Graz or Krakow?

You won't choose either city for swimming, and in both the best water is in a flooded former pit or quarry. Graz has the more relaxed setting for a hot afternoon. The Schwarzlsee and the other gravel-pit lakes south of town have grassy banks, jetties and kiosks, and Stubenbergsee makes a half-day out in the eastern hills.

Krakow's Zakrzowek is the more striking place, with turquoise water under limestone cliffs only a tram ride away. Swimming there is limited to fenced areas, though, and many visitors end up at the indoor water park instead.

The two are close, and the difference is in character. Graz cooks from its region: pumpkin seed oil on almost everything, cold fried chicken salad, Wurzelfleisch, morning markets at Kaiser-Josef-Platz and Lendplatz, and crisp white wine from the southern hills, best drunk in a Buschenschank among the vines.

Krakow is heartier and cheaper to graze through. Think pierogi, zurek served in bread, milk-bar lunches, obwarzanek from street carts and zapiekanki late at night, with flavoured vodka and craft beer in place of wine. Graz offers little beyond Austrian cooking, and Krakow's fine-dining scene is small.

Krakow has the weightier sightseeing. The vast Main Market Square, St Mary's Basilica with the Veit Stoss altarpiece, the royal castle and coronation cathedral on Wawel, and the synagogues of Kazimierz tell the story of a kingdom and its wartime history. The Czartoryski Museum's Leonardo is a single masterpiece that Graz cannot match.

Graz has a smaller, gentler old town of red roofs and arcaded courtyards, with the Uhrturm on the Schlossberg and Baroque Schloss Eggenberg. Its Landeszeughaus armoury is remarkable, and the Kunsthaus adds a modern contrast. Both fill two or three days, but Krakow's days carry more history.

Nightlife is where the two differ most. Graz goes out on a small scale: wine bars and pub crawls in the Bermuda Triangle around Mehlplatz, artier places in Lend, and a town that goes noticeably quiet when the students leave for the summer.

Krakow goes out late and often, in the brick-vaulted cellars of the Old Town and the courtyards of Kazimierz around Plac Nowy. Drinks are cheap enough that bar-hopping is the main event. The downside is stag and hen groups on weekend nights, which is why many visitors head to Kazimierz or Podgorze instead.

Graz has the mountains closer. The Schöckl rises above the city with a cable car, walking trails and paragliders, the Grazer Bergland is a short bus ride away, and the Gesäuse and Hochschwab offer real alpine hiking within about two hours. The South Styrian wine hills add gentle walking in autumn.

Krakow's green spaces near the centre are milder: the Planty, Blonia meadow, the Wolski Forest and the Kosciuszko Mound. Ojcow's limestone valley is half an hour away, but the Tatras and rafting on the Dunajec take a long day.

Krakow's day trips carry more weight. The Wieliczka Salt Mine, with its underground church, is half an hour out, and Auschwitz-Birkenau is a sobering visit that most travellers give a full day. Zakopane, Wadowice and Czestochowa extend the list, and almost all of it works by train, bus or minibus.

The trips from Graz are quieter and more rural. They include the South Styrian Wine Road, Riegersburg castle on its volcanic crag, the Lipizzaners at Piber, the abbey library at Admont, and Maribor across the Slovenian border by train. They make lovely days, but most are far easier with a car.

Both are safe, compact cities that work well with children, but they keep them busy in different ways. In Graz the best day is on the Schlossberg: the funicular up, the underground slide down and the Märchenbahn train through the rock. The FRida & freD museum and buggy-friendly trams help too, but there is no big zoo or theme park.

Krakow has the bigger attractions: the fire-breathing dragon below Wawel, a zoo in the Wolski Forest, a water park open all year and Energylandia an hour away. On the other hand, the cobbles are hard work with a pushchair, and several major sights are too heavy for young children.

Graz is the easier of the two to get around. Its centre is small, flat and largely pedestrianised, and trams run through the heart of town on one simple ticket. A lift and a funicular take you up the Schlossberg. Krakow's Old Town, Wawel and Kazimierz are also within walking distance of each other, but the cobbles slow you down with luggage and trams can get stuck in traffic.

Outside the cities the balance flips. Krakow's big day trips are easy by train or bus, while the vineyards and mountains around Graz really call for a car.

Neither city is a shopping destination, and each is best for local goods. In Graz those are mostly edible: pumpkin seed oil, Schilcher rosé, apple brandies and craft chocolate, plus loden and traditional costume. The old Kastner & Öhler department store has a rooftop terrace overlooking the old town.

In Krakow the equivalent is craft. The stalls of the medieval Cloth Hall sell amber, carved boxes, lace and blue-patterned Boleslawiec pottery, and Plac Nowy has a weekend flea market. Much of it is aimed at tourists, and neither city has much luxury shopping.

Krakow is clearly the cheaper city. Beer, vodka, milk-bar lunches, trams and city museums all cost little, and moving away from the Main Square into Kazimierz or Podgorze brings prices down further.

Graz is reasonable for Austria rather than cheap. Student lunch menus and bakeries help during the day, but sit-down dinners and wine cost the usual Austrian amounts. The walkable centre and combined museum tickets help keep the rest of the budget in check.

Both cities take music seriously and keep their theatre in their own language, so the difference is in scale and setting. Graz has the grander stage: its opera house, the second largest in Austria, runs a full season of opera, ballet and musicals. The year is framed by Styriarte for early music in early summer and steirischer herbst for avant-garde work in autumn.

Krakow's strengths are on a smaller scale: Chopin recitals in churches and palaces most evenings, jazz in brick cellars, klezmer in Kazimierz and the Jewish Culture Festival's open-air finale on Szeroka Street.

Graz is the better choice, though mostly for what lies outside the city. Styria's thermal villages are about an hour east, from Hundertwasser's Bad Blumau to Loipersdorf and Bad Radkersburg, and all are open to day visitors. Back in town, the coffee houses, the Stadtpark and the shaded Schlossberg paths suit an unhurried pace.

Krakow has less to offer: hotel spas, the water park's saunas and salt-air sessions deep in the Wieliczka mine. Its naturally hot thermal pools in the Podhale region are about two hours south, too far for an easy afternoon.