Stuttgart or Utrecht?

Neither city should be chosen for swimming. Stuttgart has the least to offer: the Neckar is a working river, and the outdoor pools, some fed by the mineral springs, are the only summer option. Lake Constance is more than two hours away.

Utrecht does a bit better. There are lakes on the city's edge, such as the Maarsseveense Plassen, and the North Sea beaches at Zandvoort and Scheveningen are about an hour away by train. Just expect cool water and a short season.

Stuttgart gives you more reason to plan meals. Swabian dishes such as Maultaschen, Käsespätzle and Zwiebelrostbraten are served in traditional wine taverns. Wine from the slopes inside the city limits is poured everywhere, the seasonal Besen taverns open in growers' own houses, and there is a deeper fine-dining tier.

Utrecht has no cuisine of its own, and here the setting matters more than the cooking. You eat on the old canal wharves at water level, in Indonesian and Surinamese kitchens, or in casual student cafés around Lombok and the Twijnstraat. It offers more international variety, but few memorable meals.

The two are well matched, but they offer different things. Stuttgart's sights come from engineering and modern design. The Mercedes-Benz and Porsche museums, the Staatsgalerie and the Weissenhof Estate stand out, while the bombed old centre survives only in pockets around Schlossplatz.

Utrecht offers the townscape that Stuttgart lost. Its medieval centre survives almost whole, with the free-standing Dom Tower and the two-level Oudegracht wharves. Its museums are smaller. Modern design is a shared thread: Utrecht has the Rietveld Schröder House, and Stuttgart has its Le Corbusier houses.

Neither is a big night out, and the mood is different in each. Stuttgart's evenings centre on the bars and lounges of Theodor-Heuss-Strasse, with clubs in basements and old industrial spaces. It is quiet on weekdays and comes alive during the Cannstatter Volksfest beer tents and the late-summer wine village.

Utrecht is busy all week because of its students. The scene is mostly brown cafés and terraces around the Neude and on the canal edge, and the clubs are few. If you want something larger, Amsterdam is a short train ride away.

Stuttgart has the more varied countryside close to the city. Wooded hills and vineyard trails start at the edge of the centre, and the deer forests of the Rotwildpark and Schönbuch are close by. The cliff edges and caves of the Swabian Jura and the fir ridges of the northern Black Forest are each about an hour away.

Around Utrecht the land is flat, which suits a bike. You can ride along the Vecht past country estates and windmills, through the polders, or into the low heath and woodland of the Utrechtse Heuvelrug. It is pleasant cycling country but offers little real walking.

Both make excellent bases, and Utrecht is slightly better. It sits at the centre of the Dutch rail network, so Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Delft, Leiden and Gouda are all simple trips. Kinderdijk and the Kröller-Müller Museum are further out but still manageable.

Stuttgart's trips are more spread out and more varied. Ludwigsburg's palace and Esslingen are close by. Tübingen, Heidelberg, Maulbronn's monastery, Hohenzollern Castle and Ulm's great spire are all reachable in a day, and so is Strasbourg across the border.

Both cities are easy and calm for children, and the difference is in what they offer. Stuttgart's highlight is Wilhelma, a full day of animals and gardens. The Killesberg park has a miniature railway, and the rack railway is a treat of its own. The hills make pushchairs harder work.

Utrecht suits younger children with the national Railway Museum and the Miffy museum. Its streets are flat, but the constant flow of bikes needs watching.

Utrecht is the easier city to get around. You step out of Utrecht Centraal straight into the old town, the main sights sit on flat streets within walking distance, and the bike does the rest.

Stuttgart's centre is also compact and walkable, but the city climbs steeply up the sides of its basin. The car museums and Wilhelma mean using the Stadtbahn or S-Bahn, although one ticket covers everything, including the rack railway and the funicular.

Shoppers will be equally happy in either city, but the two suit different tastes. Stuttgart is better for brands. Königstrasse is lined with chain stores, Breuninger covers designer fashion, and the outlet village at Metzingen is half an hour away.

Utrecht is better for browsing. Small streets such as the Twijnstraat and the Elisabethstraat are full of independent design and book shops, and there are flower and textile markets. Luxury labels are largely missing.

Neither city is cheap, and Stuttgart is only marginally kinder to the budget. Its hotels are aimed at business travellers, so weekends and quiet months are when rooms cost less, and tavern portions are generous.

In Utrecht, the main expense is a bed in the small historic centre. Once that is paid, the day costs little: you walk or cycle instead of paying for transport, and student lunch cafés keep meals cheap.

Stuttgart is the stronger choice for a night at the theatre. The Staatsoper and the internationally known Stuttgart Ballet share the state theatre. The Liederhalle carries a strong Bach tradition, and big musicals run at Möhringen.

Utrecht has a good concert life centred on TivoliVredenburg, where classical, pop and jazz can share one evening, and the Festival Oude Muziek is a major early-music event. There is no opera, though, and most stage drama is in Dutch.

Stuttgart is far stronger here, because it has a real bathing tradition. The springs of Bad Cannstatt and Berg are among Europe's most productive, and the Mineralbad Cannstatt and Leuze let you soak in naturally carbonated water indoors and out.

Utrecht's sauna complexes are out in the green belt, so a spa afternoon means a trip out of town. Within the city, unwinding comes down to quiet hours in the Pandhof cloister garden and evenings by the wharves.