Dusseldorf or Rothenburg ob der Tauber?

Neither city is a place to swim, and both rely on fresh water. In Düsseldorf you can at least do it without leaving town: Unterbacher See has lawns and bathing areas on the city's edge, while the Rhine itself looks tempting but is dangerous. In Rothenburg it means the town's outdoor pool or about an hour's drive to the Franconian lakes such as the Altmühlsee.

Düsseldorf offers much more choice at the table. Its Altstadt brewhouses serve sauerbraten, Halve Hahn and its own sharp mustard with Altbier, the Japanese community around Immermannstrasse adds ramen counters and Japanese bakeries, and Carlsplatz market and good fine dining fill out the rest.

Rothenburg keeps to hearty Franconian cooking, such as Schäufele and bratwurst with Silvaner from the Bocksbeutel. Many places around the Marktplatz cater for coach groups, so the better meals are in family guesthouses and wine taverns a few lanes away, and there is little beyond the regional menu.

The two are about equal, but they offer very different things. Düsseldorf's strength is art: the Kunstsammlung's K20 and K21, the Kunstpalast and galleries shaped by the academy, set in a largely rebuilt centre with Benrath Palace as its historic highlight.

Rothenburg is the opposite: the main sight is the town itself, an almost intact walled town of towers, gabled houses and the Plönlein. Add the Riemenschneider altar and the Medieval Crime Museum and you have a visit that is very atmospheric and can be done in a short time.

Düsseldorf's Altstadt, often called the longest bar in the world, fills with people drinking Altbier in the streets on weekend nights. If you want somewhere calmer, try the cocktail bars in the Medienhafen, and at Carnival the whole city goes out for days.

Rothenburg barely has a nightlife at all. The usual evening outing is the night watchman's tour, followed by a glass in a wine tavern, and the lanes are quiet by eleven.

Düsseldorf has slightly more on its doorstep: Rhine meadows with long flat cycle paths, Grafenberg forest, the Neandertal, and the Bergisches Land, Siebengebirge and Eifel within easy reach. Rothenburg's countryside is smaller in scale but starts right at the walls, with paths down into the Tauber valley and the family-friendly Tauber cycle path through vineyards. Neither has mountains or wild country.

Both make good bases, but Düsseldorf is easier to travel from. Cologne cathedral is under half an hour by train, and Bonn, the Brühl palaces, Zollverein, Aachen and Maastricht are all reached by fast, frequent rail.

Rothenburg's day trips are just as tempting, with walled Dinkelsbühl, Nördlingen in its crater, Würzburg's Residenz and Nuremberg. However, they mostly mean driving, because the branch-line train needs a change.

Düsseldorf can keep children busy for longer. There is the Aquazoo, the tilted windows of the Rheinturm, the free game park with wild boar and deer, and Phantasialand within about an hour, and trams take pushchairs easily.

Rothenburg is a storybook outing, with ramparts to walk and a night watchman with a lantern to follow, but it is used up in a day or two. Cobbles and steep valley paths also make it harder work with pushchairs and small children.

Inside the walls Rothenburg is lovely on foot, with the whole old town crossed in fifteen minutes. Leaving it is the problem: a branch line with a change at Steinach and sparse buses mean a car is the practical choice.

Düsseldorf's flat centre is just as walkable along the river, and trams, light rail and a quick airport link fill the gaps. It also belongs to a regional network that reaches Cologne and the Ruhr, so you can leave the car at home.

Düsseldorf is a real shopping city, with luxury flagships along the Königsallee canal, department stores on Schadowstrasse and independent design shops in Flingern. Rothenburg sells mainly to visitors, on the Herrngasse and Schmiedgasse: glass baubles, nutcrackers, cuckoo clocks and Schneeballen. Its Christmas market on the Marktplatz is the one thing Düsseldorf cannot match.

The two cost about the same, but the high prices come at different times. In Düsseldorf hotel rates jump during the big trade fairs, so check the fair calendar before booking, while brewhouse meals and noodle bars keep daily costs down. In Rothenburg the premium is for staying inside the walls, and it peaks in December and on summer weekends, so a guesthouse in a nearby village saves money.

Düsseldorf has a full year-round programme of opera and ballet at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, symphony concerts in the domed Tonhalle and theatre at the Schauspielhaus. Its music history includes Kraftwerk, and there is small-venue jazz in Flingern.

Rothenburg's stage is mostly its own history: the annual Meistertrunk play in costume, summer open-air theatre and organ concerts in St Jakob. On most evenings there is no show to go to at all.

Neither has thermal baths of its own, so both mean a short trip to a spa. From Düsseldorf it is one of the large thermal complexes or Aachen's hot springs, while Rothenburg has Bad Windsheim's salt-water pool or Bad Mergentheim. The calm itself is different: Düsseldorf offers the everyday sauna habit and long walks through the Rhine meadows and the Japanese garden, while Rothenburg offers near silence on the walls at dawn.