Hamburg or Karlovy Vary?

Neither is a swimming destination, but Hamburg at least has sand of its own on the Elbe at Oevelgoenne and Blankenese, and the Baltic resorts of Travemuende and Timmendorfer Strand are about an hour away for proper sea bathing. Karlovy Vary is far inland, so swimming means Lake Medard, a flooded former mine near Sokolov, or the warm outdoor pools fed by the springs.

Hamburg has more range and a port city's identity. There are herring and shrimp rolls, Labskaus and Franzbroetchen, a long coffee-roasting tradition, and a confident modern scene that runs from Portuguese and Turkish cooking to fine dining.

Food in Karlovy Vary is narrower: roast pork, dumplings and Pilsner. Its own treats are the warm spa wafers and Becherovka, which is distilled in town. You eat cake in cafés between springs there, rather than seeking out restaurants.

Both are UNESCO-listed, but for very different places. In Hamburg it is the Speicherstadt warehouses and the Kontorhaus district with the Chilehaus, beside the Elbphilharmonie. The city adds the Kunsthalle, museums of design and photography, and big landmark churches, though wartime losses left a city of districts rather than an old core.

Karlovy Vary's Belle Époque spa quarter is a complete set piece, with its colonnades and the Vřídlo geyser. Its museums are small and specialised, though, and two days see it all. Hamburg gives you more to fill a longer stay.

This is the widest gap between the two. In Hamburg, the Reeperbahn, the pavement bars of the Schanzenviertel and the clubs in old bunkers keep going until dawn. Ottensen and the Alster offer calmer or smarter evenings.

Karlovy Vary winds down by eleven, leaving hotel bars, Czech pubs and casinos. Only the film festival week brings parties to the valley.

Karlovy Vary has the edge for walkers. Beech and spruce forest rises straight from the spa valley, and old, gently graded paths climb to the Diana tower. The Slavkov Forest, the Ore Mountains with skiing at Klínovec, and canoeing on the Ohře are all close by.

Hamburg's outdoors is flat and watery. You can sail or paddle on the Alster, cycle through the Altes Land orchards, follow the riverside path to Blankenese, or go to Lueneburg Heath an hour to the south. It is better for time on the water but poorer for hills and woods.

Hamburg has the deeper list, built on brick Gothic Hanseatic towns. Luebeck is under an hour by train, and Lueneburg, Bremen, Schwerin's lakeside castle and Wismar are all easy to reach by rail.

Karlovy Vary's outings are rewarding but rely on slow regional lines or a car. Loket's castle is twenty minutes away, and you can also visit the sister spa towns of Mariánské Lázně and Františkovy Lázně or the reliquary at Bečov. Prague is a long day by coach.

Hamburg is much the stronger with children. It has Miniatur Wunderland, Tierpark Hagenbeck, harbour ferries and the old Elbe tunnel, with two theme parks an hour out and wide, pram-friendly pavements.

Karlovy Vary charms young visitors for a day or two with the geyser, the spouted spa cups and the funicular. Little else is aimed at them, though, and the steep valley sides wear out anyone pushing a pushchair.

Hamburg is the easier city to get around. The centre is compact, the U-Bahn and S-Bahn reach every district, the airport is on the S-Bahn and the harbour ferries run on the same ticket. Karlovy Vary is walkable along its narrow promenade, but the climbs need buses or the funicular, and with only slow regional trains, a car helps for the forests and villages.

Hamburg is a proper shopping city. It has luxury labels on Neuer Wall, covered arcades for wet days, and vintage and streetwear in the Karolinenviertel and Schanzenviertel.

Karlovy Vary's promenades are smaller and aimed at spa guests. Its specialities are distinctive, though: Moser crystal from the company's own showroom, local porcelain and Bohemian garnets make better keepsakes than the short street of shops suggests.

Karlovy Vary is the cheaper stay, though it costs more than ordinary Czech towns. The hotels along the colonnades charge for the setting, but pubs one street back serve Czech food and beer at local prices. Hamburg is expensive by German standards, especially during trade fairs and on summer weekends. You save there mainly through the transport day ticket and the free harbour walks.

Hamburg is a serious destination for music and theatre. It has the Elbphilharmonie and the Laeiszhalle, the State Opera and the Hamburg Ballet, and leading theatres. There are also long-running musicals reached by boat, and the St Pauli club circuit where the Beatles began.

Karlovy Vary offers a pleasant evening out rather than a season to plan around. The town's symphony orchestra plays light classical concerts, sometimes outdoors on the colonnades, and touring productions come to the Fellner and Helmer theatre.

Here Karlovy Vary is in a different league. It has thirteen springs, a drinking cure taken from porcelain cups, sanatoria offering carbonated baths and peat wraps, and pools of warm spring water. It is a place to come specifically to rest.

Hamburg relies on the German sauna habit, with the art nouveau Holthusenbad, large bath complexes, and quiet corners such as the Japanese garden in Planten un Blomen. It is good for unwinding between sights, but not for a cure.