Rothenburg ob der Tauber or Rotterdam?

Neither is a beach destination, but Rotterdam at least has the sea. Hoek van Holland is a wide sandy strand backed by dunes, reached by metro, with huge ships passing close offshore. The cold, windy North Sea means most people walk on it rather than swim. Rothenburg, deep in Franconia, offers only the town's outdoor pool or an hour's drive to the grassy shores of the Altmühlsee.

Rotterdam eats far more widely. Its port and immigrant communities fill the Witte de Withstraat, the Nieuwe Binnenweg and the Markthal with roti shops, Turkish bakeries, Cape Verdean and Moroccan kitchens and harbourside bistros, with good local craft beer as well.

Rothenburg keeps to one hearty tradition: Schäufele, bratwurst, dumplings and dry Silvaner from the Bocksbeutel, done best in family guesthouses and wine taverns away from the Marktplatz. It is satisfying for a few meals, but it is narrow, and much of the cooking on the main square is aimed at coach parties.

The two are broadly level here, but they offer opposite things. Rothenburg is a preserved medieval whole: the walls and their covered walkway, the Plönlein between its gate towers, Riemenschneider's Holy Blood Altar in St Jakob's, and the Medieval Crime Museum.

Rotterdam lost its old centre in 1940 and became a showcase of modern architecture. The Erasmus Bridge, the Cube Houses and the mirrored Depot Boijmans van Beuningen are the main draws, with solid museums and the old fragments of Delfshaven. Choose by whether you would rather look at the Middle Ages or at the twentieth century and after.

This is where the two differ most. Rotterdam has bar streets around the Witte de Withstraat and the Oude Haven and terraces that fill on summer evenings. As the city where gabber began, it also holds warehouse techno and house nights that draw crowds from across the Netherlands.

Rothenburg's evenings consist of dinner in an inn and the night watchman's lantern-lit tour. After that the lanes go quiet, and a real night out means driving to Würzburg or Nuremberg.

Both offer gentle rather than dramatic outdoors, and Rotterdam has a little more of it. Its strengths are water and cycling: the woods and lake of the Kralingse Bos, dyke paths into the polders, the tidal creeks of the Biesbosch for canoeing and birdwatching, and the dunes at Hoek van Holland.

Rothenburg's countryside starts right below its walls, with paths down into the Tauber valley past mills and meadows. The Tauber valley cycle path runs through vineyards, and the orchards are at their best in spring blossom and autumn colour.

Both are good bases, and Rotterdam is the easier one. Fast trains put Delft a quarter of an hour away and Amsterdam, Utrecht, Leiden and Haarlem within about an hour, with Antwerp just over the border. The water bus to the windmills of Kinderdijk is a pleasure in itself.

Rothenburg's surroundings are rich too: Dinkelsbühl and Nördlingen on the Romantic Road, Würzburg's Residenz and Nuremberg's castle. The branch-line railway makes them hard work without a car.

Rotterdam keeps children busy for much longer. Blijdorp is one of the best zoos in the country, the Maritime Museum has a harbour area built for play, and the Euromast and water taxis are hits with most ages. Madurodam and the Efteling are within reach.

Rothenburg works like a storybook for a day or two, with ramparts to walk, a tower to climb and a lantern-carrying night watchman to follow. Beyond that there is little made for children, and the cobbles and steep valley paths are hard on pushchairs and small legs.

Rotterdam is the easier place to do without a car. Metro, trams, buses and water buses share one tap-in system, and cycle paths run almost everywhere. Its postwar centre is spread out and windy, though, so expect to mix walking with transport.

Rothenburg is the opposite: you can cross the old town on foot in fifteen minutes, but leaving it means a branch line with a change at Steinach or sparse buses, so a car becomes almost essential.

Rotterdam is a real shopping city. The Lijnbaan and the Bijenkorf cover the main chains, and the Meent and the Nieuwe Binnenweg add independent fashion, vintage and record shops, along with the big Binnenrotte market.

Rothenburg sells mostly to visitors. Year-round Christmas shops are full of glass baubles, nutcrackers and Erzgebirge carvings, alongside cuckoo clocks and teddy bears. Its Christmas market is among Germany's most atmospheric, but there is almost nothing for everyday or fashion shopping.

Rothenburg works out somewhat cheaper. Beer and wine in the inns are reasonably priced and entry fees are modest. The tourist premium on rooms inside the walls and meals around the Marktplatz is easy to avoid by staying in a nearby village.

In Rotterdam the hotels are fairly priced for the Netherlands, but restaurant meals, beer and coffee are expensive. Market stalls and Surinamese snack shops are the way to keep lunch reasonable.

Rotterdam has a proper performing arts life. The Rotterdam Philharmonic plays a full season at De Doelen, the Schouwburg stages theatre and dance, and small jazz venues benefit from the conservatory. Each July the North Sea Jazz Festival fills a long weekend.

Rothenburg's performances are tied to its history: the costumed Meistertrunk play, a small summer open-air theatre and organ concerts in St Jakob's. On most evenings there is no show to go to.

Neither is a spa town, and they are about level, but the calm comes in different forms. Rothenburg's peace is in the empty lanes at dawn and after the coach groups leave, and real thermal bathing is about an hour away in Bad Windsheim or Bad Mergentheim.

Rotterdam is brisk by nature. Its relaxation comes from the Dutch sauna complexes on the city's edge, mostly textile-free, and from quiet hours in the Kralingse Bos.