Heidelberg or Karlovy Vary?

Neither town is anywhere near the sea, and neither should be chosen for swimming. Heidelberg's options are its outdoor pools and the gravel-pit lakes on the Rhine plain. Karlovy Vary has Lake Medard, a flooded mine near Sokolov, plus pools warmed by its own springs, which make a dip in cool weather more pleasant.

Heidelberg eats and drinks better, mainly because of wine. The Badische Bergstrasse vineyards start at the edge of town, and the Palatinate wine villages are close by. Seasonal white asparagus, Flammkuchen and Schäufele give the menus some variety. The better meals are in Neuenheim and the Altstadt side streets rather than on the Hauptstrasse.

Karlovy Vary's food is narrower: roast pork, dumplings and svíčková with good lager. Its own specialities are spa wafers bought warm along the colonnades and Becherovka from the town's distillery. The cake-and-coffee cafés by the Teplá are pleasant, but few kitchens are ambitious.

The two are about equal, and both can be covered in a day or two, but the sights are different in kind. Heidelberg's appeal is historical and academic: the red sandstone castle ruin above the Neckar, the Old Bridge, and the university founded in 1386 with its graffiti-covered Student Prison.

In Karlovy Vary the whole spa quarter is the sight. It has tiers of pastel hotels and bathhouses, the Mill and Market colonnades, and the Vřídlo geyser shooting hot water into the air. Its museums are small and specialised, about Moser glass and Becherovka, rather than general collections like Heidelberg's Kurpfälzisches Museum.

Heidelberg has a real if student-led night out. The pubs on the Untere Strasse fill late in term, old student taverns with carved tables are nearby, and there are a few clubs towards the station. Out of term it goes quiet, and Mannheim is close for anything bigger.

Karlovy Vary is mostly asleep by eleven, with hotel bars, a few wine bars and casinos. The only break from that is film festival week in early summer.

Both towns have forest starting at the edge of the streets, and both landscapes are gentle rather than dramatic. Heidelberg leans towards walking and cycling: the Philosophers' Walk, long trails from the Königstuhl, the Neckar Valley cycle path and the sandstone crags of the Palatinate Forest an hour west.

Karlovy Vary's graded spa paths lead to the Diana tower and the stag-leap rock, and the Slavkov Forest's upland moors are further out. Its real extra is winter, with downhill and cross-country skiing at Klínovec in the Ore Mountains, about forty minutes away.

Heidelberg is the better base for day trips, with major sights close at hand. Speyer's Romanesque cathedral and Schwetzingen's palace gardens are about half an hour away. Worms, Lorsch and Maulbronn are easy, and Frankfurt and Mainz are about an hour by train.

Karlovy Vary has fewer good outings, though they are rewarding. Loket's castle in a loop of the Ohře is close, the other West Bohemian spa towns are about an hour away, and the reliquary at Bečov is worth the trip. Prague is a long day by coach.

Heidelberg is far better set up for children. The funicular leads to a small fairy-tale park on the Königstuhl, the zoo is compact, and boat trips go up the Neckar. Within half an hour there are aircraft and a submarine to climb into at Speyer or Sinsheim, and a theme park is under an hour away.

In Karlovy Vary, children enjoy the geyser, sipping warm spring water and the animal enclosure at the Diana lookout, but that fills only a day or two. Both towns are hard work with a pushchair on the slopes.

Each town is a long, narrow strip you can walk, with a funicular for the climbs. Heidelberg's advantage is the regional network beyond it: trams, buses and the S-Bahn run on one fare system across the Rhine-Neckar area, so you can do day trips without a car.

In Karlovy Vary, local buses handle the steep valley sides. Trains beyond the town are slow regional lines, though, so a car makes the forests and villages much easier to reach.

Neither town is a shopping destination. Heidelberg's long Hauptstrasse is mostly German chain stores and souvenir steins, and its best thing to take home is Bergstrasse wine. Karlovy Vary has more of its own to offer: Moser crystal from its showroom, local porcelain and Bohemian garnets, alongside jewellers and fur shops aimed at wealthy spa guests.

Karlovy Vary is noticeably cheaper. The grand hotels and promenade restaurants charge for the setting, but Czech pubs and canteens one street back cost what locals pay, and the colonnades and funicular cost little.

Heidelberg is priced like the rest of western Germany. It has a tight supply of hotel rooms, which congresses and graduations fill quickly. Bakeries, student cafés and the regional transport ticket help keep the rest of the trip reasonable.

Heidelberg has much more on. Its municipal theatre stages opera, drama and dance through the season. The Heidelberger Frühling brings leading soloists in spring, and in summer the castle courtyard becomes an open-air stage. Mannheim's larger opera house is twenty minutes away.

In Karlovy Vary, the symphony orchestra that grew out of the old spa bands plays mostly light classical programmes, some outdoors on the colonnades in summer. The Fellner and Helmer theatre and an autumn Dvořák festival round out the programme.

This is Karlovy Vary's whole reason to exist. You can follow a drinking cure from thirteen springs, book a medical stay with carbonated baths and peat wraps, or swim in pools of warm spring water. The days are shaped by slow walks and coffee.

Heidelberg has no thermal baths of its own. For a proper soak you go to the Kraichgau or Baden-Baden, and relaxing in town means evenings on the Neuenheim meadows and quiet wine taverns.