Colmar or Strasbourg?

Neither city is anywhere near the sea, and the swimming is much the same in both. Colmar has its municipal pools and the small mountain lakes up in the Vosges valleys, which take a drive. Strasbourg's old gravel-pit lakes, such as the Baggersee, have grassy banks and lifeguards in high summer, and you can get to them by tram, which makes a hot afternoon swim easier.

The cooking is the same in both: choucroute, baeckeoffe, tarte flambée and kougelhopf, served in wood-panelled winstubs, and both have tired tourist menus on their prettiest streets. The difference is what surrounds the plate. Colmar is in the middle of the vineyards, with Riesling and Gewurztraminer tastings in the villages a short drive away.

Strasbourg adds a stronger fine-dining tier, foie gras as a local speciality, plenty of beer brewed in the city, and more street markets alongside its covered market. Neither offers much beyond regional food.

Strasbourg has more to see. Its pink sandstone cathedral, with the astronomical clock and medieval glass, is a landmark Colmar has nothing to match. The Grande Ile, Petite France and the German-built Neustadt make up a large UNESCO-listed ensemble, and the Palais Rohan, the Oeuvre Notre-Dame and the modern art museum fill two or three days.

Colmar is smaller but remarkably complete, an old town that feels like one whole piece, from the Maison Pfister to the canals of Petite Venise. It also holds one masterpiece worth the trip on its own, Grünewald's Isenheim Altarpiece in the Unterlinden Museum. Two days covers it well.

Neither is a party city, but Strasbourg at least has a scene. Its large student population fills the bars of the Krutenau and Place Saint-Étienne, and the riverside terraces stay busy on summer nights, even if there are few clubs.

Colmar's evenings are a long dinner and a few wine bars around Petite Venise, and the streets go quiet early. Its own visitors take the train north to Strasbourg when they want a later night.

Colmar is closer to the landscape. Vineyard paths between wine villages begin within half an hour, and the valleys of Munster and Kaysersberg lead up to the Route des Crêtes and the Grand Ballon, with views to the Black Forest and sometimes the Alps.

Strasbourg is flatter and greener within the city, with the Orangerie, riverside forests full of storks and beavers, and long level cycle routes along the Rhine. Its hiking, at Mont Sainte-Odile or in the Black Forest, lies about an hour away.

Both make excellent bases, and each is a half-hour train ride from the other. What differs is the direction of travel. From Colmar, Eguisheim, Riquewihr and Kaysersberg are only a few kilometres away, and Basel is under an hour.

Strasbourg looks more towards Germany and other cities, with Baden-Baden, Freiburg, Heidelberg and Nancy's Place Stanislas all within range, and it has better trains for reaching them. Its wine villages are a longer ride than they are from Colmar.

Both are flat, safe and easy with children, with boat rides through their Petite France and Petite Venise quarters and Europa-Park about an hour away. Colmar's attractions for children are mostly in the countryside: the stork and otter park at Hunawihr, the Montagne des Singes and the eagle show at Kintzheim. You need a car for nearly all of them.

Strasbourg keeps more to do in town. The Orangerie has playgrounds and rowing boats, Le Vaisseau is a hands-on science centre, and the astronomical clock's moving figures usually go down well.

Strasbourg is much easier without a car. A tram network links the station, the European quarter and the outskirts, with one line running into Germany. Separated cycle lanes run across the city, and the pedestrianised island centre takes about twenty minutes to cross on foot.

Colmar is just as walkable at its core, and fast trains reach Strasbourg and Mulhouse. However, its main attractions, the wine villages and the Vosges, have only thin bus services, so a hire car or bike becomes part of the plan.

Strasbourg offers more range. It has chain stores and a large department store around Place Kléber and the Rue des Grandes Arcades, plus bookshops and delicatessens near the cathedral. Colmar keeps to regional goods: wine bought straight from the producer, Soufflenheim pottery, printed linen and gingerbread from independent shops along the Grand'Rue. Both peak at their Christmas markets, and neither has much in the way of fashion.

Costs are much the same: moderate for Western Europe, with reasonable winstub meals and wine, and rooms as the main expense in both. Colmar's problem is its small size, which pushes hotel prices up in summer and over the Christmas market weeks. Free tastings in the villages and cheaper beds outside town help balance this.

In Strasbourg the expensive weeks also include the European Parliament sessions. On the other hand, cheap trams and free sights such as the cathedral keep day-to-day spending down.

Strasbourg has a full arts calendar. The Opéra national du Rhin plays at Place Broglie, the philharmonic has a full season, the Théâtre National de Strasbourg is one of France's leading stages, and the Musica festival makes autumn a draw for contemporary music.

Colmar has a small Italian-style theatre that the opera company visits on tour. Otherwise it relies on its July classical festival, an autumn jazz festival and the wine fair concerts, so outside those weeks there is little on.

Strasbourg is the place for proper bathing. Its early twentieth-century Bains municipaux has tiled pools, a hammam and saunas, and the Friedrichsbad and Caracalla baths at Baden-Baden are under an hour away.

Colmar has no spa tradition beyond hotel spas. What it offers is quiet: canal-side evenings once the day-trippers leave and slow walks through the vines, which make for a restful stay without any treatments.