Dresden or Karlovy Vary?

Neither is a beach destination, and both are far from the sea. What differs is how you cool off. In Dresden you head to outdoor pools, the flooded gravel pits on the city's edge or the Moritzburg ponds, and the Elbe's sandy banks are for deckchairs, not swimming.

Karlovy Vary's best summer swim is Lake Medard, a flooded mine about half an hour away. Its warm outdoor pools fed by the springs stay pleasant even in cool weather.

Dresden has the wider choice. Saxon cooking is as hearty as Czech, but the city adds a serious afternoon-coffee culture built around Eierschecke and Christstollen, dry wines from the Elbe valley around Radebeul and Meissen, and a casual mix of Vietnamese, Middle Eastern and beer-garden eating in the Neustadt.

Karlovy Vary is narrower: roast pork, dumplings and svíčková with good Pilsner, warm spa wafers from the colonnade stalls and Becherovka distilled in town. Apart from the riverside cafés and a few ambitious kitchens, a keen eater will find little to explore.

For great art, Dresden is in another league. The Old Masters in the Zwinger, the jewelled treasures of the Green Vault and the Romantic painting at the Albertinum are collections of world rank. The rebuilt Frauenkirche and Brühl's Terrace frame them, and the whole set rewards three or four days.

In Karlovy Vary the town itself is the attraction: the UNESCO-listed spa quarter, the timber and columned colonnades and the Vřídlo geyser. Its museums are small and specialised, devoted to glass and liqueur, and a day or two covers everything.

Dresden has a real nightlife district in the Äußere Neustadt. Students fill small bars, beer kiosks and courtyard pubs, there are a few clubs in old industrial buildings, and people drink on the pavements late on summer weekends.

Karlovy Vary barely has nights at all, except during the film festival week. Otherwise the choice is a hotel bar, a casino or a Czech pub, and the valley is quiet by eleven.

Both have forest close by and both reach the Ore Mountains, but Dresden's landscape is the more dramatic. Saxon Switzerland's sandstone towers, the Bastei view and the Malerweg trail are under an hour away by suburban train. There is traditional free climbing on the rock towers, and the Elbe cycle route runs past vineyards and palaces.

In Karlovy Vary the woods begin at the hotel door. Gentle spa paths built for convalescents lead up to the Diana tower, and further out are the moors of the Slavkov Forest and downhill skiing around Klínovec. The country is green and rolling rather than spectacular.

Dresden has more within reach. Meissen's cathedral and porcelain, Moritzburg's lakeside lodge and the Königstein fortress are all close. Leipzig, Görlitz and Bautzen are about an hour away, and Prague makes a long day by train through the Elbe gorge.

Karlovy Vary's outings are smaller and more rural. The best is Loket's castle in its river loop, twenty minutes away. You can also visit the sister spa towns of Mariánské Lázně and Františkovy Lázně or the reliquary at Bečov nad Teplou, while Plzeň and Prague (by coach) are further off.

Dresden gives children far more to do. The Großer Garten has a zoo and a miniature railway run largely by children, the Transport Museum is full of trams and trains, and the Hygiene Museum has a hands-on section about the senses. Paddle steamers up the Elbe make an easy outing.

Karlovy Vary is safe and clean but built around adults on a cure. The geyser, the spouted cups of spring water, the funicular and the warm wafers delight children for a day or so. After that, the steep valley sides become tiring for anyone pushing a pushchair.

You can explore the centre of either on foot, but Dresden is easier beyond it. The old town and the Neustadt are a short walk apart across the Augustus Bridge, trams cover the rest of the city, and suburban trains run to Meissen and Saxon Switzerland, so you never need a car.

Karlovy Vary is a long, narrow strip along the Teplá with steep sides, so buses and the funicular do the climbing. Regional trains are slow, and the forests and villages are easier to reach by car.

Neither is a shopping destination, and in both the interest lies in local craft rather than fashion. Dresden's specialities are Meissen porcelain and wooden Ore Mountain toys. The Neustadt adds second-hand and design shops, and the Striezelmarkt fills the Altmarkt in Advent.

Karlovy Vary is more upmarket, with jewellers and fur boutiques on its promenades for well-off spa guests. Its signature buys are Moser crystal, Bohemian garnets and bottles of Becherovka.

Costs are broadly similar. The difference is where the money goes. In Dresden, eating in the Neustadt and a day ticket for trams and trains are good value, but separate museum entries add up, and old-town rooms rise in Christmas market season.

In Karlovy Vary you pay for the setting: the grand hotels and the colonnade restaurants are dear. One street back, though, pubs and canteens charge local prices, and the springs and promenades cost nothing.

The two are far apart here. Dresden's Semperoper is one of Europe's great opera houses and home to the Staatskapelle. The Philharmonic plays in the Kulturpalast, the Kreuzchor sings in the Kreuzkirche and there is Bach at the Frauenkirche, so music lovers can plan a whole trip around it.

Karlovy Vary offers light classical concerts from its symphony orchestra, sometimes outdoors on the colonnades, and touring drama and operetta in the ornate Fellner and Helmer theatre. These make a pleasant evening out rather than a reason to travel.

This is what Karlovy Vary was built for. Thirteen springs feed the colonnades, guests sip the waters as they stroll, and the spa hotels offer carbonated baths, peat wraps, warm spring-water pools and full medical stays.

Dresden offers the everyday German pleasure of a sauna afternoon at the municipal baths, and the nearest thermal pool is at Bad Schandau. Its calm comes from the wide Elbe meadows and a terrace café, not from treatments.