Freiburg or Hamburg?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Hamburg has the slight edge because real sea bathing is within reach. The Baltic resorts of Travemuende and Timmendorfer Strand are about an hour away, with wicker beach chairs and proper sand. The Elbe beaches in the city are for watching ships go by, not for swimming.

Freiburg has no sea at all. On hot days people head to the gravel-pit lakes on the Rhine plain, which have grassy shores and warm water, or to the cooler Titisee and Schluchsee in the hills.

The two cities eat about equally well, in very different ways. In Freiburg, the Baden cooking has a French lightness, with Flammkuchen, Schäufele, Black Forest ham and spring asparagus, and Kaiserstuhl Pinot from the vineyards just outside town. The market around the Münster is the daily highlight, but beyond Baden cooking the range is narrow.

Hamburg eats like the port it is, with fish rolls on the piers, Labskaus, Franzbroetchen for breakfast and a strong coffee-roasting habit. Its modern restaurants, from Portuguese places by the harbour to fine dining, give it a breadth Freiburg lacks.

Hamburg offers more to see. The UNESCO-listed Speicherstadt and Kontorhaus district, the Elbphilharmonie's harbour plaza, the Rathaus and St Michael's make a full merchant-city itinerary, and the Kunsthalle, with Caspar David Friedrich among others, is backed by strong design and photography museums.

Freiburg's appeal is concentrated in one compact old town: the red sandstone Münster with its climbable tower, the Bächle channels, the medieval gates and the Augustinermuseum. Both centres were rebuilt after wartime bombing, but Freiburg's sights fill a day or two, while Hamburg's districts keep you busy for longer.

This is one of the widest gaps between the two. Hamburg goes out hard and late. The Reeperbahn mixes dive bars, music clubs and cabaret, bars have no fixed closing hour, and each district has its own crowd, from the alternative Schanzenviertel to the smarter bars around the Alster.

Freiburg's evenings are friendly and student-driven: pubs and wine bars around the Martinstor, beer gardens, and summer nights on the squares and by the Dreisam. There are only a handful of clubs, and the city is quieter outside term-time.

Freiburg is far ahead here, because the Black Forest begins where the town ends. The Schlossberg rises behind the old town, the Schauinsland cable car climbs to about 1,280m with Alpine views, and the Feldberg offers summer hiking and winter skiing within an hour. The Kaiserstuhl and the Rhine plain add gentle cycling.

Hamburg's outdoors is flat and shaped by water: sailing and paddling on the Alster, the Elbe path to Blankenese, and spring blossom in the Altes Land orchards. Lueneburg Heath is the nearest larger landscape.

Both cities make good bases, but Freiburg offers more variety. From the corner of three countries, you can reach Basel's museums by train in under an hour, Colmar and the Alsace wine villages by car, and Strasbourg's cathedral in about an hour and a half, with Staufen, Breisach and Baden-Baden nearer to home.

Hamburg's outings are excellent but more alike: Luebeck, Lueneburg, Bremen, Wismar and Stade share the brick and gabled look of the Hanseatic north. Schwerin's lake castle and summer days on the Baltic break the pattern, and nearly everything is reachable by train.

Rain is what separates these two. Freiburg is a fair-weather city for children. They can put their feet in the Bächle, sail toy boats along the channels, visit the free Mundenhof animal park and ride the Schauinsland cable car, and Europa-Park, Germany's largest theme park, is about 40 minutes north. When it pours, though, there is little to do indoors.

Hamburg has more for a wet day, and its greyer climate means you will probably need it. Miniatur Wunderland can fill a whole afternoon, and Hagenbeck's tropical aquarium and the Stadtpark planetarium are good fallbacks. On a dry day, a harbour ferry, the museum ships and the walk through the old Elbe tunnel make a full outing.

Both cities are easy without a car, but they work in different ways. Freiburg is compact enough that most of a stay happens on foot in and around the car-free old town, and the bicycle covers the rest: the centre is flat, bike lanes run everywhere, and trams reach the Schauinsland cable car. Its trains matter most for leaving town, up the Höllental into the Black Forest or along the Rhine to Basel.

Hamburg's walkable core is larger, taking in the Alster, the Speicherstadt and HafenCity, and beyond it the U-Bahn and S-Bahn take over, with Blankenese or Hagenbeck a single train ride away. The harbour ferries are something Freiburg cannot match: they run on the same ticket and show you the port from the water. Cycling is just as easy on the flat, though wind and rain make it less pleasant than in Freiburg.

Hamburg is clearly the shopping city. Neuer Wall and the streets around the Jungfernstieg hold the luxury labels, covered arcades link them on wet days, and the Karolinenviertel and Schanzenviertel add vintage and streetwear. Tea, coffee and maritime goods make good things to take home.

Freiburg's shopping is modest: chains on Kaiser-Joseph-Strasse, independents in the Gerberau and Konviktstrasse, and wine, ham and cuckoo clocks from the market. Locals go to Basel for serious shopping.

Neither is cheap, and Freiburg is only a little kinder on the wallet. Its problem is hotel rooms, which are scarce in a small city, so some visitors stay in Black Forest villages instead. Market food, wine taverns and free sights such as the Münster keep daily spending down.

In Hamburg, the expense is spread more widely, with hotels and central restaurants priced for a wealthy city. A day ticket covering trains and ferries, the free Elbphilharmonie plaza and fish rolls in Altona and St Pauli help balance it out.

Hamburg is one of Germany's great stage cities, and Freiburg is not in the same league. The Elbphilharmonie and the Laeiszhalle carry full classical seasons, and the State Opera, the Hamburg Ballet, the Schauspielhaus and the Thalia rank among the country's best. Add the big musical theatres across the harbour and the St Pauli rock clubs where the Beatles started out.

Freiburg makes a good evening out rather than a reason to visit. Theater Freiburg, the Freiburger Barockorchester at the Konzerthaus and the summer Zelt-Musik-Festival are its highlights.

Freiburg is the better choice for slowing down, because it sits in spa country. A thermal bath lies on the city edge, Bad Krozingen's warm outdoor pools are about twenty minutes south, Badenweiler adds Roman ruins to its baths, and Baden-Baden is about an hour away by train.

Hamburg has no thermal springs. Its relaxation means sauna landscapes in public baths such as the art nouveau Holthusenbad, boat rides on the Alster and the Japanese garden in Planten un Blomen.