Baden-Baden or Lugano?

Lugano is clearly ahead. Lake Lugano warms enough in July and August for real swimming, and the lidos at the Cassarate mouth and along the shore towards Castagnola and Paradiso have decks, pools and steps into the water. Boats run to village lake baths around the shore.

Baden-Baden has nothing like this. Summer swimming means outdoor pools or the flooded gravel pits of the Rhine plain, and in this town water means thermal bathing.

The two are evenly matched, but the flavours point in different directions. Baden-Baden eats like Baden, with Flammkuchen, venison, Black Forest ham and cherry gateau. Its best evenings are in the wine taverns of the Rebland villages, which pour Riesling and Pinot Noir from the slopes outside town.

Lugano's equivalent is the grotto: polenta, braised meats and salumi at granite tables under chestnut trees, with a glass of Ticino Merlot. Neither town offers much variety. Keen eaters head into the northern Black Forest from one and over the Italian border from the other.

Baden-Baden has more to see. The town itself is the main sight, a Great Spa Town of Europe with the Kurhaus, the colonnaded Trinkhalle, hillside villas and Roman bath ruins underneath. On top of that come the Museum Frieder Burda, the Kunsthalle, a Fabergé museum and the house where Brahms spent his summers.

Lugano's arcaded Lombard old town, the Cathedral of San Lorenzo and Luini's Passion fresco are fine, but a single day covers them. The LAC and the Hesse museum in Montagnola round things out.

Both are early-to-bed places, but Lugano has a little more life after dark. Its evenings revolve around aperitivo on the lakefront or under the arcades, and there are a few lounge bars and one or two clubs. On summer weekends the promenade stays busy for a while, and anyone wanting a real night out goes to Milan.

In Baden-Baden the casino's gilded rooms are the event. Otherwise there are hotel bars and wine bars with an older crowd, and the streets are calm by late evening.

Lugano has the more dramatic setting, with a winding lake between steep wooded mountains. Funiculars climb Monte Brè and San Salvatore and a rack railway goes up Monte Generoso. The Monte Lema to Monte Tamaro ridge is a fine day hike, and the Verzasca valley is about an hour away. You can also take to the water by kayak or paddleboard.

Baden-Baden offers gentler upland. The Merkur funicular and the Battert cliffs lead into fir forest, and the Black Forest High Road runs past the Mummelsee to the Hornisgrinde moorland. Unlike Lugano, it has some modest skiing in winter.

Both are superb bases, and Lugano has a slight edge because most of its outings need nothing more than a train or a boat. Milan and The Last Supper are just over an hour away, Como about half an hour, and the castles of Bellinzona and Lake Maggiore's islands are easy to reach.

Baden-Baden's list is just as rich: Strasbourg and the Alsace wine route, Heidelberg, Freiburg, and the UNESCO sites at Speyer and Maulbronn. For Alsace and the Black Forest villages, though, a car makes things much easier.

Lugano works better with children, because the lake keeps them busy without any planning. There are boat trips, slides at the lidos, funicular rides, the playgrounds of Parco Ciani and the miniature Swiss landmarks at Melide.

Baden-Baden is just as safe, and its forest trails and the Merkur funicular go down well with children. But the Friedrichsbad turns away young children and the town is set up for adults. Families end up driving to Europa-Park or Karlsruhe zoo for their big days out.

Lugano is easier to manage without a car. The lakefront links most of the sights, a short funicular lifts you up to the station, and boats, mountain railways and Swiss trains reach almost every outing.

Baden-Baden's centre is just as walkable, though some streets are steep, and its station is a bus ride away in Oos. For the High Road, the wine villages and Alsace, you really want a hire car.

Lugano has slightly more to offer. Via Nassa's porticoes are lined with Swiss watchmakers and Italian fashion houses, there is a weekly market of cheese and salumi, and a large designer outlet near Mendrisio. Baden-Baden's Sophienstraße and Lange Straße are polished too, with jewellers and delicatessens, but there are no markets and little beyond cuckoo clocks and wine. Serious shoppers leave for Milan from Lugano and for Strasbourg from Baden-Baden.

Neither is a budget destination, but Baden-Baden is easier on the wallet. Its guesthouses, wine taverns and bakeries charge ordinary German prices, and only a stay built around the spas runs up the bill.

Lugano charges Swiss prices for everything from boat trips to dinner, and there is no cheap way to stay. Grotti, set lunches, hotel transport passes and meals on the Italian side of the lake help a little.

Baden-Baden is the stronger musical destination. The Festspielhaus, one of Germany's largest halls, brings in top orchestras and opera. The town also has its own philharmonic in the Kurhaus and a jewel-box theatre, and the memory of Brahms and Clara Schumann is everywhere.

Lugano's LAC has fine acoustics and is home to the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana, but opera lovers go to La Scala. Where Lugano does win is jazz: the free Estival Jazz concerts fill Piazza della Riforma in summer.

This is where Baden-Baden wins most clearly. The town grew up around Roman hot springs. A visit to the Friedrichsbad means a set, silent sequence of hot rooms, scrubs and pools, and Caracalla next door adds outdoor thermal pools and a large sauna area.

Lugano has no springs or bathing tradition. Its calm comes from lazy lakeside afternoons, long grotto lunches and spas inside the big hotels, and it is a pleasant place to slow down rather than somewhere to take the waters.