Graz or Rothenburg ob der Tauber?

Neither place is a swimming destination, but Graz has more to offer on a hot afternoon. Former gravel pits such as the Schwarzlsee lie on the flat land just south of the city, with jetties, grassy banks and water that warms nicely in high summer.

In Rothenburg, swimming means the town pool or a drive of about an hour to the artificial lakes of the Franconian lake district.

Graz is far the better place to eat. Styrian cooking has real character: dark pumpkin seed oil on salads and even on ice cream, cold fried chicken salad, and pork boiled with horseradish. The markets at Kaiser-Josef-Platz and Lendplatz are worth a morning, and the crisp whites from the southern hills are poured in town and in Buschenschank taverns less than an hour away.

Rothenburg offers hearty plates of Schäufele and dumplings with Silvaner from the round Bocksbeutel bottle. Many of the inns around the Marktplatz cook for coach parties, though, so the better meals are in family guesthouses further from the square. The sugared Schneeball pastry is more for photos than for eating.

Both reward a sightseer equally, but in different ways. Graz is a layered city: Renaissance arcaded courtyards, a Baroque mausoleum, the armour-packed Landeszeughaus, Schloss Eggenberg's palace and park, and the modern Kunsthaus across the Mur. That is enough for two or three days.

Rothenburg is one complete medieval picture. You walk the covered wall, look down the Plönlein and step into St Jakob to see Riemenschneider's carved altar. It is more concentrated and more atmospheric, but it is seen in a shorter visit.

Graz has a real student night out, if a small one. Wine bars and pubs fill the lanes around Mehlplatz, Lend has artier places across the river, and a few clubs stay open late at weekends, although it all quietens in the long summer break.

In Rothenburg the evening highlight is the night watchman's tour, followed by a glass in an inn. For anything livelier you need Würzburg or Nuremberg.

Graz sits on the edge of the Alps, and it shows. The Schöckl rises above the city with a cable car, trails and paragliders, the Mur cycle path runs straight through town, and the limestone walls of the Gesäuse and Hochschwab are within about two hours for serious hiking.

Rothenburg's outdoors is gentle and on the doorstep: paths drop from the walls into the Tauber valley past mills and meadows, and the valley cycle path is ideal for easy family riding. There are no mountains or big landscapes nearby.

Rothenburg has the edge for excursions, because it sits among towns of the same calibre. Walled Dinkelsbühl, crater-ringed Nördlingen, Schwäbisch Hall and Würzburg's Residenz are all about an hour away or less, and Nuremberg is not much further, which makes the Romantic Road a natural touring route.

The outings from Graz are more about the countryside: the South Styrian wine road, Riegersburg on its volcanic crag, the monastic library at Admont and Mariazell's basilica. Maribor is the easy one, about an hour away by train. Both regions are much easier to explore with a car.

Graz gives children far more to do. On the Schlossberg they can ride the lift up and come down a long slide inside the hill, take the Märchenbahn through tunnels in the rock, then spend time at the FRida & freD children's museum and the Herberstein wildlife park.

Rothenburg works for a day or two as a storybook setting, with ramparts to walk and a lantern-carrying night watchman to follow. Older children tend to love the crime museum, but the cobbles are hard work with a pushchair and little else is built for children.

Graz is the easier place to get around. Its flat, largely pedestrianised centre is linked by trams on one simple ticket, a funicular climbs the castle hill, and cycling along the Mur is easy.

Rothenburg's walled core takes about fifteen minutes to cross on foot, but the lanes are cobbled and the climb back from the valley is steep. Reaching it by rail usually means a change at Steinach onto a quiet branch line, and the regional buses are sparse.

Graz has ordinary city shopping. There are high-street and traditional shops along the Herrengasse and Sporgasse, a grand nineteenth-century department store with a rooftop view, and small design and vintage shops in Lend. The best things to take home are edible: pumpkin seed oil, Schilcher rosé and regional chocolate.

Rothenburg sells one thing above all, Christmas, all year round, with glass baubles, nutcrackers and Erzgebirge carvings, plus teddy bears and cuckoo clocks. For fashion or everyday shopping there is almost nothing.

Both work out at about the same cost, but you save in different places. In Graz the student population keeps lunch menus and bakeries good value, and combined tickets cover the Joanneum museums.

Rothenburg adds a tourist premium inside the walls that peaks in December and on summer weekends. Sleeping just outside the gates or in a nearby village cuts the bill noticeably.

For an evening at the opera or a concert, Graz is in another league. Its opera house, the second largest in Austria, runs a full season, and the Schauspielhaus covers drama. The Styriarte and steirischer herbst festivals bring early music and avant-garde work. A strong jazz scene grows out of the music university.

In Rothenburg the stage is mostly about history. There is the costumed Meistertrunk play, open-air theatre in summer and organ concerts in St Jakob, but on most evenings there is no show to go to.

Graz has a little more for a restful trip. Styria's thermal belt is about an hour east, with Hundertwasser's wavy Bad Blumau, Loipersdorf and Bad Radkersburg to choose from, and back in the city there are coffee houses and the shaded Stadtpark to linger in.

Rothenburg's calm comes from the empty lanes early in the morning and after the coach groups leave. For bathing, the salt-water pool at Bad Windsheim or the old spa town of Bad Mergentheim are both within about an hour.