Freiburg or Luxembourg?

Neither city has a sea, and in both swimming is a summer extra rather than a reason to come. Freiburg's warm gravel-pit lakes on the Rhine plain are a short bike ride out, and the cooler Black Forest lakes of Titisee and Schluchsee are there for scenery.

Luxembourg's equivalents are the gravel pits at Remerschen in the Moselle valley and the wooded bathing spots on the Upper Sûre reservoir, about an hour north. On ordinary days Luxembourg falls back on its large indoor pools, while Freiburg relies on its open-air pools.

Freiburg eats better for a visitor. Its Baden cooking has a light French touch, and the morning market around the Münster, with its long grilled sausages, is a daily ritual. Wood-panelled taverns pour Kaiserstuhl Pinot alongside Schäufele and Flammkuchen, and there is serious fine dining in the countryside around the city.

Luxembourg's table is more international: French restaurants, German and Belgian brasseries, and Portuguese and Italian places that have been open for generations. It has few local dishes, though, and casual eating is thin on the ground, so the crisp Moselle Riesling and crémant are the real pleasure.

The two are close, but they impress in different ways. Freiburg's draw is a single great building, the red sandstone Münster with its climbable lace tower. Around it are the medieval gates and the Bächle channels of running water, and the Augustinermuseum holds medieval art.

Luxembourg's sight is the whole site: a fortress city on a plateau above two gorges, with casemate tunnels to walk through and the Grund below. Add the Grand Ducal Palace and MUDAM's contemporary art on Kirchberg. Each city is covered comfortably in about two days.

Freiburg has the more dependable evening, thanks to its large student population. There are pubs and wine bars around the Martinstor, beer gardens, summer crowds along the Dreisam and a few clubs, though it quietens noticeably in the semester break.

Luxembourg goes out in pockets: the Rives de Clausen, riverside pubs in the Grund and later venues in Hollerich, with an international crowd of young professionals. Aim for Thursday or Friday, because many residents leave at weekends.

This is where Freiburg pulls well ahead. The Black Forest starts at the edge of the city, and the Schauinsland cable car lifts you to ridge trails with views to the Alps on clear days. The Feldberg offers summer hiking and winter snow about an hour away, and the Kaiserstuhl and the Rhine plain are made for cycling.

Luxembourg's green spaces are gentler. The wooded Pétrusse and Alzette gorges run right through the centre, and the mossy rock passages of the Müllerthal are half an hour away. There are no mountains and no snow sports, though, so it suits walkers more than active travellers.

Both cities sit where three countries meet, and both make excellent bases. From Freiburg the pull is Basel and its art museums by train, Colmar and the half-timbered Alsace wine villages, and Strasbourg, with Staufen and Breisach closer to hand.

Luxembourg looks instead to Roman Trier and Metz, each under an hour away, and then Nancy. At home it has Vianden's castle, Echternach and the Moselle villages, nearly all reachable on free public transport, whereas the Alsace villages from Freiburg are easier with a car.

Freiburg is much the better family base. Children paddle in the Bächle, the Mundenhof animal park is free and the cable car is a treat. Europa-Park, Germany's largest theme park, is about 40 minutes away, enough to fill a week.

Luxembourg is calm and safe, and its casemate tunnels feel like an adventure. Still, the small Parc Merveilleux is its only attraction built for families, and with no zoo or theme park it suits two or three days rather than a school vacation.

Both are easy without a car, in different ways. Freiburg is a cycling city with a flat, largely car-free centre and dense trams. Regional trains climb the Höllental into the Black Forest, and many hotels hand out a card for local transport.

In Luxembourg, public transport is free across the whole country, so trams, buses and trains to Vianden or the Moselle need no ticket. Its old town is built on several levels, but public lifts and a funicular link the upper town with the valley quarters.

Neither is a shopping destination, and they serve different tastes. Freiburg is the place for independent boutiques, bookshops and organic stores in the Gerberau and Konviktstrasse lanes. It also has cuckoo clocks and wood carvings, and wine and schnapps at the market, but no luxury shopping.

Luxembourg is the reverse, with international luxury and premium fashion on the Grand-Rue, chains on Avenue de la Gare and the centuries-old Villeroy & Boch porcelain as its local speciality. Independent design is scarce.

Freiburg is clearly the cheaper stay. Rooms are scarcer and pricier than you would expect for its size, especially on summer weekends and during trade fairs. Market snacks, student-quarter restaurants and wine taverns keep daily spending moderate, though, and the Münster costs nothing to visit.

Luxembourg is expensive at nearly every turn, with hotels priced for business travellers and meals well above the Western European norm. Free transport, free museums and lunch menus soften the bill, and many visitors sleep in Trier or Metz instead.

Luxembourg has the stronger concert calendar. The Philharmonie on Kirchberg is a first-rate hall that draws touring orchestras and soloists, and the Grand Théâtre hosts visiting opera and dance. In summer there are open-air concerts at Neimënster in the Grund.

Freiburg's programme is smaller but has its own distinction. The Freiburger Barockorchester is one of Europe's leading period-instrument ensembles, Theater Freiburg runs its own repertory, and the Zelt-Musik-Festival fills a tent village each summer.

Freiburg sits in true spa country. Besides a thermal bath on its own eastern edge, it has Bad Krozingen's warm outdoor pools and saunas twenty minutes south, Badenweiler with its Roman ruins a little further on, and Baden-Baden's grand bathhouses an hour away by train.

Luxembourg has one spa town, Mondorf-les-Bains, half an hour away in its landscaped park, and otherwise relies on the Kirchberg pool complex and hotel spas. Its quiet weekends and river walks are restful, but there is far less choice.