Munich or Padua?

Neither city is a beach destination, but the swimming is different in kind. Munich's is freshwater: the gravel banks of the Isar at the Flaucher, and the clear, cool alpine lakes of Starnberg and Ammersee, under an hour away by S-Bahn.

Padua's swimming is a sea outing. The Adriatic sand at Sottomarina or on the Lido of Venice is about an hour away. The water is warmer and shallow, which suits paddling children, but the beaches are flat rows of umbrellas rather than lawns and jetties.

Both cities eat well and both are thin on cooking from further afield. Munich's table centres on the beer hall and the chestnut-shaded beer garden, with roast pork, white sausage and pretzels, the Viktualienmarkt for snacking, and a better choice of starred restaurants when you want a special meal.

Padua is about Venetian home cooking and the market: bigoli with duck sauce, baccalà and spring risotto, bought or eaten around Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza della Frutta. Drinking means a spritz in the squares and Euganean wine, not a litre of Helles.

Both are rewarding for sightseeing, but their strengths differ in scale. Munich offers breadth: the old masters of the Alte Pinakothek and the rest of the Kunstareal, the Residenz and Nymphenburg palaces, and the vast Deutsches Museum. That is enough for several unhurried days, though the rebuilt old town is handsome rather than ancient.

Padua offers concentrated depth. Giotto's frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel are among the turning points of European painting, and they sit beside a UNESCO-listed group of fresco cycles, the Basilica of Saint Anthony, the world's oldest permanent anatomical theatre and the 1545 botanical garden. Book the timed Scrovegni visit, then expect to finish the centre fairly quickly.

Munich gives a fuller night out. Evenings can stay in a beer hall, move on to the cocktail and gay bars of Glockenbach and Gärtnerplatz, or end in a techno club that runs until morning at weekends. For just over two weeks from late September, the Oktoberfest takes over the city.

Padua's evening is the aperitivo: students and locals standing with a spritz around the Palazzo della Ragione, then wine bars in the old ghetto. It is sociable and charming, but there are few clubs, and the centre goes quiet in high summer and during university breaks.

Munich has the clear advantage because of the Alps. Regional trains reach Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the Zugspitze and Tegernsee for real mountain hiking in summer and skiing in winter. In town, the English Garden is large enough for whole afternoons, and surfers ride the Eisbach wave at its edge.

Padua's outdoors is gentler and needs more effort. The volcanic Euganean Hills, about 15km out, have vineyard trails and roads popular with cyclists, and the Brenta towpaths make level rides. Proper mountains such as Monte Grappa mean about one and a half hours by car.

Padua is the better base, mainly because its excursions are so close. Venice is under half an hour away, near enough to visit on several days. Vicenza's Palladian buildings are a quarter of an hour by train, Verona and Bologna about an hour, and the Brenta villas and the walled towns around the Euganean Hills are closer still.

Munich's list is also long but more spread out. Augsburg and Nuremberg are easy by train, while Salzburg, Innsbruck and the Neuschwanstein castles take between an hour and a half and two hours. In return, its outings include mountains and royal castles, which Padua's lack.

Munich is much better suited to children. The Hellabrunn zoo along the Isar, the children's area at the Deutsches Museum, the Sea Life aquarium and beer gardens with playgrounds fill the days, and summer adds the lakes and the English Garden.

Padua is safe, flat and welcoming at the trattoria table, but its sights are frescoes and churches. Beyond running around Prato della Valle and the botanical glasshouses, families tend to rely on trips to Gardaland, Lake Garda or the Adriatic.

Munich has the stronger transport, because it combines a walkable centre with a full network. Beyond the pedestrian streets of the old town, U-Bahn, S-Bahn, trams and buses run as one system, so Nymphenburg, the Olympic Park, the lakes and the airport are each a single straightforward ride. The flat city also suits a bike along the Isar. Its weak point is the S-Bahn trunk line under the centre, where one hold-up can slow trains far out of town.

Padua has far less network but much less need for one. Its sights sit close together, linked by arcaded streets that keep off the sun and rain, and a single tram, a few buses and the bicycle cover the longer hops. Where it holds its own against Munich is the railway, since main lines through the station let you leave the city for the day without ever hiring a car.

Munich is the shopping city of the two. Maximilianstrasse and the Theatinerstrasse arcades have the luxury houses, and Neuhauser Strasse has the department stores. There are boutiques in Glockenbach and Schwabing, and it has a distinctive purchase in Tracht from specialist tailors, plus the December Christmas markets.

In Padua, shopping fits around sightseeing. There are Italian shoe and fashion shops along the arcades, the delicatessens under the Palazzo della Ragione for cheese and Euganean wine to take home, and the monthly antiques market on Prato della Valle. Serious fashion shoppers go on to Venice or Milan.

Padua is the cheaper place to stay. Its hotels are moderately priced for northern Italy, which is why many visitors sleep there and spend their days in Venice. Trattoria meals are fairly priced, and walking the centre costs nothing. Rooms go up around the trade fairs and graduation season.

Munich is expensive throughout, and hotels take the largest share, especially during the Oktoberfest and big trade fairs. Picnics in beer gardens, the free parks and lakes, and token Sunday museum entry help to soften the bill.

This is one of the widest gaps between the two. Munich has the Bavarian State Opera in the National Theatre, three orchestras of real standing, chamber opera in the rococo Cuvilliés Theatre, operetta at the Gärtnerplatztheater, jazz clubs and big concerts at the Olympic Park. You can plan whole evenings around the stage.

Padua's programme is modest. It has the horseshoe Teatro Verdi, a chamber orchestra playing in the Sala dei Giganti and the Basilica, and student gigs. For major opera, visitors take the train to the Fenice in Venice or the summer Arena in Verona.

Padua has the edge here because the thermal district of Abano and Montegrotto lies only about 12km away. Its hot mineral springs, mud treatments and spa hotels welcome day visitors, so a soak fits easily into an ordinary sightseeing day.

Munich's bathing culture is more urban: the Art Nouveau Müller'sches Volksbad, textile-free public saunas, and the large Erding thermal complex about forty minutes out. Shady beer gardens and quiet Sundays do the rest.