Como or Stuttgart?

Neither city is a beach destination, but only Como offers a swim worth planning around. From June to early September the lido beside Villa Olmo and the pebble jetties at Moltrasio and the Tremezzina give a proper lake dip in water of around 23°C.

Stuttgart has no natural swimming at all: the Neckar is a working river and Max-Eyth-See is for boats. Summer swimming there means outdoor pools, some fed by mineral springs, and the nearest open water is Lake Constance, more than two hours away.

Stuttgart eats better and more widely. Swabian classics such as Maultaschen, Käsespätzle and Zwiebelrostbraten fill its wine taverns, the Art Nouveau Markthalle is good for browsing, and vineyards inside the city limits supply Trollinger and Riesling, poured in seasonal Besen taverns. There is also a deep fine-dining tier.

Como's lake-and-mountain cooking, with perch risotto, missoltini and polenta, is good but limited to what a small provincial town offers, and lakefront terraces charge for the view. Its best moment is the aperitivo on the squares by the cathedral. Neither city has much street food.

Stuttgart has more to fill a cultural stay. The Mercedes-Benz and Porsche museums, the Staatsgalerie's European painting and the Le Corbusier houses at the Weissenhof Estate take two or three days, although bombing left its old core patchy.

Como's walled centre is smaller but more intact: a Gothic-Renaissance marble cathedral, Romanesque San Fedele and Sant'Abbondio, the Volta temple and the silk museum, all seen in a day. Both cities appeal to architecture lovers, with Terragni's Rationalist Casa del Fascio in Como and the 1927 Weissenhof model estate in Stuttgart.

Stuttgart gives you more to do after dark. The bars and lounges along Theodor-Heuss-Strasse fill at weekends, and there are basement and warehouse clubs with an electronic following. The Cannstatter Volksfest beer tents and the late-summer wine village are the high points of its year. Como's evening ends with aperitivo, dinner, a few bars near Piazza Duomo and a stroll by the lake, and anyone wanting a club takes the train to Milan.

This is where Como pulls ahead. Steep wooded mountains rise straight out of the lake, the funicular lifts you to the Brunate ridge trails in minutes, and Monte Bisbino looks towards the Alps. You can kayak, sail or paddle on the water, and road cyclists climb to the Madonna del Ghisallo.

Stuttgart's green basin is gentler, with vineyard paths above the Neckar, deer in the Rotwildpark and easy riverside cycling. Its wilder country, the Swabian Jura cliffs and the northern Black Forest, is about an hour away and offers no high mountains.

Both are excellent bases, and Como has the edge because it offers the lake as well as two countries. Ferries and hydrofoils reach Bellagio, Varenna and the gardens of Villa Carlotta and Balbianello. Milan's Last Supper is about forty minutes by train and Lugano half an hour.

Stuttgart's trips go by rail and focus on old towns and palaces: baroque Ludwigsburg, Tübingen's punts, Heidelberg's castle, Maulbronn monastery, Hohenzollern on its hilltop and Ulm's spire, with Strasbourg possible for a long day.

Stuttgart is much better set up for children. Wilhelma's zoo and botanical garden fills a day, Killesberg has a narrow-gauge railway and animal enclosures, older children enjoy the car museums, and beer gardens and pools are geared to families. Como is calm and safe, and the funicular, boat rides and lido are real treats, but it has no zoo or attractions made for children. It suits a slow outdoor family stay better than a busy one.

Both have flat, walkable centres, and Stuttgart is a little easier once you leave its centre. One integrated ticket covers the Stadtbahn, S-Bahn, buses, a rack railway and a funicular, and the Stäffele stairways give shortcuts up the hills. Como's old town is easy on foot and its trains to Milan and Lugano are quick. The lake is slower: scenic ferries take a long time to go far north, and the shore roads clog in summer.

Stuttgart is the stronger shopping city. Königstrasse is a long pedestrian high street, Breuninger is the place for designer fashion, and the Metzingen outlet village is about half an hour away.

Como has one thing Stuttgart cannot match: silk. Scarves, ties and fabric come from old-town specialists and mill outlets. Beyond that its boutique strip is short, and serious fashion shoppers go to Milan.

Como is the dearer stay, and its prices follow the lake. The international luxury crowd fills lakeside hotels, villa rentals and waterfront tables in July and August, so in Como the season and the view decide the bill. Staying back from the water or coming outside high summer saves more there than in Stuttgart.

Stuttgart's costs follow business, not the weather. Rooms jump during the big trade fairs and fall at weekends, which makes a Friday-to-Sunday city break good value in a way Como's summer peak never is. A tavern or beer-garden dinner also costs less than a lakefront meal, although Como's cheap trains and ferries keep its day trips easy on the budget.

This is the widest gap between the two. Stuttgart has the Stuttgart Ballet, which has been famous since Cranko's era, and the Staatsoper's bold productions, both in the state theatre by the palace gardens. Add serious drama, orchestras and Bach at the Liederhalle, long-running musicals and a jazz club, and there is something on most nights.

Como offers opera and concerts at the neoclassical Teatro Sociale, summer shows in its open-air Arena and chamber music in churches and villas. These are charming but infrequent, and for more you go to La Scala in Milan.

Stuttgart has the real bathing tradition. The springs of Bad Cannstatt and Berg feed the Mineralbad Cannstatt and Mineralbad Leuze, where you can soak in naturally carbonated warm water indoors and out and then use the saunas. Como has no springs, and its spas belong to the grand villa hotels. What Como offers instead is the calm of still water, gardens and slow ferries, which feels more restful than Stuttgart's businesslike pace.