Hamburg or Leipzig?

Neither city is a beach destination, and neither swims well in its centre, but the water each offers is quite different. Hamburg's Elbe beaches at Oevelgoenne and Blankenese are for watching ships, not swimming, so real bathing means an hour's trip to the Baltic at Travemuende or Timmendorfer Strand, with wicker beach chairs and cooler sea water.

Leipzig keeps its swimming close to home. The flooded mine lakes south of the city, such as the Cospudener See, have sandy shores and clear water, are a tram or bike ride away, and warm up a little more in high summer.

Hamburg eats better, and its food has a clearer identity. Fish rolls on the Landungsbruecken, Labskaus, eel soup and Franzbroetchen give it a port city's menu, and there is a proper fine-dining tier on top of the Portuguese and Turkish places near the harbour.

Leipzig's cooking is hearty Saxon fare and good value, but fine dining is thin. The interesting meals are in the casual kitchens and beer gardens of the Karli and Plagwitz. Its own treats are Gose, the salted sour beer, and a coffee-house history going back to the early eighteenth century.

The two are close in what they offer, but the stories differ. Hamburg is about trade by water: the UNESCO-listed Speicherstadt warehouses and the Chilehaus, the Elbphilharmonie on its old warehouse base, and the Kunsthalle's Caspar David Friedrich paintings, spread across districts rather than one historic core.

Leipzig is more compact and leans towards music and modern history. Bach's Thomaskirche, the Nikolaikirche where the 1989 Monday prayers began, the Stasi museum in the Runde Ecke and the Grassi museums can all be covered in two or three days.

Hamburg is the bigger night out by a clear margin. The Reeperbahn gives it neon, cabaret, music clubs and weekend crowds, while the Schanzenviertel, Ottensen and the Alster bars offer quite different moods from rough to smart, and something is open on most nights of the week.

Leipzig is smaller, and its strength is electronic clubs in old factories with relaxed door policies. Outside weekends and term time it can feel quiet, and the bar streets of the Karli and Connewitz are student territory rather than a famous strip.

Both are flat, and water shapes the outdoors in each, but Hamburg has a little more to offer. Sailing on the Alster, the riverside path to Blankenese's wooded bank, cycling through the Altes Land orchards in blossom and the heather of Lueneburg Heath an hour south give more variety.

Leipzig's best asset is the Auwald, a floodplain forest running right through the city, plus canoeing from Plagwitz and cycling around the mine lakes. Anything with hills means two hours on the train.

Leipzig is the better base. Its central rail position puts Dresden, Weimar, Erfurt, Halle, Wittenberg, Naumburg and the Bauhaus at Dessau within easy reach, so a week can be filled with a different town each day, with Berlin as a bonus.

Hamburg's list is good but shorter and more alike: Luebeck stands out, and Lueneburg, Bremen, Schwerin and Wismar add more brick Gothic and Hanseatic streets. Its one advantage is the Baltic resorts for a summer day at the sea.

Hamburg holds children's attention for longer. Miniatur Wunderland can take up half a day on its own, Hagenbeck shows animals across moats instead of bars, and a harbour day with ferries, museum ships and the walk under the Elbe feels like an adventure. Two theme parks within an hour add to it.

Leipzig's zoo, with the covered Gondwanaland hall, is among Europe's best, and the summer lakes and Belantis help. Beyond those, most of the museums are aimed at adults.

Both are easy without a car, but in different ways. Hamburg is a bigger city that relies on its U-Bahn and S-Bahn, with the harbour ferries on the same ticket doubling as a port tour. The airport is on the S-Bahn too, though Blankenese and Hagenbeck still take a train ride.

Leipzig is about walking and trams: the old town takes a quarter of an hour to cross inside its ring, and trams fan out to Plagwitz, Connewitz and the zoo. Both are flat and good for cycling, though Hamburg's wind and rain make it less pleasant on a bike.

Hamburg is much the better shopping trip. Luxury labels line Neuer Wall, covered arcades link the streets around the Jungfernstieg, and the Karolinenviertel and Schanzenviertel cover vintage and streetwear. Tea, coffee and maritime goods make good things to take home.

Leipzig's trade-fair passages are pleasant in the rain, but they mostly hold chains, with little luxury. Its better finds are in the west, along Karl-Heine-Strasse and at the Spinnerei galleries, plus sheet music and instrument shops for musicians.

Leipzig is the cheaper stay, and almost all of the saving is in the room. Central hotels cost well below Hamburg's, which are among the dearest in Germany. Outside the trade-fair weeks, mid-range beds in Leipzig are easy to find.

Day to day the gap narrows, since restaurants, drinks and transport in Leipzig cost the national norm. Hamburg's free waterfront, parks and Elbphilharmonie plaza, plus its fish rolls and bakeries, help balance its higher prices.

Both are first-rate music cities, with different emphases. Hamburg has the Elbphilharmonie, the Laeiszhalle, a celebrated ballet, two leading theatres and Germany's biggest musical theatres, plus the St Pauli rock clubs where the Beatles started and the Reeperbahn Festival each autumn.

Leipzig is the place for Bach: the Thomanerchor in the Thomaskirche, the Bachfest in June and the Gewandhaus Orchestra facing the opera across Augustusplatz. Its Whitsun Wave-Gotik-Treffen also draws a goth crowd unlike anything in Hamburg.

Neither is a spa destination, but Hamburg is the more pleasant place to unwind. The art nouveau Holthusenbad and large sauna complexes give it a real bathing culture, and the Japanese garden in Planten un Blomen and boat rides on the Alster are good for slow afternoons.

Leipzig has only standard sauna complexes and hotel spas, with real spa towns a drive away. What it offers instead is quiet: uncrowded streets and long walks in the floodplain forest.