Basel or Padua?

Neither city is a beach destination, and the swimming they offer is quite different. In Basel it happens in the middle of town. On summer afternoons people walk up the Kleinbasel bank and float back past the old town on the Rhine. It is memorable, but only for confident swimmers in a strong current.

Padua has no water of its own, but the Adriatic at Sottomarina or the Venice Lido is about an hour away. The sea there is shallow and calm enough for children, and the beaches are long, flat strips of umbrellas. Choose Basel for a swim between museums and Padua for a proper day on the sand.

Padua is the better place to eat. Its cooking comes from the Venetian home kitchen: bigoli, baccalà and risotto with spring peas. The morning markets in Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza della Frutta and the early-evening spritz make food part of the day rather than a break from it.

Basel eats well but borrows much of its character from Alsace and Baden, and everyday meals can feel expensive for what they are. Its strengths are a small, very good fine-dining tier and the Markthalle food hall. Padua's fine dining is thin, but its ordinary tables give you more.

Both are serious culture cities, but of different kinds. Basel is about museums: the Kunstmuseum with its Holbeins, the Fondation Beyeler in its Renzo Piano building, the Tinguely and the Vitra campus. Buildings by Herzog & de Meuron stand alongside the red sandstone Münster.

Padua's strength is medieval painting still on the walls where it was made. Giotto's Scrovegni Chapel leads the UNESCO-listed fresco cycles, joined by the pilgrim Basilica of Saint Anthony and the university's anatomical theatre. Lovers of modern art and design lean towards Basel. Anyone drawn to the roots of Italian painting should go to Padua.

Neither is a place for a big night out, but Padua's evenings are more sociable. Students and locals gather for the aperitivo in Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza dei Signori until late, and during term wine bars keep the side streets of the old ghetto busy.

Basel is quieter and dearer, with summer drinks on the steps of the Kleinbasel bank and a few clubs in old harbour buildings. Its one great exception is Fasnacht in late winter, three days of drums and lantern processions with no equal in Padua.

Basel has more of the outdoors close at hand. The Jura ridges begin just south of town, and the Black Forest summits rise above 1,400m within an hour. The Vosges lie to the west, and flat Rhine paths lead by bike into Germany and France.

Padua sits on a flat plain, and the nearest hills are the Euganean Hills, a compact park of volcanic cones with vineyards and roads popular with cyclists. Proper mountain walking means a drive to Monte Grappa or the Asiago plateau, and summer humidity makes it harder work.

Both are superb bases, but Padua's list is hard to beat. Venice is under half an hour by train and Vicenza a quarter of an hour. Verona, Bologna and Ferrara are around an hour away, and the Brenta villas and the walled towns around the Euganean Hills are closer still.

Basel's appeal is its reach across borders. Colmar and the Alsace wine villages, Freiburg and the Black Forest, then Lucerne, Bern and Zurich are each about an hour away. Basel gives you three countries. Padua gives you some of Italy's most famous cities, very close by.

Basel is the easier city for children. The Zolli, a short walk from the station, makes a proper day out, and the Natural History Museum and the toy museum cover wet mornings. The river ferries are an adventure in themselves, and Europa-Park is an hour's drive away.

Padua is safe, flat and welcoming to children in any trattoria, and Prato della Valle gives them room to run, but its sights are frescoes and churches. Families staying there rely on trips to Gardaland, Lake Garda or the Adriatic.

Basel is the smoother of the two. Its green trams reach every part of the city, and some lines cross into Germany and France. Hotel guests ride free, and four small ferries carry you across the Rhine.

Padua's centre is just as walkable, flat and lined with arcades that shelter you from sun and rain. A tram links the station with the centre and Prato della Valle, and buses and bicycles cover the rest. From both stations, day trips need no car.

Neither city is a shopping destination, and edible souvenirs are the best buys in both. Basel's Freie Strasse leans towards Swiss watches, jewellery and chocolate, and its Christmas market around the Münster is one of the prettiest in Switzerland.

Padua has Italian fashion and shoe shops under its arcades and the food stalls and delicatessens under the Palazzo della Ragione. Once a month a large antiques market fills Prato della Valle on a Sunday.

The gap here is wide. Basel charges full Swiss prices for rooms, meals, drinks and museums, and rooms become scarce during fairs such as Art Basel. Free local transport and cheaper meals across the border in Germany and France only soften the bill a little.

Padua costs what a mid-sized northern Italian city usually does. Trattoria meals are fairly priced and a standing spritz is cheap. Many travellers stay there precisely so they can visit Venice by day and return to a cheaper bed at night.

Basel is the stronger city for the stage. Theater Basel puts opera, ballet and drama under one roof and is known for bold productions. The Sinfonieorchester plays in the Stadtcasino's fine hall, and early-music concerts add to a season that runs from autumn to early summer.

Padua offers prose theatre and some opera at Teatro Verdi, and chamber concerts in the Sala dei Giganti and the Basilica. For big opera nights, people take the train to the Fenice in Venice or the Arena in Verona.

Padua has one of Europe's largest thermal districts on its edge. At Abano and Montegrotto, dozens of spa hotels have hot mineral pools and mud treatments, and many welcome day visitors, so a soak can follow a morning of frescoes.

Basel's calm comes from quiet Sundays and doing nothing by the river. Proper bathing means a trip to the saline baths at Rheinfelden, about twenty minutes away, or to the German spa towns of southern Baden. That makes a pleasant spa day, but not a wellness stay.