Leipzig or Lubeck?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Lübeck comes closer. Travemünde is part of the city, with a long sandy Baltic shore and wicker beach chairs, and Timmendorfer Strand and Scharbeutz follow the coast within half an hour.

Leipzig's answer is the chain of flooded lignite mines to the south. The Cospudener See and Markkleeberger See have sandy edges and beach bars, and you can get there by tram or bike. They give you warmer, calmer water on a hot day, but it is lake bathing, not a seaside.

The food is on a similar level, solid and good value rather than a reason to travel, but the flavours differ. Leipzig leans to hearty Saxon roasts and dumplings, sour Gose beer and a long coffee-house tradition. Its more interesting tables are in the Südvorstadt and Plagwitz.

Lübeck tastes of the coast and the Hanseatic trade: marzipan in every form, herring and plaice, harbour fish sandwiches and Rotspon wine aged in its cellars. The sea captains' guild house is a memorable place to eat. Travemünde adds fish restaurants on the waterfront.

Lübeck is the more rewarding place simply to look at. Almost the whole island old town is a World Heritage site, with the Holstentor, the Marienkirche and seven brick spires above stepped-gable merchants' houses. The European Hansemuseum and the Buddenbrookhaus round it off.

Leipzig's sights are more about stories than scenery. Bach's Thomaskirche, the Nikolaikirche of the 1989 revolution, the trade-fair arcades, the Stasi museum at the Runde Ecke and the massive Battle of the Nations monument are its highlights. Both reward two or three days.

This is where the two cities differ most. Leipzig's students and its stock of empty industrial buildings have given it a serious electronic club scene, with relaxed doors and weekend nights that end after sunrise. The Karli, Connewitz and the converted mills of Plagwitz supply the bars.

Lübeck offers pubs and wine bars in the old town, a few spots along the Obertrave, and a livelier promenade at Travemünde on summer nights, and little else. Anyone after clubs takes the train to Hamburg.

Both are flat, green and gentle, and the outdoors on offer is similar in scale. Leipzig's has an inland feel: the Auwald floodplain forest runs right through the city, canoes travel the canals from Plagwitz, and the mining lakes have sailing and a white-water course.

Lübeck adds the sea. There is the clay cliff walk at the Brodtener Steilufer, canoeing on the reedy Wakenitz, and sailing on the bay. For real hills, Leipzig is closer to Saxon Switzerland and the Harz.

Leipzig is the stronger base by some distance. Dresden, Weimar, Erfurt and Halle are all an hour or so by train, and Wittenberg, Naumburg, Dessau, Meissen, the Wartburg and Berlin extend the list well beyond a single week.

From Lübeck, Hamburg is the great day out, and Wismar and Schwerin's island castle are each about an hour away. After Ratzeburg, Mölln, Eutin and Kiel, the choices run out quickly.

Both are easy, flat and safe with children, but the main attraction differs. In Leipzig it is the zoo, whose Gondwanaland tropical hall works in any weather, along with the Belantis theme park and summer afternoons at the lakes.

Lübeck is at its best for families in summer, with Travemünde's shallow, calm beach, the aquarium along the bay and Hansa-Park half an hour away. Off-season, it has less for children than Leipzig.

Both are easy without a car, but Leipzig has more transport. A wide tram network and an underground S-Bahn reach the outer districts and the lakes, cycle lanes are everywhere, and regional and long-distance trains all leave from one huge station.

Lübeck relies on walking. Its island old town is about 2km long, with cobbled, partly pedestrianised streets, and buses and a short train to Travemünde cover the rest.

Leipzig offers a little more of interest. Its trade-fair arcades are pleasant in any weather, and in the west, Karl-Heine-Strasse's vintage and record shops and the gallery tours at the Spinnerei give it an artistic side.

Lübeck's high streets are mostly chains. Its independent and craft shops are tucked into the side passages around Hüxstrasse and Fleischhauerstrasse, and marzipan is the souvenir to bring home.

Overall, the two cost about the same, but they get expensive at different times. In Leipzig, rooms are cheap for a German city except during the big trade-fair weeks, when rates jump. It is worth checking the fair calendar before booking.

In Lübeck, the city itself is moderately priced, but Travemünde and the bay resorts get noticeably dearer and book up early in July and August.

Leipzig is in a different league for music. It has the Gewandhaus Orchestra and a full opera house on Augustusplatz. The Thomanerchor sings in the Thomaskirche, the Bachfest takes place each June, and the Wave-Gotik-Treffen comes every Whitsun, with jazz, indie and cabaret beyond that.

Lübeck has a good provincial programme at Theater Lübeck, the Philharmonic and the summer Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. Its quiet highlight is organ music in the Marienkirche, where Buxtehude played.

Neither city is a spa destination, but Lübeck is the more restful of the two. Travemünde's long history as a seaside resort shows in its wellness hotels, saunas and the seawater pool complex at Scharbeutz.

Leipzig offers German sauna complexes, a few lakeside saunas and slow walks in the floodplain forest. For a proper spa, you have to travel out to Bad Düben or Bad Lausick.