Strasbourg or Verona?

Neither city is on the coast, but Verona has a real lake vacation on its doorstep. The southern shore of Lake Garda, from Peschiera and Lazise round to Sirmione's limestone shelves, is a short train or car ride away. It has lidos, lawns and clear water that is warm by midsummer.

Strasbourg can only offer the lifeguarded gravel-pit lakes such as the Baggersee, which is pleasant on a hot day and reached by tram but nothing to plan a trip around.

Both cities eat well, but in different ways. Strasbourg's table is Franco-German and hearty: choucroute, baeckeoffe and tarte flambée in panelled winstubs with a pichet of Riesling, plus a strong fine-dining tier and plenty of local beer.

Verona's cooking is hinterland Veneto: Amarone risotto, bigoli with duck and bollito with pearà in plain osterie. The wine counter at aperitivo hour is the real pleasure there. In both cities, avoid the menus right by the headline sight, the cathedral in one and the Arena in the other.

Verona has the deeper history. A well-preserved Roman amphitheatre, a Roman theatre on the hillside, the Scaliger tombs, San Zeno's bronze doors and Scarpa's Castelvecchio stack two thousand years into one river loop.

Strasbourg's appeal is more of a piece: the pink sandstone cathedral with its astronomical clock, Petite France's half-timbered locks and the German-built Neustadt. It has a broader set of museums, with three under the Palais Rohan's roof alone. Either city fills two or three unhurried days.

Evenings are similarly low-key in both, and neither has much of a club scene. Strasbourg's nights lean towards beer cellars and student bars in the Krutenau and around Place Saint-Étienne, with river terraces in summer.

Verona's evening is built around the aperitivo, with spritz and Valpolicella at tables in Piazza delle Erbe and cheaper wine bars across the river in Veronetta. On summer opera nights the centre gets a second wind around midnight.

Both give good access to the outdoors, though the landscapes differ. Strasbourg is flat cycling country, with level routes along the Rhine into Germany, storks in the riverside forests, and the Vosges castles and Black Forest ridges about an hour away.

Verona looks north to the foothills of the Alps. You can walk gently among the Valpolicella vineyards, hike in the Lessinia's gorges, and on Lake Garda find ridge walks on Monte Baldo and some of Europe's most reliable wind for sailing and windsurfing.

Both are excellent bases, but Verona's list is the harder to beat. Venice, Padua's Scrovegni Chapel, Palladio's Vicenza and Mantua are all an easy train ride away, and the Garda harbours and Soave's walls are closer still.

Strasbourg's appeal is the choice of two countries. On the French side are Colmar and the wine villages of Riquewihr and Eguisheim. Across the Rhine are Baden-Baden, Freiburg and Heidelberg. The Alsace wine route is much easier with a car or bike.

Families are equally well served, and in both cities the big attractions lie outside town. Strasbourg's is Europa-Park, about an hour away across the border. In the city there are boat trips through Petite France, storks and rowing boats in the Orangerie, and the Le Vaisseau science centre.

Verona has Gardaland and a cluster of water parks closer to hand, plus the Parco Natura Viva safari zoo. Children tend to love the Arena. Most of these need a car, though, and summer afternoons can be very hot for small children.

Strasbourg is the easier city to get around. Its trams link the station, the European quarter and even Kehl across the Rhine, and its separated cycle lanes often make a hired bike the quickest option.

Verona is a pure walking city. Everything inside the Adige loop is a short stroll apart, but there is no tram and the station is twenty minutes' walk from Piazza Bra. Rail links to Venice and the lake are strong, but the hill villages need a car.

Shopping is a sideline in both, though the goods differ. Strasbourg's are regional crafts: Soufflenheim pottery, printed linens and kougelhopf moulds, plus a December market full of decorations. Verona's Via Mazzini is smarter, with Italian fashion and accessory labels, and the best things to take home are Amarone, Garda olive oil and pandoro. Keen fashion shoppers head to Milan.

Costs are much the same, and in both cities the hotel room is the main expense. In Strasbourg, avoid the Christmas market and the weeks the European Parliament sits. In Verona, it is summer opera nights and the big trade fairs. Strasbourg's cathedral and old town are free, and Verona's walkable centre saves on transport. Both pour good local wine at fair prices.

Verona has the headline draw. Grand Verdi and Puccini in the Roman Arena on summer nights is a once-in-a-lifetime evening, and the Roman theatre's summer festival adds Shakespeare, dance and jazz. Outside summer, though, the programme is modest.

Strasbourg's offer is less spectacular but runs more evenly through the year. It has the Opéra national du Rhin, a full philharmonic season, the Théâtre National de Strasbourg and the Musica contemporary music festival in autumn, so it is the better bet for a cooler-season trip.

Strasbourg is the more restorative stay. Its early twentieth-century Bains municipaux, with tiled pools and a hammam, is in the city itself, and Baden-Baden's Friedrichsbad and Caracalla baths are less than an hour away.

Verona's thermal waters are out of town, at Sirmione's lakeside spa, the spring-fed park near Lazise and Caldiero's old Roman springs. Its calm comes mostly from long lunches and the Giardino Giusti, while summer crowds gather at the Arena.