Hamburg or Frankfurt?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Hamburg at least has sand. Its Elbe beaches at Oevelgoenne and Blankenese are good for watching container ships at sunset, though currents rule out swimming. The Baltic resorts of Travemuende and Timmendorfer Strand are about an hour away.

From Frankfurt the sea is a full day's journey. Summer swimming means outdoor pools or forest lakes such as the Langener Waldsee.

The two eat equally well, but in different ways. Frankfurt's food centres on the apple-wine taverns of Sachsenhausen, with tart Apfelwein, Grüne Soße and Handkäs at long shared tables, and the Kleinmarkthalle for regional produce.

Hamburg eats like a harbour town. You get fish rolls on the Landungsbruecken, Labskaus and plaice, Franzbroetchen at breakfast and a real coffee-roasting culture, though dining out costs a little more.

Frankfurt's sights are mostly indoors and Hamburg's mostly outdoors. Frankfurt is a museum city: more than a dozen institutions line the Museumsufer, led by the Städel. The rebuilt Römer, the cathedral and Goethe's birthplace sit beneath a skyline of towers like no other in Germany.

In Hamburg the cityscape itself is the main sight. The UNESCO-listed Speicherstadt warehouses and the Chilehaus are joined by the Elbphilharmonie plaza, and the Kunsthalle's Caspar David Friedrich paintings are the cultural high point.

Hamburg is far stronger at night. The Reeperbahn draws crowds every weekend, bars keep going until dawn, and each district has its own crowd, from the alternative Schanzenviertel to the smarter bars around the Alster.

Frankfurt is more selective. Its techno and house clubs carry a real musical pedigree, and the Bahnhofsviertel has character, but the city is a working one and only comes alive on Friday and Saturday.

Frankfurt has the slight edge, mainly because it has hills. The beech forests and Roman frontier trails of the Taunus, rising to the Großer Feldberg at about 880m, are under an hour away. The Stadtwald and the Rheingau vineyard paths offer gentler walks.

Hamburg's outdoors is flat and built around water. You can sail or paddle on the Alster, cycle through the orchards of the Altes Land or follow the wooded Elbe bank at Blankenese, and Lueneburg Heath is about an hour south.

Both are good bases, but Frankfurt is exceptional. Heidelberg and the Rhine Gorge are each about an hour away, high-speed trains reach Cologne cathedral in about the same time, and Mainz, Wiesbaden, Würzburg and Speyer could fill a week.

Hamburg's list is shorter but still strong. It centres on the brick Gothic towns of the north: Luebeck first, then Lueneburg, Bremen and Schwerin's lakeside castle, all on easy train routes.

Hamburg gives children more to do. Miniatur Wunderland can fill a morning on its own, Hagenbeck shows its animals without bars, and a harbour day of ferries, museum ships and the old Elbe tunnel needs no planning. Rainy days are common, so plan indoor options for each day.

Frankfurt works well for a few days, with the Senckenberg dinosaurs, a central zoo and the Palmengarten glasshouses, but no single sight there matches Hamburg's best.

Both are easy without a car, with walkable centres and integrated rail networks. Frankfurt's advantages are an airport about a quarter of an hour from the centre and a regional ticket network that reaches Mainz and the Taunus, though the zones take some learning. Hamburg puts harbour ferries on the same ticket and is flat enough to cycle, if you can cope with the wind.

Hamburg is the better place to shop. Neuer Wall and the Jungfernstieg combine luxury labels with covered arcades that are useful in the rain, the Alsterhaus is an institution, and the Karolinenviertel adds vintage and streetwear.

Frankfurt is mainly practical. The Zeil has the department stores, Goethestraße the luxury houses and Berger Straße the independents, but the city has no shopping speciality of its own.

Both are among Germany's more expensive cities, and in both the hotels are the main cost, especially in trade-fair weeks. In Frankfurt prices often drop at weekends and in summer when business travellers leave, and the cider taverns and Turkish grills are cheap places to eat. Hamburg's summer weekends stay expensive, but its day ticket includes the ferries, and the Elbphilharmonie plaza and the Speicherstadt cost nothing.

Hamburg has the stronger stage by a clear margin. The Elbphilharmonie's main hall is one of the most celebrated anywhere, the State Opera and Hamburg Ballet have international standing, and long-running musicals add mass appeal. The St Pauli club circuit where the Beatles started out is still there.

Frankfurt has a highly respected, adventurous opera company, the Alte Oper for concerts and some old jazz cellars, but its season goes quiet in summer.

Frankfurt wins on its surroundings rather than the city itself. Wiesbaden's hot-spring Kaiser-Friedrich-Therme and the thermal baths of Bad Homburg are both easy to reach. Hamburg has no springs and relies on sauna culture, as at the art nouveau Holthusenbad, with slow Alster boat rides and the Japanese garden in Planten un Blomen as its calmer pleasures.