Innsbruck or Munich?

Neither city has a beach, but Munich does summer swimming a little better. Locals sunbathe on the Isar's gravel banks in the city, and the Starnberger See and Ammersee, with their lawns and jetties, are under an hour away by S-Bahn.

Innsbruck's swimming happens on the plateaus above town. The shallow Lanser See and Natterer See warm up nicely in high summer, while the beautiful Achensee is further out and stays cool. In both cities the lakes are a pleasant break on a hot afternoon, not a reason to choose them.

Munich gives you more to eat and drink around. Its brewery beer halls and chestnut-shaded beer gardens are a culture in themselves, the Viktualienmarkt beside Marienplatz is good for grazing, and there is a respectable fine-dining tier along with good Italian and Turkish cooking.

Innsbruck's cooking is just as hearty, with Gröstl, Kaspressknödel, Speck and Kaiserschmarrn, but its best meals are up at the mountain huts, where the setting does much of the work. In town the choice is narrow and there is no market or street food to compare with Munich's.

Munich is in a different league for museums. The Kunstareal alone, with the Alte Pinakothek, the Glyptothek and the Lenbachhaus, could fill several days, and the Residenz, Nymphenburg and the vast Deutsches Museum add more. Much of its old town was rebuilt after the war, though.

Innsbruck offers a smaller but well-preserved Habsburg old town, where the Golden Roof, the Hofburg and the Hofkirche, with Maximilian's tomb ringed by bronze figures, stand a few steps apart. Add Ambras Castle and its cabinet of curiosities and two or three days cover it.

Munich has more going on after dark. Evenings often begin and end in a beer hall, but Glockenbach and Gärtnerplatz have a dense run of cocktail and gay bars, and a few serious techno clubs keep going until morning. In late September the Oktoberfest takes over the city.

Innsbruck's scene is smaller and owes much to its students. It centres on the bars and small clubs in the brick arches under the railway viaduct, and in winter many visitors do their partying at après-ski in the resorts rather than in town.

Innsbruck has the mountains on its doorstep. From a coffee in the old town you can be on the Nordkette ridge at about 2,300m within half an hour, with the Karwendel nature park behind it and the Stubai Glacier skiable most of the year.

Munich sits on a flat plain, and its Alps start about an hour away by train, around Garmisch, Tegernsee and the Zugspitze. In return it has fine green space at home: the vast English Garden, with surfers on the Eisbach wave, and cycle paths running south along the Isar.

Both are good bases, and each is an easy day out from the other. Munich's list is longer and more varied: Augsburg's Fuggerei, Nuremberg's castle, medieval Regensburg and Salzburg are all within about an hour and a half, and the royal castles of Neuschwanstein and Herrenchiemsee are the classic excursions.

Innsbruck's trips lean towards the mountains and the south. There is medieval Hall ten minutes away, glassblowing Rattenberg and Kitzbühel down the valley, and over the Brenner Pass, Bolzano and Merano, where you can add Italian arcades and Ötzi the Iceman to the trip.

Munich has more to fill a family week. Children can visit the big Hellabrunn zoo on the Isar meadows, the hands-on sections of the Deutsches Museum and the Sea Life aquarium, and Legoland is within driving range. Many beer gardens have playgrounds, which makes lunch easy, and the indoor options cover a rainy day.

Innsbruck is just as safe and clean, and its strength is getting children up a mountain quickly. The Alpenzoo with its ibex and bears, adventure trails by the huts and gentle ski slopes all work well, but with so few indoor attractions for children, wet days take more planning.

Both are easy without a car, and Munich's network goes further. The U-Bahn, S-Bahn, trams and buses reach the museums, the airport and even the lakes on one system, and the flat city is made for cycling.

Innsbruck's centre is small enough that you hardly need transport at all. Its real advantage is the funicular from the edge of the old town that links to the Nordkette cable cars, although a car helps for reaching the remoter valleys.

Munich is far stronger for shopping. Maximilianstrasse and the Theatinerstrasse arcades hold the luxury labels, the pedestrian axis carries the department stores, and Glockenbach and Schwabing add independent design. Its distinctive buy is Tracht from specialist tailors.

Innsbruck has the high-street chains on Maria-Theresien-Strasse, crystal and craft shops in the old town arcades and loden jackets, woodcarvings and Speck to take home. Where it really holds its own is in its specialist ski and outdoor shops.

Neither is cheap, but Innsbruck is a little easier on the wallet. Its hotels peak in ski season and around the Christmas markets and drop noticeably in spring and autumn, and the guest cards bundle in transport and lifts, though cable car tickets add up on an active trip.

In Munich, hotels are dear all year and more so during the Oktoberfest and trade fairs. Free parks and lakes, beer-hall food and the custom of bringing your own picnic to a beer garden help to balance the bill.

Munich is one of Europe's great music cities. The Bavarian State Opera in the National Theatre, three orchestras of real standing, chamber opera in the rococo Cuvilliés Theatre and serious German-language drama mean there is something worth booking on almost any night.

Innsbruck's programme is respectable but provincial, with opera and drama at the Tiroler Landestheater and folk evenings of yodelling and brass. Its one standout is the summer Festival of Early Music in historic settings such as Ambras Castle's Spanish Hall.

Munich has a real bathing culture of its own. You can swim in the Art Nouveau Müller'sches Volksbad, try public saunas with infusion rituals, and reach the huge thermal complex at Erding in about forty minutes.

Innsbruck has no springs or historic baths. Its version of relaxation is mountain air and a hotel sauna after a day outdoors, at its best in the spa hotels up in Igls, with the big thermal spas of the Ötztal and Zillertal about an hour away.