Hallstatt or Karlovy Vary?

Neither is a place for swimming, but Hallstatt at least has water at its door. The deep, cold Hallstätter See has a small bathing lawn at the north end of the village and a larger lido at Obertraun, good for a quick plunge after a hike in July or August.

Karlovy Vary has no natural swimming in town. The nearest lake is Lake Medard, a flooded mine near Sokolov, so most swimming happens in the warm outdoor pools fed by the springs.

Karlovy Vary offers more to eat, though neither is a food destination. Its Czech cooking runs from svíčková and roast pork to Pilsner-style beer. It also has two specialities of its own: warm spa wafers from the colonnade stalls and Becherovka, still distilled in town. The cafés along the Teplá add coffee and cake at any hour.

Hallstatt has one dish worth seeking out, char or whitefish from the lake. Beyond that you get guesthouse schnitzel and goulash, and kitchens that close early once the day visitors leave.

Karlovy Vary has more to look at. The whole spa quarter is the sight: tiers of pastel Belle Époque hotels, three very different colonnades, the Vřídlo geyser shooting hot water into the air, and the baroque and Russian Orthodox churches. It fills a day or two of easy sightseeing.

Hallstatt's history goes back further, but there is less of it to visit. Salt mining here goes back thousands of years and gave its name to the Iron Age Hallstatt culture. You see that story in the salt mine, the small museum and the painted skulls of the Beinhaus, which together make a rich half day.

Both are early-to-bed places, but Karlovy Vary has a little more after dark. There are hotel and wine bars, Czech pubs and casinos, and the town comes properly alive during the film festival week in early summer. Hallstatt has nothing after the tour groups leave apart from dinner, a terrace and a walk by the lake.

Hallstatt wins easily. The village sits beneath the Dachstein massif. A cable car climbs the Krippenstein to a platform over a sheer drop and to the giant ice caves, and the Echerntal and the Gosausee walk lead into some of the classic scenery of the Alps. Via ferratas in summer and freeride skiing in winter round it out.

Karlovy Vary's outdoors is green and gentle. Graded spa paths climb through beech forest to the Diana tower, with the Slavkov Forest moors, canoeing on the Ohře and skiing at Klínovec further out. It suits easy walking much better than mountain days.

The day trips are equally good but very different. From Hallstatt you tour Salzkammergut lake towns: the Habsburg Kaiservilla in Bad Ischl, St Wolfgang's altarpiece, Gmunden's lake castle, with Salzburg as a long day. Buses and the lakeside railway make these slow, so a car helps.

Karlovy Vary's outings are more about castles and towns. Loket's castle on its river loop is only twenty minutes away, and the sister spa towns of Mariánské Lázně and Františkovy Lázně, the St Maurus reliquary at Bečov, mining Jáchymov and brewing Plzeň are all within reach. Prague is a long day by coach.

Hallstatt has the bigger draws for children. The salt mine, with its funicular, wooden miners' slides and underground lake, is a real adventure, and older children remember the ice caves and the Krippenstein cable car. The catch is the single steep lane, crowded at midday, so families often stay in Obertraun.

Karlovy Vary is calm and safe but built around adults. Children enjoy the geyser, sipping from spouted spring cups, the funicular to the Diana lookout with its animal enclosure, and a trip to Loket castle. After that, ideas run out quickly.

Karlovy Vary is a little easier. The spa quarter is one long walk along the promenades. Local buses and the funicular take you up the steep sides, and the town has two railway stations and coaches to Prague, so you can manage without a car.

Hallstatt is tiny and largely car-free, but getting in and out takes effort. The railway station is across the lake, reached by a small boat, and buses to Obertraun, Gosau and Bad Ischl thin out outside summer. That is why many visitors drive.

Karlovy Vary is the better place to shop. Stará louka and Tržiště have jewellers and fashion boutiques, and there are local crafts worth buying: Moser crystal from its own showroom, Karlovy Vary porcelain and Bohemian garnets. Hallstatt has one souvenir lane, where the only buy that belongs to the place is salt from the mine above.

Karlovy Vary is much easier on the wallet. The grand hotels and colonnade restaurants charge for the setting, but pubs and canteens a street back serve Czech food and beer at local prices, and the springs themselves are free. The film festival week is the time to avoid if you are watching costs.

Hallstatt is expensive. It has few rooms for visitors from all over the world, meals are priced like an Alpine resort, and the salt mine, funicular and cable car add up. Budget travellers usually sleep in Obertraun, Bad Goisern or Bad Ischl.

Karlovy Vary offers a modest but real programme. Its symphony orchestra, descended from the old spa orchestras, plays light classical concerts, some outdoors on the colonnades in summer. The ornate Fellner and Helmer theatre stages operetta and touring drama, and an autumn Dvořák festival adds a few highlights.

Hallstatt has the village brass band and the odd church concert. For a real evening of music you need Bad Ischl's summer operetta or Salzburg.

This is Karlovy Vary's whole reason for being. You walk the colonnades with a spouted porcelain cup, drinking from thirteen springs. Sanatoria offer carbonated baths, peat wraps and medical consultations, and there are pools of warm spring water, indoors and on the hillside. Booking a spa stay gets you the full experience.

Hallstatt has only a few hotel saunas. For brine baths you go half an hour to Bad Ischl. The village's restful side is its misty early mornings and empty evenings by the lake, provided you escape the crowded middle of the day.