Nuremberg or Prague?

Neither city is a swimming destination, and on hot days both send you to reservoirs. From Nuremberg it is about an hour to the Franconian Lake District, where the Brombachsee has grassy shores, small sandy strips and room for sailing. Prague has one option right on its edge, the Dzban reservoir in the Sarka valley, and the wooded Slapy reservoir on the Vltava, about an hour south, feels more like a cabin vacation by a lake than a beach.

Both cities eat heavy, pork-based food and build their tables around beer, so the difference is in the details. Nuremberg has its finger-sized bratwurst grilled over beechwood, Schäufele on Sundays and Lebkuchen all year, and the Franconian countryside has more small breweries than almost anywhere, with smoky Kellerbier served in beer gardens by the Pegnitz.

Prague's beer culture is about carefully poured Pilsner-style lager, often from tanks, alongside svickova, goulash and cheap chlebicky lunches. The real difference is where you eat: Nuremberg's old town taverns serve the real thing, while Prague's centre is full of tourist menus, so the good meals are out in Vinohrady, Karlin or Letna.

Prague has more to see. Its whole centre is a UNESCO site that kept its historic fabric, from St Vitus Cathedral and Golden Lane on the Castle hill to the Baroque palaces of Mala Strana, the statues on the Charles Bridge and the synagogues of Josefov. Its Cubist and Art Nouveau buildings add a layer that few cities have.

Nuremberg is smaller and more of it was rebuilt after the war, but it has its strengths: the Kaiserburg, the city walls, Dürer's house and the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, the largest museum of German art and cultural history, which can fill a day on its own. Its twentieth-century sites, the Rally Grounds and Courtroom 600, give it a weight of history that Prague handles instead with a day trip to Terezin.

Prague is the better city for a night out. Its pubs stay full until late, Zizkov's plain neighbourhood bars are cheap and local, and there is a real club scene, from big all-night venues near Wenceslas Square to a techno and alternative circuit in Holesovice's industrial buildings.

Nuremberg offers a pleasant evening rather than a reason to come. The old town has taverns and wine bars, and Gostenhof's small alternative bars are the liveliest part, but there are only a few clubs. It is quieter on weekend nights than Prague's often rowdy Old Town.

Both are set in gentle landscapes without mountains, and they are on an equal footing outdoors. Prague has more greenery within the city, with Petrin Hill's orchards, the old royal hunting park of Stromovka and the rocky Divoka Sarka gorge all reachable by tram. Nuremberg's Reichswald forest begins at the edge of town, but its best walking is in Franconian Switzerland, about an hour away, known for its limestone towers, caves and serious rock climbing. Prague's equivalents are the sandstone gateways of Bohemian Switzerland and the Bohemian Karst around Karlstejn.

Both are excellent bases for day trips, with different kinds of destinations. From Nuremberg, the trips are to historic towns: Bamberg, Regensburg and Würzburg are each about an hour by train, and the walled towns of Rothenburg and Dinkelsbühl are a little further. A fast train even makes Munich a day out.

Prague's excursions are more about castles in the countryside: Karlstejn, Konopiste and Krivoklat, plus the silver-mining town of Kutna Hora with its ossuary. Distances are longer, though, with Dresden and Karlovy Vary about two hours away and Cesky Krumlov really needing an overnight stay.

Nuremberg is better with children. Centuries of toy-making give it the Toy Museum, the railway museum has full-size locomotives, and there is a play park in Zirndorf as well as a children's Christmas market with a little steam train in Advent.

Prague's storybook look and its moving astronomical clock delight children, and the zoo at Troja, with its chairlift up the hillside, is one of Europe's best. Beyond that, the offer is thinner, and the crowded summer lanes and long castle stairs are harder going with a pushchair.

Both are easy without a car, but the scale is different. In Nuremberg, almost everything is inside walls about 1.5km across, with the station at the southern gate, and the U-Bahn and S-Bahn are only needed for the zoo, the Rally Grounds or Fürth. Prague is bigger and its transport does more work: three metro lines, trams that run through the night and even the Petrin funicular, all on one ticket. In Prague, though, you also have to watch for pickpockets on the trams through Mala Strana.

Neither city is a shopping destination, and the souvenirs are what tell them apart. Nuremberg's are Lebkuchen in decorated tins, tin figures and crafts from the Handwerkerhof, and its Christkindlesmarkt is the time to buy, while Königstraße is chain stores. Prague has more range: luxury labels on Parizska, Bohemian crystal, garnets and marionettes, and small design and vintage shops in Holesovice and Vinohrady. In Prague, though, you have to get past a centre full of identical souvenir stalls.

Prague is the cheaper of the two, mainly in everyday spending. A pub lunch, beer and tram rides cost little, especially in Zizkov or Karlin, although hotels in the historic core and restaurants with river views are priced for tourists.

Nuremberg is fairly priced for Western Europe and has cheap beer and transport too, but its hotel rooms become scarce and expensive during the big trade fairs and the Advent market. Planning around those dates matters more there than in Prague.

Prague is in a different league for music. It has three opera stages, including the Estates Theatre, where Don Giovanni had its premiere, and the Czech Philharmonic plays at the Rudolfinum. Black-light theatre and marionette shows need no Czech, and there are church concerts almost every night.

Nuremberg's Staatstheater, in its Art Nouveau opera house, offers good opera, ballet and drama, and its summer events are its highlights: the open-air orchestra concert in Luitpoldhain, the free Bardentreffen folk festival and a big rock festival at the Zeppelinfeld.

Nuremberg is the better choice for a proper soak. The large thermal spa with sauna gardens in Fürth is a short U-Bahn ride away, and the saline pools of Bad Windsheim are about an hour west, although German saunas are usually mixed and nude.

Prague's own options are hotel spas, massage studios and novelty beer baths, with the real spa towns far off in western Bohemia. Its quieter pleasures are coffee houses, the Baroque gardens below the castle and Kampa island, much as Nuremberg offers slow afternoons in its beer gardens.