Dresden or Leipzig?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Leipzig has much the better answer to a hot day. Old lignite mines south of the centre have been flooded into lakes, Cospudener See and Markkleeberger See among them, with sandy shores and clear water you can reach by tram or by bike.

In Dresden the Elbe's sandy banks are for deckchairs, not swimming, because of shipping and strong currents. A cool-off there means an outdoor pool, a gravel-pit lake on the edge of the city or the ponds at Moritzburg.

The two eat at much the same level: filling Saxon cooking, good value, and not much fine dining. The difference is in the specialities. Dresden is about cake and wine, with Christstollen, Eierschecke at afternoon coffee and dry whites from the Elbe vineyards around Radebeul and Meissen.

Leipzig is about drink and history: sour, salted Gose beer, a coffee-house tradition going back to the early eighteenth century and the Faust cellar where Goethe set a scene. For casual meals, Dresden's best streets are in the Neustadt, while Leipzig's are along the Karli and the Plagwitz canals.

Dresden has the collections of real world rank. The Old Masters in the Zwinger, the jewelled treasures of the Green Vault and Caspar David Friedrich at the Albertinum fill three or four days, and the riverfront from Brühl's Terrace to the Frauenkirche is one of Germany's great city views, even though much of it is reconstruction.

Leipzig's sights are fewer and more about history than art. Bach's grave in the Thomaskirche, the Nikolaikirche where the revolution of 1989 began, the Stasi museum and the trade-fair arcades tell a strong story, but two or three days covers them.

Dresden's going-out life sits in a single district, which keeps it simple. After dinner in the quiet old town, you walk across the Augustus Bridge into the Äußere Neustadt, where the small bars and the street outside them are the evening. It is good for a drink and a late wander on a few nights of a longer stay, but it is rarely the reason anyone picks Dresden.

Leipzig has more going on, and it is spread across several districts rather than one. Clubs, not bars, are what set it apart, and electronic music is at the heart of it. Even its old town has a bar quarter, the Drallewatsch, though it is the more touristy, mainstream end. The scene depends heavily on students, so it can feel quiet midweek or outside term, and a clubbing trip is best timed for a weekend during the university year.

Dresden is far ahead here, thanks to Saxon Switzerland. The sandstone towers, gorges and table mountains start under an hour away by suburban train, with the Bastei viewpoint, the multi-day Malerweg trail and a climbing tradition on hundreds of rock towers. The Elbe cycle route and the Ore Mountains add more.

Leipzig's outdoors is flat and watery. You can walk under the oaks of the Auwald, paddle the canals from Plagwitz and sail on the mine lakes, but there are no hills, and the same sandstone country is about two hours away.

Both are excellent bases, and each is an easy day trip from the other. The difference is in what you can reach. Dresden's trips follow the Elbe: porcelain in Meissen, the lake palace at Moritzburg, the Königstein fortress, Görlitz on the Polish border and, at the edge of a day, Prague.

Leipzig sits at the centre of the rail network and points in every direction. Weimar, Erfurt, Halle, Wittenberg, Naumburg, the Bauhaus in Dessau and Berlin are all within roughly an hour or so.

Both are easy with children, but in different ways. In Dresden the highlights are hands-on: the Transport Museum, the children's railway in the Großer Garten, paddle-steamer trips and the rocks of Saxon Switzerland for older children.

Leipzig has the bigger single draw. Its zoo is one of Europe's best, and the covered tropical hall works in any weather. In summer there are also the shallow lakes and a mid-sized theme park, which Dresden lacks.

Getting around is easy in both, and you don't need a car in either. Dresden's sights are split by the river: the old town and the Neustadt sit either side of the Augustus Bridge. Suburban trains and the slow paddle steamers handle the trips along the Elbe.

Leipzig's old town is a compact ring you can cross in about fifteen minutes. The city is flat and full of cycle lanes, so a bike is often the fastest option, and an underground S-Bahn runs south to the lakes.

Neither is a fashion or luxury destination, and both main streets are mostly chains. Dresden's appeal is in local crafts: Meissen porcelain, wooden Ore Mountain toys and, in Advent, the old Striezelmarkt on the Altmarkt.

Leipzig's appeal is in its spaces. Shopping in the covered trade-fair arcades works in any weather, and in the west there are record stores, vintage shops and the galleries of the Spinnerei, a former cotton mill. Dresden's alternative to this is the Neustadt and the courtyards of the Kunsthofpassage.

Both cost about the same, cheaper than Germany's big western cities but not budget destinations. In Dresden, the cost to watch is the major museums, which each charge separately, and rooms in the old town rise at Christmas market time.

In Leipzig, hotels near the centre are the main saving, except in the big trade-fair weeks, so check the fair calendar before booking. Eating out and taxis there are priced at the national level.

These are two of Germany's great music cities, at a similar level. Dresden leads on opera: the Semperoper and its Staatskapelle, with Wagner and Strauss premieres in their history, plus the Kreuzchor in the Kreuzkirche.

Leipzig's strength is the concert hall and Bach: the Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Thomanerchor singing most weekends in term, and the Bachfest each June. Leipzig also has more beyond classical music, with indie and jazz clubs, cabaret and the huge Wave-Gotik-Treffen at Whitsun.

Neither city has its own spa culture, but Dresden has the edge. A real thermal pool at Bad Schandau is under an hour away on the same line as Saxon Switzerland, so you can add it to a day of walking. The Elbe meadows and terrace cafés above the river make for slow afternoons.

In Leipzig, relaxing means sauna complexes, a few lakeside saunas and quiet walks in the floodplain forest. Its spa towns are a separate trip by road.