Freiburg or Verona?

Neither city is on the coast, and in Freiburg swimming is something you do on a hot afternoon, not a reason to come. Locals cycle out to the flooded gravel pits on the Rhine plain, which have grassy banks and warm water, or drive an hour into the hills to Titisee and Schluchsee, which stay cool.

Verona has Lake Garda half an hour away, and that changes things. The southern shore around Peschiera, Lazise, Bardolino and Sirmione has lidos, lawns, small pebble beaches and flat limestone ledges, and the water is warm and calm from June to September. It is still an outing rather than a base for a beach vacation, but a much better one.

Both cities eat regionally and drink wine from just outside town. Freiburg's Baden cooking has a French touch: Flammkuchen, Schäufele with potato salad, Black Forest ham and mountain trout, with Pinot from the Kaiserstuhl and the grilled sausage at the Münster market as a daily ritual.

Verona has more depth, both on the plate and in the glass. Amarone risotto, bigoli with duck and bollito with peppery pearà are served in plain osterie around Piazza delle Erbe and in Veronetta, and Valpolicella, Soave and Bardolino are all made nearby. Neither city offers much international food, and in Verona it is worth walking away from the Arena to avoid tired tourist menus.

Freiburg's old town is charming but quickly seen: the red sandstone Münster with its tower you can climb, the Historisches Kaufhaus, the two medieval gates and the Bächle channels running through the streets. Much of it was rebuilt after the war, and the Augustinermuseum is the main collection.

Verona is in another class. It is a UNESCO-listed city where Roman ruins, the monuments of the della Scala lords and Renaissance streets sit on top of one another. The Arena, the Roman theatre, the Romanesque Basilica of San Zeno and Castelvecchio's museum alone justify two or three days.

The two are about level, and neither is a reason to come. In Freiburg the evening is driven by students: pubs and beer gardens around the Martinstor, summer crowds along the Dreisam, and a few clubs playing techno and indie, so dancing is at least possible.

Verona's evening centres on the aperitivo, with a spritz or a glass of Valpolicella at a table in Piazza delle Erbe, while Veronetta's wine bars stay busier for longer. There is no dance scene in the centre. In summer, the opera crowd leaving the Arena brings the streets back to life around midnight.

In Freiburg the outdoors starts on the doorstep. You can walk up the Schlossberg from the old town, and a cable car takes you to the Schauinsland ridge at about 1,280m. The Feldberg offers hiking in summer and skiing in winter, the mountain biking is excellent, and the Kaiserstuhl's terraced vineyards make for easy cycling.

Verona has gentler countryside close by, with the cypress-lined Valpolicella hills and the Adige cycle route. Its more dramatic landscapes, such as Monte Baldo's ridges, the windsurfing waters at the north end of Lake Garda and the Lessinia gorges, take an hour or more to reach, and the Dolomites are too far for a day.

Both are excellent bases. Freiburg sits where Germany, France and Switzerland meet: Basel is under an hour by train, Baden-Baden about an hour, and Colmar, Strasbourg and the half-timbered Alsace villages are close, though the villages are easier by car.

Verona still comes out ahead, because its neighbours include some of Italy's great art cities and most are a short train ride away. Venice is just over an hour, Vicenza with its Palladio buildings and Padua with Giotto's chapel are closer still, and Mantua is under an hour south. Add the Garda harbour towns and the Valpolicella and Soave wine cellars, and two weeks would not exhaust the options.

Each city has a major theme park within easy reach: Europa-Park, Germany's largest, is about 40 minutes from Freiburg, and Gardaland is about half an hour from Verona. The difference is the city itself. Freiburg works well for children day to day: they paddle in the Bächle, run around the free Mundenhof animal park and ride the Schauinsland cable car, and families get around on bikes.

In Verona, the Arena and the Roman theatre catch children's imagination, and the safari drive at Parco Natura Viva is a treat. But most of the sights are aimed at adults, summer afternoons get very hot, and the family attractions usually need a car.

Both have small, flat, mostly traffic-free centres you can cover on foot. Freiburg adds a dense tram network, cycle lanes everywhere and regional trains up the Höllental into the Black Forest, and many hotels give guests a card that covers local transport.

Verona has no trams, and visitors mostly use the buses only to reach the station or the airport. Rail links to Venice, Milan and Peschiera are very good, but the Valpolicella villages, the Lessinia and parts of Garda are much easier with a car.

Neither city is a shopping destination: serious shoppers head to Basel from Freiburg and to Milan from Verona. Freiburg offers chains on Kaiser-Joseph-Strasse, independent shops in the Gerberau and Konviktstrasse quarters, and cuckoo clocks and wood carvings.

Verona feels smarter. Marble-paved Via Mazzini is lined with Italian fashion labels, Corso Porta Borsari has jewellers and shoe shops, and Amarone, olive oil from the Garda shore and pandoro make better things to take home.

The two cost much the same, and in both the hotel room is the big expense, especially in summer and during trade fairs. In Freiburg you can stay in the nearby Black Forest villages to save, and the Münster and most sights cost little or nothing, though trips into Switzerland are noticeably more expensive.

In Verona, summer opera nights are when rooms get hardest to find and most expensive, and staying near the station or in Veronetta helps. The wine counters and student osterie are fair value, as are the local wines.

Freiburg has a solid year-round programme: opera, drama and dance at Theater Freiburg, the respected Freiburger Barockorchester at the Konzerthaus, and the Zelt-Musik-Festival in its tent village each summer.

Verona has something few cities can match: grand opera on most summer evenings from June to early September, performed to thousands in a Roman amphitheatre. The Roman theatre's summer festival adds Shakespeare and jazz. Between autumn and spring the gap narrows, with the Teatro Filarmonico's season as the main draw.

Southern Baden is spa country, and Freiburg is the easier base for it. There is a mineral thermal bath on the city's eastern edge, Bad Krozingen's warm outdoor pools are twenty minutes away, Badenweiler has a modern spa beside its Roman bath ruins, and Baden-Baden is an hour away by train.

Verona's thermal waters lie further out, at Sirmione's lakeside spa, the villa-garden thermal park near Lazise and the old springs at Caldiero. In the city itself, rest means a long lunch, the evening passeggiata by the river and the terraces of the Giardino Giusti.