Bern or Cannes?

Cannes is by far the better choice for swimming. It has fine sand along the Croisette, calm Mediterranean water from June into early October, the wide and mostly free Plage du Midi, and clearer water in the coves of the Lérins islands and the red-rock Esterel.

In Bern, swimming means a river ritual instead. Locals walk upstream from the Marzili baths and let the cold, fast Aare carry them back past the Federal Palace. It is a thrill for strong swimmers, but the season is short and the river is no place for small children. Lake Thun is the calmer option.

Neither is a great food destination, but Cannes gives you more to eat with interest. There is the morning catch and goat cheese at the Forville market, bouillabaisse and socca in Le Suquet, rosé on the terraces, and fine dining in the palace hotels and towards Mougins.

Bern cooks for cold weather, with the Berner Platte, rösti and fondue served in vaulted cellars, and Emmental cheese and chocolate are its strengths. Both are expensive, and in Cannes the weakest cooking is along the seafront.

Bern's old town is a sight in its own right: a UNESCO site of arcades, painted fountains, the Zytglogge and the late-Gothic Minster. On top of that come the Zentrum Paul Klee, the Kunstmuseum and the flat on Kramgasse where Einstein worked, so two full days are well spent.

Cannes offers a morning: the climb through Le Suquet to the castle museum and its church, the Belle Époque hotels along the Croisette and the red-carpet steps of the Palais des Festivals. For serious art, you take the train along the coast.

Neither is a place for a big night out, but Cannes has more going on in summer. The Croisette beach clubs become party venues, a few clubs stay open until dawn and the bars behind the old port fill up. It is dressy, champagne-led and expensive, and it goes quiet out of season.

Bern keeps a steadier, scruffier rhythm all year. There are cellar bars under the arcades, busy weekends on Aarbergergasse, the Reitschule for late alternative parties and riverside terraces in summer.

From Bern you can see the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau, and in about an hour by train you are among high-mountain trails, cable cars and winter ski slopes. Closer in are Lake Thun, the Gurten and the wooded Aare paths, and the Emmental and Jura are good for gentler walking and cycling.

The outdoors around Cannes faces the sea: the red volcanic rock of the Esterel, pine paths on Sainte-Marguerite, the shore path around Cap d'Antibes, and kayaking or diving around the islands. The mountains are further away, and the fire risk in summer can close the forest trails.

Both make excellent bases, and the difference is what lies down the line. From Bern the Swiss railways reach Lucerne, Basel and Zurich in about an hour, and Fribourg, Gruyères, Murten and Thun are closer still. That means cities, castles and lakes, all without a car.

From Cannes you explore the Riviera itself. Antibes, Nice, Monaco and Menton lie along one coastal line, with perched villages such as Saint-Paul-de-Vence and Èze above the sea, plus Grasse and Saint-Tropez. Some of the hill villages are easier to reach by car.

Bern gives children more to do in town. There is the bear park, the Dählhölzli zoo along the Aare, the animal dioramas at the Natural History Museum and the playground at the top of the Gurten funicular, all in a calm, safe city. The catch is the fast river, which is for strong swimmers only.

Cannes is better for water with small children, with gently sloping sand, calm sea and a flat Croisette for pushchairs and scooters. Beyond the beach and a picnic on the islands, though, the town is aimed at adults, and in midsummer the heat shapes the day.

Bern is exceptionally easy to get around. The old town takes about twenty minutes to cross on foot under the arcades, punctual trams and buses share one fare system, funiculars and a lift drop down to the river, and the station sits at the top of the centre.

Central Cannes is also walkable, apart from the steep climb up Le Suquet, and the coastal trains are simple to use. The perched villages, Grasse and the Esterel corniche are easier with a car, but summer traffic and scarce parking make driving tiring.

Cannes is the better place to shop. The Paris fashion and jewellery houses line the Croisette, Rue d'Antibes has more than a kilometre of mid-range French fashion and chocolatiers, and Rue Meynadier sells olive oil, soaps and Provençal fabrics.

Bern's arcaded streets are pleasant for watches and chocolate, and the cellar shops of the lower old town are good for antiques, books and crafts. The city has little in the way of luxury or fashion.

Both are expensive, but Bern is the harder on the wallet. Even plain hotels, simple dinners and a beer on a terrace cost more than most visitors expect. The local transport pass many hotels give out helps a little, and the bear park, river paths and Federal Palace tours are free.

In Cannes, prices are steep on the waterfront and during the film festival and trade fairs. In the backstreets, at the public beaches and in spring and autumn outside event weeks, they ease back towards ordinary French levels.

On an ordinary evening, Bern has more on. There is opera, ballet and German drama at the Stadttheater, the Bern Symphony Orchestra in the Casino and contemporary dance at the Dampfzentrale, as well as the spring jazz festival and the Gurtenfestival in July.

The film festival that made Cannes famous is closed to the public, apart from free screenings on the beach. Its strengths are seasonal: summer concerts in the castle courtyard on Le Suquet, a respected dance festival and the jazz festival at nearby Juan-les-Pins.

The two are close here and differ mainly in mood. Bern has a slight edge because it is unhurried all year round, with quiet Sundays, long riverside lunches and a large thermal bath complex with saunas on the western edge. Serious spa stays mean heading up into the Oberland.

Cannes offers polished palace-hotel spas with sea-mineral treatments, and thalassotherapy along the coast. The seafront is restful in spring and autumn, but August and festival weeks are too noisy for unwinding.