Basel or Interlaken?

Neither place has a real beach, and swimming is a summer pleasure in both. What differs is the water. Basel's great ritual is floating down the Rhine past the old town in a swim bag, which is sociable and memorable but only sensible for strong swimmers.

Interlaken offers calm lake swimming instead, at the grassy lidos and shingle spots on Lake Thun or in Lake Brienz, which is colder and turquoise. It is gentler water under snow peaks, though the season is just as short.

Basel eats better. Its restaurants borrow from Alsace and Baden, there is a small fine-dining tier, and the Markthalle and Marktplatz market are good for casual meals. Wine villages across the border are close by too.

Interlaken's tables are mostly fondue, rösti and international places serving visitors. Its best meals are found up in the region, such as a hut terrace above Grindelwald or cheese from a mountain dairy.

This is where the two are furthest apart. Basel has a museum list worthy of a much larger city: Holbein at the Kunstmuseum, the Beyeler in Riehen and the Vitra campus just over the border. It also has a well-kept old town running from the red Münster to the Spalentor.

Interlaken has the Höheweg's grand hotels, the Kursaal and a few timber houses in Unterseen, and that is about all. Anyone who wants art or architecture will be catching a train to Bern or Basel.

Neither is a party destination, but Basel has more to do after dark. There are summer drinks on the Kleinbasel steps, bars around the Kaserne and a few clubs in old harbour buildings, and Fasnacht brings three days of drums and lanterns in late winter.

Interlaken's evenings mean a backpacker pub, a basement club or the casino. Most people are in bed early before a morning train up the mountain.

Interlaken is one of the great Alpine bases. The Jungfraujoch railway, the waterfalls of Lauterbrunnen, trails from Grindelwald First and Mürren, paragliding over the Höhematte and winter skiing in Wengen are all close at hand. Low cloud is the only real limit.

Basel offers milder country. The Jura ridges, the Black Forest summits and the Vosges are all near, along with flat Rhine cycle paths into France and Germany. It is good for walkers and cyclists, but there is nothing on Interlaken's scale.

Both make excellent bases, and Basel has the wider reach. From one station you can go to Colmar and the Alsace wine route, Strasbourg, Freiburg, Lucerne, Bern, Zurich and the Rhine Falls. Roman Augusta Raurica is a few minutes away.

Interlaken's trips are more regional and more scenic. There are castles at Thun, Spiez and Oberhofen, reached by paddle steamer, woodcarving at Brienz and the open-air Ballenberg museum, with Bern under an hour away by train.

Interlaken has more to offer children because the mountains do the work. Cog railways, gondolas, summit playgrounds, toboggan runs and the St Beatus caves keep them busy, though wet days are hard to fill and the highest summits are too high for babies.

Basel is calm and easy with a pram. It has a first-rate zoo, the toy and natural history museums and the current-driven ferries, but beyond those the list is short, and the Rhine is no place for small swimmers.

Both are easy to manage without a car, and both give hotel guests transport cards. Basel is the smoother of the two: a walkable centre, dense trams that run into France and Germany, and direct trains in every direction.

Interlaken's town is a flat walk between two stations, and its strength lies in the mountain railways, gondolas and steamers that link neatly across the Jungfrau region. The most popular trains can get crowded in summer.

Basel has more variety. Alongside the watch shops and chocolatiers on Freie Strasse, there are small design and craft shops on Spalenberg and in St Johann, and a pretty Christmas market around the Münster.

Interlaken's Höheweg mostly sells watches, army knives and cuckoo clocks to tour groups, plus outdoor gear. Carved wood from Brienz is the one local craft worth taking home.

Both are very expensive, as you would expect in Switzerland. In Basel the escape routes are close, since cheaper meals and rooms lie a tram ride away in Germany or France. Trade fairs such as Art Basel make rooms scarce.

In Interlaken the mountain railways and adventure activities are the big extra cost, the Jungfraujoch above all. Picnics and passes help, but there is no cheap way to do the region properly.

Basel has a serious stage scene for its size. Theater Basel stages bold opera, ballet and drama, the Sinfonieorchester plays at the Stadtcasino, and there are early-music concerts and jazz clubs fed by the city's music school, mainly from autumn to early summer.

Interlaken has the summer William Tell play performed in the woods, folklore evenings with alphorns and the odd concert at the Kursaal. For more, people go to Bern.

Basel is a little better for a restful stay. The city is unhurried, Sundays are quiet, and there are proper thermal baths at Rheinfelden and in the Baden spa towns just across the border.

Interlaken has hotel spas and a public wellness area, and calm can be found on early lakeshore walks and steamer crossings. The centre is busy with groups and geared to activity, though, so people looking for rest tend to stay in Wengen, Mürren or the lake villages.