Prague or Wroclaw?

Neither city is a place to swim, and both are far from the sea. What differs is the summer water day out: Prague's locals swim at the Dzban reservoir in the Sarka valley or go about an hour south to the wooded Slapy reservoir.

Wroclaw's Oder has sandy river beaches with deckchairs and drinks, but they are for lounging, and swimming means a pool or a lake out in the countryside.

Both kitchens are hearty, beer-led and satisfying rather than a reason to travel. Prague's table is roast pork with dumplings, svickova and beer snacks, with some of the best poured lager anywhere, and good eating is in Vinohrady, Karlin and Letna rather than the old centre.

Wroclaw answers with pierogi, zurek in a bread bowl and cheap milk-bar lunches, plus bistros just off the Market Square giving Polish dishes a lighter touch. Prague wins for beer lovers, while Wroclaw keeps its decent food closer to the main square.

Prague is the richer city to look at, with an entire medieval and Baroque centre preserved: the castle and St Vitus Cathedral, Mala Strana's palaces, the Charles Bridge and the synagogues of Josefov, and three or four days are needed for the essentials alone.

Wroclaw is smaller in scale and much of its centre was rebuilt after 1945. It still has real highlights in the vast Market Square and its Gothic town hall, the brick churches of Ostrow Tumski, the Aula Leopoldina and the Centennial Hall, and its crowds are lighter than Prague's.

Prague has the bigger night out. Long pub evenings in Zizkov, wine bars in Vinohrady, beer gardens on Letna and a proper techno circuit in Holesovice give it range, though the Old Town clubs lean towards stag parties.

Wroclaw's evenings are driven by students and stay close together, mostly in cellar bars and the crowded courtyard passage off Ruska Street, with little clubbing to speak of. It is fun on a weekend in term time and much quieter during the university vacations.

Both offer similar amounts of green, but of different kinds. Prague is hilly within the city, with Petrin's orchards and the rocky gorge of Divoka Sarka, and the sandstone towers of Bohemian Switzerland about two hours out.

Wroclaw is flat and watery, with river channels, islands and the Japanese Garden in Szczytnicki Park. Its edge is the mountains: Sleza for a half-day climb, and the Karkonosze and Table Mountains within reach for long hikes or winter skiing, which Prague has no counterpart for.

Prague is the stronger base. Kutna Hora's ossuary and cathedral, Karlstejn, Terezin and Melnik are all about an hour away, mostly by train, and Dresden and Karlovy Vary make longer outings.

Lower Silesia around Wroclaw is just as full of castles and abbeys, from Ksiaz to the wooden Churches of Peace at Swidnica and Jawor, but the sights are less famous and far easier to combine with a hire car than by rail.

In Prague, the best family day is the zoo at Troja, on a wooded hillside above the river with a chairlift between its levels. The Petrin funicular up to the lookout tower and its mirror maze makes a good second outing. After that come the National Technical Museum and boat trips on the Vltava, and children ride the trams cheaply, but there is not much more for children after these.

Wroclaw gives families more to fill the days. Besides its zoo there is a hands-on water science centre in an old reservoir building, summer evening shows at the multimedia fountain by the Centennial Hall, and plenty of parks and playgrounds. Its offer for children is short too, but with less effort spent getting from one place to the next, a few days with children are less tiring than in Prague.

Both centres are walkable, but Prague's transport is in a different league. Three metro lines, trams running all night, the Petrin funicular and river ferries share one ticket, so even the uphill castle is easy.

Wroclaw has the advantage of flat, pedestrianised streets and good bike lanes along the river, but its trams are slower in traffic and confusing at first, and the castles and mountains beyond are much easier by car.

Prague gives a shopper more to do: luxury labels on Parizska, chains around Wenceslas Square, and genuinely Czech buys in Bohemian crystal, garnets and marionettes, provided you look past the souvenir shops of the old centre.

Wroclaw is practical, with malls, the striking 1930s Renoma store and the riverside market hall. Its best souvenirs are Boleslawiec stoneware and amber, but there is no luxury street and little to browse beyond Nadodrze's few design shops.

The price gap is widest in the old towns. In Prague, a room within walking distance of the Charles Bridge or a table with a view of the river or the squares carries a heavy visitor premium. The cheaper city of pub lunches and neighbourhood beer only starts once you leave the historic core, and the exchange booths in the centre are best avoided.

Wroclaw stays cheap in its centre too. A comfortable hotel or apartment near the Market Square costs far less than a similar room in Prague's old town, so you can sleep among the sights without paying extra for it, and only the terraces on the square itself charge for the view. Beer and trams are cheap in both cities, so the saving matters most to travellers who want to stay central.

Prague is one of Europe's great music cities, and that gap is wide. The National Theatre, State Opera and the Estates Theatre where Don Giovanni premiered, the Czech Philharmonic at the Rudolfinum and the Prague Spring festival give a serious calendar, with black-light and marionette theatre for those without Czech.

Wroclaw is strong for its size, with the acoustically fine National Forum of Music, its opera house, the Grotowski theatre tradition and festivals such as Wratislavia Cantans and Jazz on the Oder, but there is less on offer on any given night.

Neither city has its own bathing culture, so the difference lies in ways to slow down. Prague offers more of them: grand old coffee houses, the terraced Baroque gardens below the castle and quiet corners on Kampa or at Vysehrad, though its hops-and-malt beer spas are a novelty.

Wroclaw has an aquapark with saunas and riverside cafés in town, and historic spa towns such as Szczawno-Zdroj about an hour out, worth a day trip to take the waters.