Hamburg or Stuttgart?

Neither is a beach destination, but Hamburg at least has sand. The Elbe beaches at Oevelgoenne and Blankenese are good for watching container ships at sunset, though the currents make the river unsafe for swimming. Proper bathing on the Baltic at Travemuende or Timmendorfer Strand, with its wicker beach chairs, is about an hour away.

Stuttgart has none of this. The Neckar is a working river and Max-Eyth-See is for boating rather than swimming, so summer swimming means the outdoor pools, some fed by mineral springs. The nearest open water worth the trip is Lake Constance, more than two hours south.

Both cities eat well, in different ways. Hamburg's food comes from the port: fish rolls eaten on the piers, Labskaus and plaice, Franzbroetchen with coffee from a long roasting tradition, plus a wider spread of Portuguese and Turkish cooking near the harbour.

Stuttgart's strength is Swabian home cooking and its own wine. Maultaschen and Käsespätzle come with Trollinger from vineyards inside the city limits, and the seasonal Besen taverns in growers' houses have no Hamburg equivalent. Cheap street food and international variety are thinner here.

These two are evenly matched, and both lost much of their old centres in the war, but the sights could hardly be more different. Hamburg's culture is maritime and mercantile: the UNESCO-listed Speicherstadt and Chilehaus, St Michael's, and the Kunsthalle's Caspar David Friedrich paintings, best taken in on waterside walks between districts.

Stuttgart is the city of engineering and modern design. The Mercedes-Benz and Porsche museums are the main draws, alongside the Le Corbusier houses on the Weissenhof Estate and the Staatsgalerie's postmodern wing, with the palaces on Schlossplatz providing the older heritage.

Here the gap is wide. Hamburg's nights are among the longest in Germany: neon, cabaret and music clubs on the Reeperbahn, bunker clubs and harbour-side venues, and bars that stay open until the crowd goes home at dawn. Each district has its own style, from scruffy Schanzenviertel to the smarter bars by the Alster.

Stuttgart is pleasant for an evening out but tame by comparison. The bars along Theodor-Heuss-Strasse fill at weekends and the basement clubs serve a small electronic scene, but on weekdays the city winds down early. Its big nights are seasonal, in the beer tents of the Cannstatter Volksfest.

Stuttgart has the better countryside, and it starts at the edge of town. The city sits in a basin of vineyards and forest, with deer in the Rotwildpark and wine trails above the Neckar, and both the limestone escarpments and caves of the Swabian Jura and the fir-covered ridges of the northern Black Forest are about an hour away.

Hamburg is flat, and its outdoors is mostly on the water: sailing and paddling on the Alster, canoeing the northern canals and walking the Elbe path to Blankenese. Cycling through the Altes Land orchards in blossom or out on Lueneburg Heath are lovely, but they are gentle outings rather than walks with real hills.

Both are good bases, but Stuttgart has the stronger list. Heidelberg is about forty minutes by fast train, Tübingen and Esslingen are close, and the Ludwigsburg palace, Hohenzollern Castle, Maulbronn and Ulm Minster add plenty of variety. Strasbourg is even possible for a long day across the border.

From Hamburg the outings follow the brick Gothic towns of the old Hanseatic north. Luebeck is the standout, under an hour away, with Lueneburg, Bremen and Schwerin's lake castle close behind. In summer you can add a day on the Baltic.

Hamburg has the edge with children. Miniatur Wunderland can fill hours on a rainy day, Hagenbeck shows animals across moats instead of bars, and a harbour day of ferries, museum ships and the old Elbe tunnel costs very little effort. Two theme parks are about an hour away, and the flat, wide pavements suit prams.

Stuttgart is safe and well organised too. Wilhelma's zoo and gardens among Moorish pavilions are a full day out, and the Killesberg railway and the rack railway are small treats. The hills make pushchairs harder work, though, and there is no big theme park nearby.

Hamburg is the easier city to get around. It is flat, the centre, HafenCity and the Alster are an easy walk from each other, and the harbour ferries on the transit ticket double as sightseeing boats. Only Blankenese and Hagenbeck call for a longer ride.

Stuttgart's centre is just as walkable, but beyond Königstrasse and Schlossplatz the city climbs steeply. The Stadtbahn, a rack railway and a funicular handle the slopes, and the public stairways called Stäffele are the shortcuts on foot, so expect more climbing.

Hamburg offers more variety. Luxury labels line Neuer Wall, covered arcades connect the streets around the Jungfernstieg on wet days, and the Alsterhaus sits right on the water. The Karolinenviertel and Schanzenviertel add vintage and streetwear, and the old trading houses sell coffee and tea worth taking home.

Stuttgart is more focused on brands. Königstrasse is a long run of high-street chains, Breuninger covers designer fashion, and many visitors make the half-hour trip to the outlet village at Metzingen. Browsers will find fewer independent streets than in Hamburg.

Trade fairs push hotel rooms up in both cities, but the pattern around them differs. Hamburg also gets dearer on summer weekends and during its festivals, and meals in the centre and HafenCity are priced for a wealthy city. The savings are the free things, such as the Elbphilharmonie plaza, the Speicherstadt and the riverside walks, along with fish rolls in Altona and St Pauli and a day ticket that includes the harbour ferries.

Stuttgart's hotels depend on business travel, so rooms get noticeably cheaper at weekends and in the quieter months, which is the opposite of Hamburg's summer peak. Smart restaurants and central hotels are where the money goes, while Swabian taverns and beer gardens serve generous portions for what they cost.

Both are serious stage cities, and Hamburg comes out a little ahead. The Elbphilharmonie gives it a concert hall famous worldwide, the Laeiszhalle, the State Opera and the Hamburg Ballet add to it, and it is Germany's capital for musicals. The Beatles' old St Pauli club circuit still supports dense rock and indie, with the Reeperbahn Festival every autumn.

Stuttgart's strongest card is its ballet, one of Europe's most respected companies since John Cranko's time, and tickets for it are the hardest to get. The opera is known for daring productions, and the Liederhalle's Bach tradition and a well-known jazz club round it out.

Stuttgart is the better choice for relaxing. Its springs at Bad Cannstatt and Berg are some of the most productive mineral sources in Europe, and baths such as the Mineralbad Leuze let you soak in warm, naturally carbonated water both indoors and outdoors, with saunas on top.

Hamburg has no springs, so it relies on the German sauna habit, at the art nouveau Holthusenbad and the larger bath complexes. Its calmer moments are a boat around the Alster or the Japanese garden in Planten un Blomen.