Hamburg or Nuremberg?

Neither city is a place for a beach vacation, but Hamburg has more to offer. The sandy Elbe shore at Oevelgönne and below Blankenese is a good place to watch container ships at sunset, though the currents rule out swimming. The Baltic at Travemünde or Timmendorfer Strand, about an hour away, has proper sea bathing and the traditional wicker beach chairs.

Nuremberg is far from any coast. The nearest option is the Franconian Lake District around the Brombachsee, also about an hour away, where the reservoirs warm up more than the Baltic and suit a summer afternoon with children. Grassy banks and small strips of sand are all there is to the beach.

The two cities eat about equally well, but the food is very different. Hamburg's cooking comes from the port: herring and shrimp rolls on the Landungsbrücken piers, Labskaus and eel soup, Franzbrötchen for breakfast, and a long coffee tradition. It also has the broader choice, from Portuguese places near the harbour to a fine-dining tier.

Nuremberg is about pork and beer. Little bratwurst grilled over beechwood, Schäufele on Sundays and Lebkuchen all year make up the menu, and the main reason to eat here is drinking Franconian lagers and Kellerbier from small breweries in beer gardens along the Pegnitz.

Nuremberg goes deeper on history. Inside its almost complete medieval walls are the Kaiserburg, St Sebaldus and St Lorenz, and Dürer's house. Although it was rebuilt after the war, the old town still feels like one place. The Germanisches Nationalmuseum can fill a day, and the Rally Grounds and Courtroom 600 add a serious twentieth-century chapter that few cities can match.

Hamburg's heritage is commercial and spread out by the water. The Speicherstadt warehouses and the Chilehaus are its UNESCO highlights, and the Kunsthalle and its Caspar David Friedrich paintings are the main art draw. With the old core largely lost, sightseeing here means walking between districts rather than one historic centre.

Hamburg's nightlife is in a different league. The Reeperbahn in St Pauli combines neon, dive bars, cabaret and music clubs, bars have no set closing time, and a big weekend night can end at the fish market at sunrise. Each district has its own mood, from the alternative Schanzenviertel to the smarter bars around the Alster.

Nuremberg's evenings are relaxed and mostly in bars. You drink wine or beer in old town taverns, or head to Gostenhof's small alternative bars west of the walls. It makes a good evening, but you would not plan a trip around it.

Both offer gentle, low-lying outdoor time, Hamburg on the water and Nuremberg in forests and rock. In Hamburg people sail and paddle on the Alster, cycle through the orchards of the Altes Land in spring blossom, and walk the Elbe path to the steep lanes of Blankenese.

Nuremberg has the edge for walkers and climbers. The Reichswald forest starts at the edge of the city, and Franconian Switzerland, about an hour away, has wooded valleys, caves, limestone towers and waymarked trails between villages.

Nuremberg makes the stronger base. Bamberg is less than an hour away, Regensburg and Würzburg are about an hour each, and Rothenburg and Dinkelsbühl on the Romantic Road are only a little further. Wagner's Bayreuth and Munich are also within easy reach, so a week of day trips never repeats itself.

Hamburg's choice is good but narrower, built on the brick Gothic towns of the north. Lübeck is the clear first pick, and Lüneburg, Bremen, Schwerin and Wismar follow. In summer, the Baltic resorts add a beach day that Nuremberg cannot match.

Hamburg is easier with children. Miniatur Wunderland can absorb a whole afternoon, Hagenbeck shows its animals across moats rather than behind bars, and a harbour day with ferries, museum ships and the old Elbe tunnel costs very little effort. The Heide Park and Hansa-Park are also within an hour.

Nuremberg's toy-making past gives it a charming smaller programme: the Toy Museum, full-size locomotives at the railway museum, and the zoo set in old quarries. In Advent there is also a children's Christmas market with carousels. The cobbled climb to the castle is hard work with a pushchair.

Getting around is easy in both, but at different scales. Hamburg is bigger and relies on its U-Bahn and S-Bahn, with the bonus that harbour ferries run on the same ticket and the airport is on the S-Bahn line.

Nuremberg's sights sit mostly inside walls about 1.5km across, so most days are spent on foot. Trams and the U-Bahn are only needed for the zoo, the Rally Grounds and Fürth.

Hamburg is the place to shop. Luxury labels line Neuer Wall, covered arcades link the streets around the Jungfernstieg on wet days, and the Alsterhaus sits on the water. The Karolinenviertel and Schanzenviertel have vintage, streetwear and small design shops.

Nuremberg's shopping streets are mostly chain stores, and its strength is souvenirs. You can buy Lebkuchen in tins, wooden toys and tin figures, and crafts from the Handwerkerhof workshops. In Advent the Christkindlesmarkt makes shopping a real reason to visit for a few weeks.

Nuremberg is easier on the wallet. Filling tavern meals, cheap local beer and low-cost transport keep daily spending down. Hotel rooms get scarce during the big trade fairs and the Advent market, but are fairly priced on ordinary dates.

Hamburg costs more on both rooms and restaurants, especially in the centre and HafenCity. Some of the best things are free, though: the Elbphilharmonie plaza, the Speicherstadt and the riverside walks. A day ticket that includes the harbour ferries also doubles as a cheap boat tour.

This is one of the biggest gaps between the two. Hamburg has the Elbphilharmonie, with its remarkable acoustics, plus the Laeiszhalle, the State Opera, an internationally known ballet company and two of Germany's leading theatres. It is also the country's musicals capital, and St Pauli's small clubs, where the Beatles once played, fill up for the Reeperbahn Festival.

Nuremberg's Staatstheater puts on opera, ballet and drama in a fine Art Nouveau house, and its summer brings an open-air concert in the Luitpoldhain and the free Bardentreffen folk weekend. The programme is solid, but it is a regional one.

Neither is a spa destination, but they relax you in different ways. Hamburg's best is the art nouveau Holthusenbad and its sauna area, followed by a boat ride on the Alster or a quiet hour in the Japanese garden at Planten un Blomen.

Nuremberg comes closer to real thermal water. A large thermal spa with sauna gardens is a short U-Bahn ride away in Fürth, and Bad Windsheim, about an hour away, has saline pools you can float in. Expect mixed, nude saunas in either city.