Basel or Bergamo?

Neither city has a beach, and the summer water is quite different. In Basel you swim in the city itself, drifting down the Rhine past the old town on a strong current. It is only for confident swimmers, from June to early September.

In Bergamo, swimming means a trip out to the lidos and grassy shores of Lake Iseo or the Lecco arm of Lake Como, where the water is calm and a little warmer by July. It takes a journey, but it suits weaker swimmers and children far better.

Basel cooks carefully but takes much of its menu from Alsace and Baden, and everyday meals can feel expensive for what arrives. Its strengths are a small fine-dining tier, the Markthalle, the market on Marktplatz and the chance of a cheaper dinner in a wine village over the border.

Bergamo is the better place to eat because it has a cuisine of its own. There are casoncelli with butter and sage, polenta with braised meats and game, and cheeses such as Taleggio and Strachitunt from the valleys above. You drink Valcalepio and Franciacorta, and a long aperitivo in the lower town is part of the evening.

The two are well matched but strong in different ways. Basel is a museum city: the Kunstmuseum's Holbeins, the Fondation Beyeler in its Renzo Piano building, the Tinguely and the Vitra campus. They sit around a compact old town of red sandstone and guild houses that rewards three or four days.

In Bergamo the main sight is the town itself, a walled hilltop town inside UNESCO-listed Venetian ramparts, with the Cappella Colleoni and Santa Maria Maggiore just off Piazza Vecchia. The Accademia Carrara gives it one gallery of real weight, and the whole visit fits into a day or two.

Neither city is a nightlife destination, but Basel offers a little more. On summer evenings people stay late on the steps by the Kleinbasel riverside kiosks, and the Kaserne area has bars all year. A few clubs in old harbour buildings play electronic music at weekends. Then there is Fasnacht, three days of drums and lantern processions that start at four in the morning, which has no equivalent in Bergamo.

An evening in Bergamo means a long aperitivo and then wine bars along Via XX Settembre or in Borgo Santa Caterina, usually over by midnight. For a proper night out, people go to Milan.

Basel's surroundings are gentler: the wooded Jura, the Black Forest summits of the Feldberg and the Belchen, and the Vosges, with flat Rhine cycle paths running into two countries. It is good country for walkers and cyclists, but the real Alps are a couple of hours away.

Bergamo has wilder country right outside town. Paths climb straight from the Città Alta into the Colli di Bergamo, and beyond Val Brembana and Val Seriana the Orobie Alps have rifugi, high lakes and proper summer hiking. Lake Iseo and Lake Como add sailing and lakeside cycling, though a car makes the mountains much easier.

Both cities are first-class bases, and the difference is variety against concentration. From Basel the trips cross borders: Colmar and the Alsace wine villages, Strasbourg's cathedral and Freiburg's minster, then Lucerne, Bern and Zurich, each about an hour by fast train. Over a week you can move between France, Germany and Switzerland, switching between French and German as you go.

Bergamo's trips stay inside northern Italy, with more lakes and Italian art. Milan's Duomo and Last Supper are under an hour away. Lake Como and Lake Iseo, with car-free Monte Isola, are closer still, and Crespi d'Adda, Brescia, Cremona and Verona fill further days. Expect lakeshores and historic towns rather than border crossings.

Basel is the easier city with children. The Zolli, one of Europe's best zoos, is a short walk from the station, and the trams take prams without fuss. The Rhine ferries pulled across by the current and the free Lange Erlen animal park make easy afternoons, and Europa-Park is an hour's drive away.

Bergamo wins children over with its funiculars and a gelato on the walls, but the steep cobbles are hard work with a buggy. Its best outings, Leolandia and the Le Cornelle wildlife park, are outside the city. Calm lake water is the one thing it has that Basel's strong river cannot offer.

Basel is about as easy as a city gets. Both banks are walkable, and green trams reach everywhere, some crossing into Germany and France. Hotel guests ride free, and trains for every day trip leave from one station, so a car is never needed.

Bergamo is easy on foot once you are in either part of town, but the city is split across two levels. The climb to the Città Alta means the funicular or a bus. Trains run to Milan, Brescia and Lecco, but the upper valleys and the lake shores are much easier with a car.

Basel sells polish and Bergamo sells produce. Along Freie Strasse and Gerbergasse the shops run to Swiss watches, jewellery and chocolate. The lanes of Spalenberg have small design and craft shops, and the Christmas market around the Münster is one of the prettier ones in Switzerland. Many shoppers still cross into Germany for cheaper high streets.\n\nIn Bergamo the best buys are things to eat and drink. The main lane of the Città Alta is lined with cheese shops, delicatessens and wine sellers, so Taleggio, salumi and Valcalepio are the souvenirs to take home. The lower town's arcades have mid-range Italian fashion, and serious fashion shoppers take the train to Milan.

This is the biggest gap between the two. Basel charges Swiss prices for rooms, meals, drinks and museums, and during art fairs hotels are scarce. The free transport card and cheaper meals over the border help, but it remains a very expensive stay.

Bergamo is moderate by northern Italian standards, with fairly priced lower-town hotels, reasonable trattorias and cheap buses and funiculars, so the same budget goes much further. Only rooms inside the Città Alta and summer weekends push the cost up.

Basel has the fuller stage life. Theater Basel puts on opera, ballet and drama and is known for bold productions. The Stadtcasino is home to the Sinfonieorchester Basel and hosts the Kammerorchester Basel, and the city's early-music tradition adds historical concerts, all from autumn to early summer.

Bergamo's stage life centres on Donizetti, who was born here. The Teatro Donizetti's season and its autumn festival of his operas reward opera lovers, and Bergamo Jazz fills the spring. Otherwise the programme is that of a provincial city, though La Scala is an easy evening out in Milan.

In both cities, relaxing means an unhurried pace at home and a short trip out to a spa town. From Basel, the saline pools of Rheinfelden are twenty minutes away and the German-style spas of southern Baden are close behind. At home there are the summer river and quiet Sundays.

Bergamo's spas have more history: the Belle Époque spa at San Pellegrino Terme up Val Brembana and the sulphur springs of Trescore Balneario, used since Roman times. In town, the walls and the quiet early mornings in the Città Alta slow you down.