Rothenburg ob der Tauber or Zurich?

Neither city has a coast, but Zurich makes much more of its water. From June to early September people swim at the lake lidos at Utoquai, Mythenquai and Tiefenbrunnen and at the Limmat river baths, in clear water. You swim from lawns and wooden decks rather than sand.

In Rothenburg a swim means the town's outdoor pool, or about an hour's drive to the grassy bathing areas on the Franconian lakes such as the Altmühlsee. It fills a hot afternoon, but it is not a reason to go.

Zurich has the broader and more polished table. There is veal Geschnetzeltes with rösti, fondue in guild-house dining rooms, serious chocolate and the old tea rooms on Paradeplatz, plus international and fine dining around Kreis 4 and 5. All of it costs a great deal.

Rothenburg's cooking is hearty but limited: Schäufele, bratwurst and dumplings with Silvaner or a local beer. Many of the places around the Marktplatz cater to coach parties. The better meals are in family-run guesthouses and the wine taverns serving Tauber valley wines, and the Schneeball is best treated as a photo rather than a dessert.

The two are close here, but they offer different things. In Rothenburg the town itself is the main sight: walls you can walk along, the Plönlein, the view from the Rathaus tower and Riemenschneider's Holy Blood Altar in St Jakob's. The Medieval Crime Museum is its one substantial collection.

Zurich is the city for museums, with the Kunsthaus, the Swiss National Museum and the Rietberg, around a compact old town where the Grossmünster and the Chagall windows in the Fraumünster stand out. Choose Rothenburg for atmosphere and Zurich for collections.

Zurich has a real night out, and Rothenburg barely has one. Zurich's clubs in Kreis 4 and 5 and Zurich West run until morning at weekends, and Langstrasse stays loud until late. In summer, evenings move to bars in the lake bathing houses, though the price of a round keeps nights shorter than they might be.

In Rothenburg the evening is a meal, a glass of Franconian wine and the night watchman's tour, and the lanes are quiet by eleven.

Zurich is far stronger outdoors. There is the lake with the Glarus Alps at its far end and the Uetliberg ridge a short train ride away. Rigi, Pilatus and ski slopes such as Flumserberg are within about an hour, so you can choose anything from a lakeside stroll to a high-mountain hike.

Rothenburg's countryside is gentle. Paths drop from the walls into the Tauber valley, the riverside cycle path runs through vineyards, and the rolling Frankenhöhe lies beyond. It is lovely in spring blossom or autumn colour, but there are no mountains or wild country.

Rothenburg is a good base, but Zurich is a better one. Rothenburg's strength is the Romantic Road: Dinkelsbühl, Nördlingen inside its meteorite crater, Schwäbisch Hall and Würzburg's Residenz are all about an hour or less by car. The branch line makes the train awkward.

From Zurich, Lucerne, Bern, Basel, St Gallen and the Rhine Falls are each about an hour or less by train. You can fill a varied week without ever needing a car.

Zurich is much easier with children. It has the zoo with its Madagascar rainforest hall, shallow lake lidos, boat trips, the Technorama in Winterthur, and trams that take pushchairs.

Rothenburg is like a storybook for a day or two. Children can walk the ramparts, climb the Rathaus tower and follow the night watchman's lantern, and older ones enjoy the grisly exhibits in the Medieval Crime Museum. After that, the cobbles, steep paths and lack of attractions for children send families off on excursions.

Both centres are easy to walk, but beyond them the gap is wide. You can cross Rothenburg's old town in fifteen minutes on cobbles, with a steep climb back up from the valley. Anything further means a change of train at Steinach or, more practically, a car.

In Zurich, the trams, S-Bahn trains, funiculars and lake boats all use one ticket, and the airport is a short train ride away. A car would be more of a burden than a help.

Zurich has far more to offer, all at high prices. There are the watchmakers, jewellers and department stores of Bahnhofstrasse, boutiques and antique shops in the Niederdorf, and design shops under the viaduct arches in Zurich West.

Rothenburg's shops on the Herrngasse and Schmiedgasse sell Christmas ornaments, nutcrackers, cuckoo clocks and Schneeballen all year round, and the town holds one of Germany's most atmospheric Christmas markets. For fashion or everyday shopping there is next to nothing.

Rothenburg is much easier on the wallet, even with the tourist premium on rooms inside the walls and meals around the Marktplatz. Sleeping outside the walls or in a nearby village cuts costs further, and walking the town is free.

Zurich is one of the most expensive cities anywhere to visit, from hotel rooms to a casual lunch. Supermarket picnics by the lake, the free lidos and a transport pass help, but only a little.

In Rothenburg, a show usually means history. The costumed Meistertrunk play retells the wine-drinking feat said to have saved the town in the Thirty Years' War, a small open-air theatre runs in summer, and St Jakob's holds organ and choral concerts. On most evenings there is nothing on, and the evening is spent over dinner.

Zurich offers a proper season. The Opernhaus on the lake shore stages opera and ballet, the Tonhalle Orchestra plays in its restored nineteenth-century hall, and the Schauspielhaus is one of the leading German-language theatres. For something less formal, the Rote Fabrik and the venues of Kreis 4 and 5 put on jazz, indie and electronic acts.

Rothenburg's calm mostly depends on when you go out. In the early morning and after the coach groups leave, the walls and valley paths are almost empty. For proper thermal bathing you drive about an hour to the salt-water pool at Bad Windsheim or to Bad Mergentheim.

Zurich gives you more ways to unwind, and you don't need a car for any of them. Thermal pools fill the stone vaults of the old Hürlimann brewery, and in the colder months the bathing houses on the lake and the Limmat open as saunas, with cold dips between sessions. Baden's hot springs are twenty minutes away by train.