funicular climbs to Righi and the ring of old forts, the Portofino promontory has cliff paths down to San Fruttuoso, and the Cinque Terre trails are a train ride away. Boats also leave the harbour to look for whales and dolphins in the Pelagos Sanctuary.

Both make excellent bases, and the difference lies in where you go. From Colmar the trips are to wine villages a few kilometres apart, such as Eguisheim, Riquewihr and Kaysersberg, plus Haut-Koenigsbourg on its ridge. Three countries are within easy reach, with Strasbourg, Basel and Freiburg all close, though the villages are far easier by car or bike.

From Genoa the trips follow the coast by train, east to Portofino, Santa Margherita and the Cinque Terre and west to Noli and Finale Ligure Borgo. Milan and Turin are each about an hour and a half away.

Families do about equally well in either city, in different ways. Colmar itself is small, flat and gentle, with boat rides through Petite Venise and storks on the roofs. Its big draws are spread around the countryside: the monkey park and eagle show at Kintzheim, the stork park at Hunawihr and Europa-Park across the Rhine, and almost all of them need a car.

Genoa puts its best family day in one spot at the Porto Antico, where the large aquarium, the science centre and the walk-through submarine sit side by side. Away from the harbour, the steep, shady lanes and endless stairs are hard work with a pushchair.

Colmar is flat and small, with the station, the museums and Petite Venise all a few minutes apart on foot. Quick regional trains run to Strasbourg and Mulhouse, but the buses out to the wine villages and the Vosges are thin, so a hire car or a bicycle does most of the work.

Genoa climbs steeply from the water, and its old-town lanes are a maze, so funiculars, a rack railway and public lifts carry you uphill while buses crawl through the traffic. The coastal railway makes up for it, reaching Nervi and the Riviera towns with no need to drive.

Colmar is for regional things to take home: wine bought from the grower, Soufflenheim pottery, kougelhopf moulds and Alsatian table linen. Its Christmas markets are the high point of the shopping year, and fashion is thin.

Genoa gives a shopper more range. The arcades of Via XX Settembre and the Galleria Mazzini carry the familiar Italian labels, and the old town adds silver filigree workshops, coral and long-established shops selling candied fruit and olive oil.

Genoa is the easier city on a budget. Focaccia and farinata make meals very cheap, and central hotels cost less than in Italy's busiest cities, though lounger hire and the smart Riviera resorts add up in summer.

In Colmar, food and wine tastings are reasonable, but rooms are the problem. The town is small, summer demand is high, and in the Christmas market weeks hotels near the old town are expensive and book up early, so staying in a nearby village helps.

Colmar's music happens mostly in festival weeks: classical in early July, jazz in autumn and the concerts that come with the summer wine fair. Outside those weeks there is only a small municipal theatre, and serious opera means going to Strasbourg or Basel.

Genoa has a year-round season at the Teatro Carlo Felice, with opera, ballet and symphonic concerts, plus an established drama company. Its small live-music clubs also carry on the city's singer-songwriter tradition. That is enough for a good night or two at the opera or a gig.

Neither city has a spa culture, and in both the spas are mostly in hotels. The difference is in how you find calm. In Colmar the town slows down once the day-trippers leave, and the evenings by the canals and walks in the vines are restful.

Genoa's centre is noisy with port and traffic, so for quiet you go to the villa gardens and promenade of Nervi. It does have one thing Colmar lacks: the thermal waters of Acqui Terme, a little over an hour away.