Strasbourg or Venice?

Strasbourg has no sea at all. Swimming means the lifeguarded gravel-pit lakes such as the Baggersee, which are pleasant on a hot afternoon but are lakes and nothing more.

Venice has a proper sandy beach a short vaporetto ride away on the Lido. The water is shallow and warm in summer, if greenish, and Pellestrina and Jesolo give more choice. It is no beach resort, but for a day by the sea it is the only one of the two that offers it.

Strasbourg has a slight edge, and its cooking is heavier. Choucroute, baeckeoffe, tarte flambée and foie gras come in wood-panelled winstubs with Alsace Riesling, and there is a strong fine-dining tier, though it all suits a cold evening better than a hot one.

Venice is lighter and works best standing at a bacaro counter, with cicchetti like creamed salt cod and sarde in saor, plus lagoon seafood from the Rialto market. Both cities have the same weakness: tourist menus around the main sights and little choice beyond the regional kitchen.

Strasbourg has a fine ensemble: the pink sandstone cathedral with its astronomical clock, the timber-framed lanes of Petite France, the Neustadt and the museums of the Palais Rohan. Two or three days cover it comfortably.

Venice works on another scale. The whole city is the sight, from San Marco and the Doge's Palace to the palazzi of the Grand Canal, and the painting goes deep, with Titian, Tintoretto and the Accademia, plus modern art at the Guggenheim and the Biennale. A week barely does it justice.

Neither city is built for late nights, but Strasbourg keeps going longer. Its university fills the Krutenau and the streets around Place Saint-Étienne with student bars and beer cellars, the summer quays stay busy, and there are at least a few clubs.

Venice peaks at aperitivo, with spritzes at the bacari of the Rialto and the Fondamenta della Misericordia, and only Campo Santa Margherita holds on later. After midnight the canals are silent, which makes for a lovely walk rather than a night out.

Strasbourg has far more within reach. Level cycle routes run along the Rhine into Germany, and within about an hour lie the vineyard-fringed Vosges, with castle ruins and Mont Sainte-Odile, and the firs and higher ridges of the Black Forest.

Venice's outdoors is the lagoon: salt marshes around Torcello and Sant'Erasmo with egrets and flamingos, explored by kayak or rowing boat. Beyond that the land is flat, and the Dolomites are too far for an easy day.

Both are excellent bases, with Venice a little ahead. From Strasbourg the trips divide by border: Colmar and the Alsace wine villages to the south, Baden-Baden, Freiburg and Heidelberg across the Rhine, with a car or bike helping in the vineyards.

From Venice, fast trains reach Padua's Scrovegni Chapel, Palladio's Vicenza and Verona's arena, and Bologna is not out of reach. The lagoon adds days out with no train at all, to the glass furnaces of Murano, the painted houses of Burano and the lonely cathedral on Torcello.

Strasbourg is much the easier place with children. The centre is flat and mostly car-free, boat trips and the Orangerie's storks and playgrounds fill a day, Le Vaisseau is designed for them, and Europa-Park is an hour away.

Children love the idea of Venice, with boats instead of buses and a sandy beach on the Lido. In practice the stepped bridges defeat pushchairs, summer crowds and humidity wear people down, and there are few parks or playgrounds, so it suits short stays with older children.

Strasbourg is simpler to get around. Its island centre takes twenty minutes to cross and is largely pedestrianised, trams run out to the station, the European quarter and even Kehl, and a bike is often the quickest option of all.

Venice is walkable too, but in a more demanding way: twisting alleys that dead-end at canals, hundreds of stepped bridges and slow, crowded vaporetti. It is lovely on foot with light luggage and hard work with anything on wheels.

The two are broadly level, but they sell different things. Strasbourg is practical and regional: chain stores and a department store around Place Kléber, delicatessens and bookshops near the cathedral, plus Alsace wine, Soufflenheim pottery and the Christmas market's decorations.

Venice is about old crafts: Murano glass, Burano lace, papier-mâché masks, marbled paper and furlane slippers, with the big fashion names near San Marco. In both cities a lot of what is sold as local is mass-produced, so it pays to seek out real workshops.

Strasbourg is the cheaper stay by a clear margin. Winstub meals and pichets of wine are fair value, trams and bikes cost little and the main sights are free. Hotels are the main expense, especially during the Christmas market and Parliament weeks.

Venice is among Italy's most expensive cities. Central hotels, water transport, café tables on the piazza and church entry all cost more. Cicchetti at the counter, rooms in Mestre or a late-autumn visit help, but only so much.

The two are close, with Venice slightly ahead. Strasbourg has a broad, serious calendar: the Opéra national du Rhin, a full philharmonic season, the Théâtre National and the Musica festival of contemporary music, though evenings need planning.

Venice has La Fenice, where Verdi and Rossini premiered works, and the Biennale's music and theatre festivals. It also has something Strasbourg lacks: Vivaldi played in churches and scuole most nights, which makes an easy evening out even if quality varies.

Strasbourg offers more for a restorative trip. The tiled Bains municipaux give it a bathing culture of its own, and Baden-Baden's Friedrichsbad and Caracalla baths are under an hour away, with canal walks and riverside cycling setting an unhurried pace.

Venice relies on hotel spas, and its nearest thermal pools are at Abano Terme, about an hour away. Its calm comes from the absence of traffic, found in early mornings and in Castello, Cannaregio or Giudecca rather than around the crowded Rialto.