Colmar or Portofino?

This is Portofino's ground entirely. You swim off rock platforms and ladders into deep, very clear water, with sand at little Paraggi and pebbles below the abbey at San Fruttuoso. The spots are small and fill up in summer, and much of Paraggi is taken by paid beach clubs.

Colmar sits in the Rhine plain, hundreds of kilometres from any coast, so swimming means municipal pools or a lake up in the Vosges valleys. Treat that as a way to cool off, not a reason to come.

Colmar eats far better. Wood-panelled winstubs serve choucroute, baeckeoffe and tarte flambée, munster cheese comes from the valleys above town, and Riesling and Gewurztraminer come from the slopes around it. There is also a covered market and a fine-dining tier, though the range beyond Alsatian cooking is narrow.

In Portofino you pay mostly for the yachts in front of the terrace. Pesto trofie, fritto misto and Recco focaccia are sound but seldom memorable, and there is no market or casual everyday eating. Keen eaters head to Camogli or the hill trattorie.

Colmar has much more to see. Its painted late-medieval streets, Maison Pfister and Koïfhus read as one complete townscape, and the Unterlinden Museum alone justifies the trip for anyone who cares about painting. Add Saint Martin, the Dominican church and the Bartholdi birthplace museum, and two full days are well spent.

Portofino's sight is the village itself: the coloured horseshoe of houses, San Giorgio above the harbour, Castello Brown and the walk to the lighthouse. San Fruttuoso's abbey is a lovely add-on, but a day covers it all.

Neither town has much of a night out. Both have quiet streets by late evening and send serious night owls elsewhere, to Strasbourg from Colmar and to Santa Margherita, Rapallo or Genoa from Portofino.

The difference is the mood. Colmar's evenings are relaxed, with a long dinner, a wine bar near Petite Venise and summer terraces. Portofino's summer evenings are dressier, with aperitivo at elegant harbour bars where being seen is part of it, but outside July and August it goes quiet early.

Portofino edges ahead because the landscape is so dramatic and so close. The headland is a regional park and a marine reserve, with trails through holm oak to Monte di Portofino and down to San Fruttuoso beside sheer cliffs. Under the water are red coral walls and the Christ of the Abyss.

Colmar's outdoors is gentler and covers more ground. You get vineyard paths between wine villages, then the rounded, forested Vosges along the Route des Crêtes, with glacial lakes, summer pastures and winter skiing. Cyclists will also prefer the flat wine route, though a car helps.

Colmar is the stronger base. Strasbourg's cathedral is a short train ride away, and Eguisheim, Riquewihr and Kaysersberg sit a few kilometres apart. Basel and Freiburg take you into two more countries within about an hour. The villages themselves need a car or bike.

Portofino's outings are fewer but scenic. Camogli and Santa Margherita are a boat or bus ride away, Genoa's palaces are under an hour away, and in summer ferries run to the Cinque Terre. Out of season everything depends on trains.

Colmar is much easier with children. The centre is flat and safe, with boat rides through Petite Venise and storks on the rooftops. Within driving distance are the Hunawihr stork park, free-roaming macaques at Kintzheim, Haut-Koenigsbourg and Europa-Park.

Portofino is calm, and children like the boats and swimming off the rocks. Even so, it has steep steps, no playgrounds and paid beach clubs, so families usually stay in Santa Margherita or Rapallo and visit Genoa's aquarium.

Both centres are a few minutes across on foot, but Colmar is flat and its station is close. Trains run quickly to Strasbourg, Mulhouse and on to Basel, though the wine villages and the Vosges have only thin bus services.

Portofino's problem is getting in and out. One narrow coast road from Santa Margherita jams in summer and parking is scarce, so the bus and the seasonal ferries do the work. Its village paths are steep.

Colmar offers more to browse. Wine bought from the producer, Soufflenheim pottery, Alsatian table linen and gingerbread fill the lanes around the Grand'Rue, and the Christmas markets spread across several squares, though big-name fashion is limited.

Portofino turns that around: a few lanes of luxury fashion and jewellery houses aimed at yacht passengers, plus some lace and pesto. It takes under an hour, and for anything ordinary you go to Chiavari or Rapallo.

Colmar is moderately priced for Western Europe. Set lunches and village tastings are kind to the wallet, but rooms are the pressure point in summer and during the Christmas markets. Staying in a nearby village helps.

Portofino is among Italy's most expensive places to stay, with luxury hotels, a premium on piazzetta tables and costly loungers and boat hire. Walking and buses are the only cheap things, which is why many visitors sleep in Camogli or Rapallo and come in for the day.

Colmar has a modest but real offer: an Italian-style municipal theatre visited by the Opéra national du Rhin, a classical festival in July and a jazz festival in autumn. Outside those weeks, Strasbourg or Basel fill the gap.

Portofino has no theatre or regular venue, only an occasional summer concert in the piazzetta or at the castle. An evening at Genoa's Teatro Carlo Felice is the realistic option.

Portofino is somewhat more restorative, as long as you time it right. Hillside luxury hotels have the pools and treatment rooms, and early mornings, evenings and the shoulder months bring shaded paths and silence over the water. At midday in high summer, tour boats break that calm.

Colmar has only hotel spas and no bathing culture. Its calm comes from canal-side evenings once the day-trippers leave, long lunches and slow walks through the vines.