Heidelberg or Prague?

Neither city is a beach destination, and both send swimmers inland to fresh water. From Heidelberg the choice is the outdoor pools or the gravel-pit lakes on the Rhine plain, half an hour away. Prague has the Dzban reservoir right on its north-western edge, plus Slapy on the Vltava, about an hour away, whose wooded banks and cabins feel more like a proper lakeside day out.

Prague eats better, though mainly if you like beer. Unpasteurised tank lager, microbreweries, svickova and goulash, and cheap chlebicky and buffet lunches give it a stronger and more distinctive table, as long as you eat in Vinohrady, Karlin or Letna rather than around Old Town Square.

Heidelberg's strength is wine instead. Riesling and Pinot come from the Bergstrasse vineyards on the edge of town, and the cooking runs to Schäufele, Maultaschen and spring asparagus. The best meals are in Neuenheim and in the village wine taverns, but the range is that of a small university town.

Prague is in another league here. A whole UNESCO-listed centre runs from St Vitus Cathedral and Golden Lane down through Baroque Mala Strana, across the Charles Bridge to the Old Town and Josefov, with Art Nouveau and Cubist buildings on top. It takes three or four days and still leaves you wanting more.

Heidelberg's set is lovely but small: the red sandstone castle ruin with the Great Tun, the Old Bridge, the Church of the Holy Spirit and the university's Student Prison. Most visitors see it all in a day or two, and it is far easier to photograph without crowds in your way.

Prague offers far more after dark. It has packed pubs in Zizkov, wine and cocktail bars in Vinohrady, summer beer gardens on Letna, and two club circuits: big late venues in the centre and a more interesting techno scene in Holesovice.

In Heidelberg a night out mostly means the Untere Strasse, a single lane of small student pubs and old fraternity taverns. It is lively in term time and quiet on weeknights and out of term, and for a real club night locals take the train to Mannheim or Frankfurt.

The two are about level, but in Heidelberg the outdoors begins at the door. You can take the Philosophers' Walk, ride the funicular up the Königstuhl into hours of Odenwald forest, or cycle the Neckar Valley path past castles.

Prague's green spaces sit inside the city, from Petrin Hill and Stromovka to the rocky Divoka Sarka gorge. Its best hiking, among the sandstone towers of Bohemian Switzerland, is about two hours away, so it needs a dedicated day out rather than an afternoon.

Both make excellent bases, and the choice comes down to what you want to see. From Heidelberg the outings are Rhine cathedrals and palaces: Speyer, Worms, Schwetzingen, Lorsch and Maulbronn. Then there are the wine villages of the Palatinate, and Strasbourg for a long day.

Prague's day trips are Bohemian castles and towns: Karlstejn, Konopiste and silver-mining Kutna Hora with its ossuary. Add the sobering visit to Terezin and a train along the Elbe to Dresden. Cesky Krumlov is really better with an overnight stay.

Heidelberg is the gentler place to bring children. The funicular up to the castle and the fairy-tale park on the Königstuhl, a compact zoo and river boats are all within easy reach. The space shuttle and submarine at the Technik Museum Speyer are half an hour away, and there is a theme park in the Palatinate.

Prague has one outstanding draw in the Troja zoo, with its chairlift and hillside enclosures, plus the astronomical clock and the Petrin mirror maze. But the summer crowds, long castle stairs and steep cobbles make it more tiring than Heidelberg.

Prague is the easier city to move around. Three metro lines, a dense tram network that runs all night and integrated tickets take you almost anywhere, and a tram even does the castle climb for you. The one catch is pickpockets on the busy central lines.

Heidelberg is mostly a walk along the pedestrianised Hauptstrasse. But the station is well west of the Altstadt, so you need a tram in, and the castle approach is steep. Its real strength is the Rhine-Neckar fare system, which makes trips to Speyer or Mannheim simple.

Prague gives a shopper more to do. Luxury labels line Parizska Street, chains fill Na Prikope, and the distinctive Czech buys are Bohemian crystal, garnets and marionettes. Small design and vintage shops in Vinohrady and Holesovice repay a browse.

Heidelberg has one long street, with high-street chains at the western end and steins and cuckoo clocks towards the market square. A bottle of Bergstrasse wine is the best thing to take home, and serious shopping means a train to Frankfurt.

Prague goes further on a modest budget. Beer, pub lunches and transport are cheap, and staying a few tram stops out in Zizkov or Karlin keeps costs down, as long as you avoid the riverside restaurants and the exchange booths in the centre.

Heidelberg costs what western Germany costs. Rooms are scarce and get dearer around congresses and summer weekends, which is why many visitors stay in Mannheim. Student cafés and bakeries keep meals reasonable.

Prague is a major music city. It has three opera stages, including the Estates Theatre where Don Giovanni had its premiere, the Czech Philharmonic at the Rudolfinum, the Prague Spring festival, and black-light and marionette theatre that need no Czech.

Heidelberg does well for its size. The municipal theatre stages opera and dance, the Heidelberger Frühling brings chamber music in spring, and in summer plays and concerts are staged in the castle courtyard against the ruins. For a bigger house you take the train to Mannheim.

Neither city has baths of its own, but Heidelberg is closer to real ones. The thermal complexes of the Kraichgau are about half an hour away and Baden-Baden is about an hour, while Prague's famous spa towns lie far off in western Bohemia, leaving it with hotel spas, massage studios and novelty beer baths.

For simply slowing down, both are pleasant. In Heidelberg that means evenings on the Neckar meadows in Neuenheim. In Prague it means a grand old coffee house or a quiet bench on Kampa island.