Basel or Como?

Neither has sand, and both have the same short swimming season from June to early September, but the swimming itself is quite different. In Basel you float down the Rhine on a strong current, starting from the Kleinbasel bank, and climb out by ladders and old bathing huts onto gravel banks. It is a great experience for confident swimmers and less so for anyone else.

Como's water is still. You swim from lidos with lawns and pontoons, such as the one by Villa Olmo, or take a ferry to the pebble strands at Moltrasio and the Tremezzina, where the lake is cleaner than at the city end. This is the easier option for anyone who wants a calm dip.

Neither is a place you travel to for the food, and they come out about level. Basel cooks with its neighbours: Alsatian tarte flambée, Baden wines and Swiss-German comfort food, plus a small but very good fine-dining tier and the Markthalle for casual meals.

Como is more regional. You eat risotto with lake perch, missoltini and polenta from the valleys, with the evening aperitivo on the squares around the cathedral as a fixed ritual. In both cities the best meals are a short trip out: the wine villages of Alsace and Baden from Basel, and family-run places up the lake from Como.

Basel is far stronger for culture. The Kunstmuseum, the Fondation Beyeler in its Renzo Piano building, the Museum Tinguely and the Vitra Design Museum make a museum trip of three or four days. Above that is a red sandstone Münster and guild-house lanes running up to the Spalentor.

Como has fine but fewer sights: a marble cathedral, the Romanesque churches of San Fedele and Sant'Abbondio, and the Tempio Voltiano. Most visitors cover them in a day. Architecture fans get something in both: Herzog & de Meuron in Basel, and Terragni's Rationalist Casa del Fascio in Como.

Basel has more of a night out. On summer evenings the steps by the Kleinbasel riverside buvettes fill until late, the streets around the Kaserne and the Rheingasse have bars all year, and a few clubs in old harbour and industrial buildings play electronic music at weekends. Then there is Fasnacht, three days and nights of piccolos, drums and lanterns that start at four in the morning.

Como's evenings are quieter. After the aperitivo and a long dinner you can stroll by the lake or have a last glass in one of a few wine bars near Piazza Duomo, and then the town goes to bed. There is no club scene, so anyone who wants a big night takes the train to Milan.

Como has the landscape. Steep mountains rise straight from a narrow glacial lake, and the funicular takes you from the waterfront to the ridge trails around Brunate in minutes. Beyond that are the Via dei Monti Lariani, the views from Monte Bisbino, kayaking and sailing on the lake, and the cycling climb to Madonna del Ghisallo.

Basel's countryside is gentler and you have to travel a little for it. The Jura, the Black Forest and the Vosges are all within about an hour, with good marked trails, and the flat Rhine paths make easy cycling into France and Germany. It suits walkers and cyclists, but the city itself has none of Como's drama.

Both make excellent bases, but you travel differently from each. From Basel the trains cross borders: Colmar and the Alsace wine villages, Freiburg's minster, and Lucerne, Bern and Zurich, each about an hour away. Augusta Raurica's Roman ruins are about a quarter of an hour away.

From Como much of the travel is by boat. Ferries run up the lake to Bellagio, Varenna and the gardens of Villa Carlotta and Villa del Balbianello. By land, Milan's Last Supper is about forty minutes away and Lugano half an hour. Bergamo's walled upper town takes about an hour and a quarter, so it is a fuller day out.

Basel is the easier city for children. The Zolli, a short walk from the station, is one of Europe's best zoos. The natural history and toy museums cover rainy days, children love the current-drawn river ferries, and Europa-Park is about an hour's drive away.

Como is calm and safe, and the funicular, boat rides and lido paddling go down well. But there is no zoo, aquarium or theme park nearby, and the villas and churches are aimed at adults, so it works only as a slow, outdoor family stay.

Basel is very easy to get around. Green trams reach every district and even cross into France and Germany. Hotel guests travel free, and fast trains from the main station make day trips simple without a car.

Como's old town and lakefront are flat and easy on foot, and Milan and Lugano are quick by rail. The lake is another matter. Slow ferries take a long time to reach the upper villages, the narrow shore roads jam in summer, and parking in the centre is hard.

Swiss watches and chocolate against Como silk sums up the difference. In Basel the main street for shopping is Freie Strasse, with watchmakers, chocolatiers and Läckerli, and small design shops in the Spalenberg lanes. The Christmas market around the Münster is one of the prettiest in Switzerland.

Como has been selling silk for centuries. Scarves, ties and fabric come from old-town specialists and from the outlets of the mills that supply the fashion houses. Beyond that, both are short on choice: people in Como go to Milan for serious fashion, and Basel shoppers cross into Germany for cheaper high streets.

Basel costs more, and it costs more all year round. Rooms, meals, drinks and museum tickets are at Swiss levels in every season, and during big trade fairs such as Art Basel rooms get both scarce and costly. You save by crossing a border rather than by picking your dates. The free transport card helps, and many visitors stay or eat in Germany or France.

In Como, how much you spend depends far more on the season. In July and August the international luxury crowd fills the lakeside hotels and villa rentals, and a waterfront stay can cost as much as Basel. In spring and autumn prices drop noticeably, and the gap between the two cities opens up again.

Basel has the stronger stage by a distance. Theater Basel is known well beyond Switzerland for daring opera, ballet and drama. The Stadtcasino is home to two orchestras, and the city adds early-music concerts and small jazz clubs fed by its jazz school.

Como's Teatro Sociale is a handsome old opera house with a respectable provincial season, and La Scala is a short train ride away. Summer is the one time Como does better: the open-air Arena and chamber concerts in churches and lakeside villas keep going in July and August, just when Basel's season goes quiet.

Basel is the better choice for a proper spa day, though the baths are just outside the city. The saline thermal baths at Rheinfelden are about twenty minutes away, and the German spa towns of Badenweiler and Bad Krozingen are close over the border. The city's quiet Sundays and riverside also make for an easy pace.

Como has no thermal springs, so wellness there means the spas of the grand villa hotels. What it offers instead is the setting: still water, gardens down to the shore and slow ferry rides, best enjoyed in spring and autumn.