Basel or Lugano?

Neither city has a beach, but Lugano makes swimming much easier. Its lidos at the Cassarate mouth and along the shore towards Paradiso and Castagnola have lawns, wooden decks, pools and ladders into still lake water that warms to about 23°C. Boats also run to small village bathing spots around the lake.

Basel's swimming is the Rhine itself. You walk upstream on the Kleinbasel bank, put your clothes in a waterproof bag and drift back past the old town. It is memorable, but the current is strong, so it is for confident adults rather than a relaxed afternoon for everyone.

You will eat well in both, and both are expensive for what you get. The cooking differs in character. Basel borrows from its neighbours, with Alsatian tarte flambée, Baden wines and Swiss-German comfort food, plus a small fine-dining tier and the Markthalle for casual meals.

Lugano's best eating is in the grotti, rustic taverns in the hills and lakeside villages serving polenta, braised meats and local Merlot under chestnut trees. In both places, locals cross the border for cheaper meals: from Basel to Alsace and Baden, from Lugano to Italy.

There is a wide gap here. Basel has enough for three or four full days: Holbein and the Old Masters at the Kunstmuseum, the Fondation Beyeler's Renzo Piano building in Riehen, the Tinguely by the river and the architect-designed Vitra campus over the German border. Its red sandstone Münster and guild-house lanes up to the Spalentor make the old town worth walking too.

Lugano is pleasant but slight. The arcaded Lombard streets around Piazza della Riforma, Luini's Passion fresco in Santa Maria degli Angioli and the art collection at LAC fill one unhurried day.

Neither city is for big nights out, but Basel has more going on. In summer, people drink on the riverside steps by the Kleinbasel buvettes until late. The streets around the Kaserne and Rheingasse have bars all year, and a few clubs in old harbour and industrial buildings play electronic music at weekends. Fasnacht, starting at four in the morning, turns the city into three days of drums and lanterns.

Lugano's evenings are an aperitivo under the arcades and a long dinner, and the town is usually quiet before midnight. Its young people go to Milan.

Lugano's scenery is right on its doorstep. Funiculars climb from the edge of town to Monte Brè and San Salvatore, the path to Gandria follows the shore, and the rack railway up Monte Generoso and the ridge walk from Monte Lema to Monte Tamaro make full hiking days. The Verzasca and Maggia valleys are about an hour away.

Basel's outdoors is gentler and further out. The Jura, the Black Forest and the Vosges are all within reach for marked walks, and flat Rhine paths are good for cycling into Germany and France. The city itself sits on level ground with no mountain views.

Both are superb bases, but they point in different directions. From Basel, fast trains reach three countries: Colmar and the Alsace wine villages, Strasbourg, Freiburg, and Lucerne, Bern and Zurich, with Roman Augusta Raurica close by.

From Lugano, the day trips are lakes and Italian cities. Milan and Como are close, Bergamo's upper town and the Borromean Islands on Lake Maggiore are within reach, and Bellinzona's castles are a short ride north. Lake boats add villages such as Morcote, which have no equivalent in Basel.

Both are safe, calm places with children, and neither has much built for them. Basel's draws are mainly indoor and in town: the Zolli zoo near the station, the Natural History and toy museums for wet days, current-pulled ferries, and Europa-Park an hour away. The Rhine is too strong for small children, and the trams take prams easily.

Lugano's fun is on the water and the slopes. There are lido slides, boat rides to villages, funiculars and the Generoso rack railway, and the Swiss landmarks in miniature at Melide. But the town's steep streets are hard work with a pushchair, and there is no zoo.

Basel is the easier city to move around. It is flat, both banks of the Rhine are walkable, and green trams run everywhere, some lines across the borders into Germany and France. River ferries add a pleasant way across, and the main station connects you to three rail networks.

Lugano's centre is small, but everything climbs. A funicular links the hilltop station to the old town, and buses cover the hillside districts. The lake boats and mountain railways are part of the fun, but expect more uphill walking than you would in Basel.

Neither city is worth the trip for shopping, and they are about level on how much there is. The difference is in the kind of shop. Basel is the more everyday and the more independent of the two: chains and chocolatiers on the main streets, small design and interiors shops in the quieter lanes, and a Christmas market around the Münster that makes December the best month to browse. The cheaper German high street is a short tram ride away.

Lugano is narrower and more upmarket. The porticoes of Via Nassa are lined with watchmakers, jewellers and Italian fashion houses for a wealthy crowd, and if you want designer labels at lower prices you go to the outlet village towards Mendrisio. For real range, each city sends you over the border, to Germany from Basel and to Milan from Lugano.

Both are among the costliest places you could choose, and there is little to separate them. Hotels, meals and drinks are priced at Swiss levels, and hotel guests in both get free local transport. Basel's rooms become scarce during big trade fairs such as Art Basel, and many visitors stay across the border in France or Germany.

In Lugano, the savings come from grotti and set lunches, and from eating in Italian lakeside towns on day trips. There is no cheap way to stay in Lugano itself.

Basel has the deeper stage scene. Theater Basel puts on opera, ballet and drama with a reputation for bold productions, and the Stadtcasino's fine hall is home to two orchestras. There is also a strong early-music tradition and a jazz school that keeps small venues busy. Its season runs from autumn to early summer.

Lugano's arts life centres on LAC, with the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana and theatre mostly in Italian. Its strength comes in summer, when Estival Jazz fills Piazza della Riforma with free concerts, just as Basel's halls go quiet.

Basel has better access to real bathing. The saline thermal baths at Rheinfelden are about twenty minutes away, the German spa towns of Badenweiler and Bad Krozingen are just over the border, and Baden-Baden is possible as a longer day out.

Lugano has no thermal springs. Relaxing there means slow mornings under the arcades, afternoons on a lido or in Parco Ciani, and long grotto lunches. For pools and saunas you rely on hotel spas or the indoor complex near Rivera. It is a lovely place to unwind, but not for taking the waters.