Annecy or Bern?

Annecy has the better swimming. Lake Annecy is clear and warms up nicely by July. You can lie on the grassy lawns at Albigny or the Marquisats in town, or try the small village beaches at Talloires, Sevrier and Doussard, where the water is calm enough for most swimmers.

Bern's version is the Aare. Locals walk upstream from the Marzili, jump in and let the current carry them back. It is a great experience for confident swimmers, but the water is colder and much faster, and families tend to stay in the lido pools. For calm lake water, Bern visitors take the train to Lake Thun.

Annecy eats a little better. The Savoyard cheese dishes match Bern's heavy traditional food, but Annecy adds féra and char from the lake, Savoie white wines, and old-town markets that are a highlight of any stay. The best cooking is in the lakeside villages around Talloires and Veyrier rather than on the canal terraces.

Bern's strengths are the Berner Platte served in guildhall and cellar dining rooms, Emmental cheese at the markets and very good chocolate. It also has a wider range of Italian and Asian cooking than Annecy, which suits anyone who tires of melted cheese in August.

Bern has much more to see. Its whole old town is a UNESCO site, with arcades, painted fountains, the Zytglogge and the Minster tower. The museums add real depth: the largest Klee collection anywhere, Switzerland's oldest art museum, and the Einstein Museum near the Kramgasse flat where he worked on relativity.

Annecy has one famous view, the Palais de l'Isle on the Thiou, and a château museum of Alpine life. It is pretty and photogenic, but a single relaxed day covers it, where Bern fills two.

Neither town is a place for a big night out, but Bern has a little more going on. Its vaulted cellar bars under the arcades and the streets near the station fill up at weekends, and the Reitschule hosts late parties with an alternative edge.

Annecy's evenings are mostly a drink on a canal terrace or by the lake. Apart from busy summer nights, the town is quiet by midnight, and people who want to go clubbing drive to Geneva or Lyon.

Both are excellent bases for the Alps, but Annecy has the outdoors on its doorstep. Trails to Mont Veyrier and the Semnoz start at the edge of town, the Col de la Forclaz is one of Europe's great paragliding launches, and the lake suits paddleboarding, rowing and sailing.

Bern's big mountains, the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau, are on the skyline but about an hour away by train. Nearer the city the scenery is gentler: the Gurten, the wooded paths along the Aare and the rolling Emmental.

Bern is the better base for exploring. It sits at the centre of the Swiss rail network, so Lucerne, Basel and Zurich are about an hour away, and Fribourg, Gruyères, Murten and Thun are nearer still. You could see a different town each day without planning around connections.

Annecy has some strong outings too: Geneva, Chambéry, Aix-les-Bains and Chamonix under Mont Blanc. The mountain trips are much easier by car, though, and the longest outing, to Lyon, takes a full day.

Bern does a little better for children because it has attractions made for them. There are the bears by the river, the Dählhölzli zoo, the dioramas at the Natural History Museum and a big playground at the top of the Gurten funicular. Parents need to watch the steep streets and keep children out of the fast Aare.

Annecy is more of a summer playground. Children get calm lake beaches, pedal boats, toboggan runs and the flat shore cycle path, but outside July and August there is much less to keep them busy.

Bern is much easier to get around. Its centre is a twenty-minute walk under the arcades. Trams, buses, funiculars and a public lift share one fare system, and the main station sits at the top of the old town, so you will never miss a car.

Annecy is just as easy to walk within town, and bikes and summer lake boats help along the shore. Beyond that, trailheads, passes and places like Chamonix mostly need a car, and summer traffic round the lake can be slow.

Bern has the better shopping, though neither town is a shopping destination. Its arcaded streets have Swiss watch and chocolate shops and a long-established department store. Down steep steps from the pavement, the cellar shops on Gerechtigkeitsgasse sell antiques, books and design.

In Annecy the best things to buy are edible: Reblochon, sausages, génépi and honey from the market stalls. Rue Sainte-Claire adds kitchenware and outdoor gear shops, but people looking for fashion go to Geneva.

Neither town is cheap, but Annecy costs noticeably less. It charges resort prices in summer, but visiting outside July and August or renting a self-catering apartment makes a real difference.

Bern is expensive for almost everything, from a plain guesthouse room to a beer on a terrace. It does help that hotels usually include a public transport pass, and that the bear park, the river paths and tours of the Federal Palace are free. Many budget travellers buy lunch from supermarket takeaway counters.

Bern has more on stage. The Stadttheater stages opera and ballet, the Bern Symphony Orchestra plays at the Casino, and the Dampfzentrale puts on new dance and music. A spring jazz festival and the Gurtenfestival in July add to the programme.

Annecy relies on Bonlieu, its national stage by the lake, for theatre, dance and circus, plus a summer classical festival and the Fête du Lac fireworks in August. For opera or a major orchestra, people travel to Geneva or Lyon.

Both are calm places to slow down, but they offer different kinds of rest. In Annecy you relax by the water, with quiet hotel spas around Talloires and Veyrier, and for proper thermal baths you go to Aix-les-Bains or Saint-Gervais.

Bern has a large thermal bath and wellness complex within the city, plus a hammam-style spa in the old town, so you do not need an outing for a sauna. It also avoids the summer crowds that make Annecy less peaceful in July and August.