Como or Freiburg?

Como has the better summer swimming, though it is still a dip rather than a beach. You swim from decks and lawns at lidos such as the one by Villa Olmo, or take a ferry to the pebble jetties at Moltrasio and the Tremezzina, where the water is cleaner than at the city end and warm enough from June.

Freiburg has no shore of its own. On hot days locals cycle out to grassy gravel-pit lakes on the Rhine plain or drive an hour to Titisee and Schluchsee, where the scenery beats the water temperature.

Freiburg eats better. Baden cooking leans towards France, the Kaiserstuhl and Markgräflerland supply the Pinot in your glass, and the morning market around the Münster, with its long grilled sausages, is a daily pleasure. The countryside nearby also has serious fine dining.

Como's table is heartier and narrower: perch risotto, sun-dried shad and polenta, with the aperitivo on the cathedral squares as the evening highlight. Lakefront terraces often charge more for the view than the cooking deserves, so the best meals tend to be in family trattorias up the lake or in the hills.

There is not much between them for sightseeing, but the character differs. Como's interest is architectural and authentically old: Romanesque San Fedele and Sant'Abbondio, a cathedral that runs from Gothic to Baroque, and Terragni's Rationalist Casa del Fascio, which architects travel specially to see. The Volta temple and the silk museum complete a single full day.

Freiburg is built around one great monument, the red Münster with its climbable lace tower, set in a townscape of gates, merchants' halls and running Bächle that was largely rebuilt after the war. The Augustinermuseum's medieval art adds depth and fills a second day.

Freiburg is the livelier choice after dark, thanks to its large student population. The lanes around the Martinstor fill with pubs and wine bars, summer evenings spill onto the squares and the banks of the Dreisam, and a few clubs play techno and indie, especially during term.

Como winds down after aperitivo and a long dinner. There are a few bars by the Duomo and an evening stroll along the lake, but no club scene, and anyone wanting a late night takes the train to Milan.

Both are excellent outdoor bases, but one is built around water and the other around forest. Como gives you a glacial lake hemmed in by steep slopes: the funicular to Brunate and the ridge path to the Volta lighthouse, the Greenway between villages, kayaking and paddleboarding, and the famous road climb to the Madonna del Ghisallo.

Freiburg opens straight onto the Black Forest, with the Schauinsland cable car, gorge walks in the Ravenna valley and winter skiing on the Feldberg, which the lake cannot match. The vineyard terraces of the Kaiserstuhl and the flat Rhine plain also make it better for gentle cycling and mountain biking.

Como has the stronger list, and much of it can be reached by boat. Ferries and hydrofoils go to Bellagio, Varenna and the gardens of Villa Carlotta and Villa del Balbianello, while Milan's Last Supper and Duomo are about forty minutes by train. Lugano, Bergamo's upper town and the Borromean Islands are all within reach.

Freiburg's great advantage is its spread across three countries: Basel by train, Colmar and the half-timbered Alsace villages, Strasbourg, and Baden-Baden. The catch is that the Alsace wine route is much easier by car, whereas Como's best outings need only a ferry ticket.

Freiburg is much easier with children. Europa-Park, Germany's largest theme park, is about forty minutes away, the Mundenhof animal park is free, children play in the Bächle, and the Steinwasen park and swimming lakes fill the rest of the week, although rainy days are harder.

Como is calm and safe, and the funicular, ferries and summer lido go down well. Beyond those, there is no zoo or theme park nearby, and the villas and churches are for adults, so it works best for a slow stay with older or patient children.

Freiburg is simpler. Almost everything is within a twenty-minute walk of the car-free centre, trams reach the suburbs and the cable car, bikes go everywhere, and many hotels provide a guest card for regional buses and trains into the Black Forest.

Como's old town and lakefront are just as easy on foot, and trains to Milan and Lugano are quick. The lake itself is slow, though: ferries are scenic but take time to go far north, and the narrow shore roads and central parking get very congested in summer.

Neither is a shopping destination, and each sends serious shoppers elsewhere, Como to Milan and Freiburg to Basel. What sets them apart is the local speciality. Como has centuries of silk, with scarves and ties from old-town specialists and mill outlets, plus a short stretch of Italian boutiques. Freiburg offers independent bookshops and organic stores in the Gerberau quarter, wine and ham from the Münster market, and cuckoo clocks.

Freiburg is the less expensive of the two, though neither is cheap. Its main problem is a shortage of hotel rooms on summer weekends and during trade fairs. Once you have a bed, market snacks, student-quarter restaurants and a free cathedral keep daily spending modest.

Como draws an international luxury crowd, and summer rates for lakeside hotels and villas are steep, as are lakefront meals. Staying back from the water, eating in old-town trattorias and travelling in spring or autumn helps a lot, and ferries and trains are cheap.

Freiburg has the fuller calendar. The municipal theatre runs opera, drama and dance in repertory, the Konzerthaus is home to the Freiburger Barockorchester, a leading period-instrument ensemble, students support small jazz clubs, and the Zelt-Musik-Festival fills a tent village every summer.

Como centres on the neoclassical Teatro Sociale, which moves outdoors to its Arena in summer, and on chamber concerts in Romanesque churches and lakeside villas. Many nights are quiet, though La Scala is only a train ride away.

Freiburg is in genuine spa country. There is a thermal bath with saunas on the city's eastern edge, the warm outdoor pools of Bad Krozingen are about twenty minutes south, Badenweiler has Roman ruins beside its modern bath, and Baden-Baden is an hour by train.

Como has no thermal tradition, so pampering means the spas of grand villa hotels. Its strength is the setting itself: slow ferry rides, gardens leading down to still water and villages that go quiet early, best enjoyed outside the busy midsummer weeks.