Basel or Lyon?

Neither city has sand, but Basel has a proper summer swim right in the centre. Locals walk up the Kleinbasel bank and let the Rhine carry them back past the Münster, with the water often above 20°C in August. It is only for confident swimmers, because the current is strong.

Lyon's river is for sunbathing on the quays, not for swimming. The nearest place to get in the water is the supervised lake at Miribel-Jonage on the edge of the city. The clear Alpine lakes of Annecy and Bourget mean a day out of one and a half to two hours each way.

This is where the two differ most, and Lyon wins easily. The bouchon is a way of eating you will find nowhere else: quenelles, andouillette, cervelle de canut and a pot of local red. Behind it stand the tradition of the Mères lyonnaises, Les Halles Paul Bocuse and the Beaujolais and northern Rhône vineyards on the doorstep.

Basel eats well, but much of its cooking comes from its neighbours: tarte flambée from Alsace, wines from Baden. It has few dishes of its own beyond Läckerli and the Fasnacht flour soup. The Markthalle and Marktplatz market are good for a casual lunch, but everyday meals can feel expensive for what you get.

Lyon has the wider sweep of history. There are Roman theatres on Fourvière, the Renaissance lanes and traboules of Vieux Lyon, the silk-weavers' buildings of Croix-Rousse and a fine-arts collection in a former abbey, and much of the city is on the UNESCO list. It takes a few full days, and the pleasure comes from walking through the layers rather than from one famous sight.

Basel's strength is art packed into a small space. The Kunstmuseum's Holbeins, the Fondation Beyeler, the Museum Tinguely and the Vitra campus just over the border make it a stronger trip for gallery lovers. Its red sandstone old town, with modern Herzog & de Meuron buildings among it, can be covered comfortably in three or four days.

Lyon has much more going on after dark. Its students fill the wine bars between Hôtel de Ville and the Terreaux, the péniches on the Rhône turn into bars and clubs, and warehouse clubs towards Gerland keep electronic music going. Midweek and outside term, though, nights end earlier than you might expect.

Basel is mostly drinks on the Kleinbasel river steps in summer and a cluster of bars around the Kaserne, all at Swiss prices. Its one great exception is Fasnacht, when drums and lantern processions take over the city for three days and nights from four in the morning.

The two are broadly level, but they offer different things. Basel's appeal is its three ranges: the Jura starts just south of the city, the Black Forest summits are within an hour and the Vosges lie to the west. Flat Rhine paths lead by bike into Germany and France.

Lyon has more green space inside the city. The Parc de la Tête d'Or has a boating lake, and long car-free quays and steep hill stairways make easy outings. For serious hiking and climbing it has Chartreuse and Vercors, though a car helps for most of the countryside.

Basel has the edge because it opens on to three countries, and fast trains do the work. You can see Colmar and the Alsace wine villages, Freiburg's minster, Lucerne, Bern and Zurich, each about an hour away, plus the Roman ruins of Augusta Raurica a quarter of an hour out. You could fill a week without repeating yourself.

Lyon's day trips are good but narrower, built around wine and old towns. Vienne's Roman temple is twenty minutes away, Pérouges under an hour, and then come the Beaujolais villages and Beaune. Annecy and Geneva are near the limit of a comfortable day.

Both are easy with children, and in each city the zoo is the highlight. Basel's Zolli, a short walk from the station, is one of Europe's best. Lyon's zoo in the Parc de la Tête d'Or is free and comes with pedalos, pony rides and a little train.

Beyond that, Lyon has more for children to do, with Guignol puppet shows, dinosaurs at the Musée des Confluences and funicular rides. Basel is the gentler place to push a pram, with flat streets, trams and the current-drawn ferries, while Lyon's stepped hill lanes are hard going. Basel's big outing is Europa-Park, about an hour away in Germany.

Basel is about as simple as a city gets. Both banks are walkable, the green trams go everywhere and some run on into France and Germany, and hotel guests travel free. The little ferries are a pleasant way to cross the river.

Lyon works well too, but it takes more effort. The flat Presqu'île is easy on foot, and funiculars and a rack metro climb the hills. With only four metro lines and steep slopes, though, some journeys mean a change or a climb.

Lyon offers more for shoppers. It has luxury labels around Place des Jacobins, the huge Part-Dieu mall, silk scarves from the weaving tradition, designer workshops on Croix-Rousse and antique dealers on the rue Auguste Comte. Food from the Halles makes the best souvenir.

Basel is tidy and limited, with watches, jewellery and chocolate along Freie Strasse and small design shops on Spalenberg. Its Christmas market around the Münster is a real draw, but locals themselves go to Germany for cheaper shops.

Lyon is far easier on the wallet, though it is not a budget city. Hotels are reasonable outside trade fairs and the Fête des Lumières, and bouchon set lunches are some of the best-value meals in France.

Basel is very expensive: hotels, meals, drinks and museum tickets all cost what you would expect in Switzerland. Free transport for hotel guests helps, and many visitors eat or sleep across the border in Germany or France to keep costs down.

Both have serious stage scenes for their size, and Lyon goes slightly further. Dance is its speciality, with the Maison de la Danse and the Biennale. In summer the Nuits de Fourvière festival puts on shows in the Roman theatres, just when Basel's season goes quiet.

Basel's strengths are Theater Basel's bold opera and drama, the Sinfonieorchester in the Stadtcasino, which has fine acoustics, and a long early-music tradition. It is a stronger draw for classical concerts than for dance.

Basel makes a spa day easier. The saline thermal baths at Rheinfelden are about twenty minutes away, and German spa towns such as Badenweiler and Bad Krozingen lie just over the border. The city's unhurried pace adds to the calm.

Lyon relies on hammams, hotel spas and the open-air pool on the Rhône quays. Its restfulness comes from long lunches and the Parc de la Tête d'Or. For real thermal bathing you have to travel an hour and a half to Aix-les-Bains.