Bern or Colmar?

Neither has a coast, but Bern has a real summer swimming culture and Colmar does not. In Bern, locals walk up from the Marzili, jump into the cold green Aare and float back past the Federal Palace. There are riverside lidos with lawns and pools, and Lake Thun has calmer water about twenty minutes away by train.

In Colmar, swimming means a municipal pool or a small lake up in the Vosges valleys. That is fine for cooling off but not something to plan a trip around.

Colmar is the better place to eat, because it sits in one of France's great regional kitchens and in the middle of its own wine country. Winstubs serve baeckeoffe, choucroute and tarte flambée with munster from the valleys, the covered market by the Lauch is good for charcuterie and gingerbread, and there is a fine-dining tier along the wine route.

Bern is hearty but limited: the Berner Platte, rösti and fondue in guildhall rooms and arcade cellars, with excellent chocolate and Emmental cheese at the markets. It costs considerably more for less variety. In Colmar, though, steer clear of the tired menus on the most photographed streets.

Both are compact old towns that take about two days to see. What draws you differs. Bern's appeal is civic and scientific: arcaded sandstone streets, the Zytglogge, the Minster tower and the Federal Palace, with the Zentrum Paul Klee and the flat where Einstein worked out special relativity.

Colmar is more picturesque and its one great treasure is older. The painted half-timbering of Petite Venise and the tanners' quarter survives as a whole, and the Unterlinden Museum holds Grünewald's Isenheim Altarpiece. Come to Bern for modern art and Swiss history, and to Colmar for late-medieval painting and the look of the streets.

Bern has more of a night out, though neither is a party town. Its vaulted cellar bars, the weekend crowds on Aarbergergasse and late, scruffy parties at the Reitschule give it at least some life after midnight.

Colmar's evenings end with dinner and a glass of Alsace wine at a canal-side terrace or a wine bar. For anything livelier, people take the train to Strasbourg.

Bern has the bigger scenery. The Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau are visible from the old town, and real alpine terrain with cable cars, glaciers and proper skiing is about an hour away by train. Lake Thun, the Gurten, and the Emmental and Jura for gentler days fill in the rest.

Colmar's outdoors is softer and more rural: footpaths through the vines between wine villages, the rounded forested Vosges with glacial lakes and the Route des Crêtes, and flat cycling on the plain. It is lovely in autumn, but almost all of it is easier with a car.

Both are excellent bases, and the difference lies in how you travel and what you see. From Bern the rail network does everything: Lucerne, Basel and Zurich are each about an hour away, and Fribourg, Murten, Thun and Solothurn are closer, so it is a week of different Swiss towns without a car.

Colmar's best outings are the wine villages a few kilometres apart, such as Riquewihr, Kaysersberg and Eguisheim, plus Haut-Koenigsbourg on its ridge. Strasbourg is half an hour by train, and Basel and Freiburg are across nearby borders. For the villages, though, you want a car or a bike.

In Bern most of what children enjoy is inside the city, while in Colmar you mostly drive out to it. Bern has the bear park on the riverbank, the Dählhölzli zoo along the Aare, the animal dioramas at the Natural History Museum and the playground at the top of the Gurten funicular. Remember that the river itself is only for strong swimmers.

Colmar's own streets offer flat-bottomed boat rides through Petite Venise and storks on the rooftops. The bigger outings are outside town: the stork and otter park at Hunawihr, the macaques and eagle show at Kintzheim, and Europa-Park about an hour away by car. You need a car for these, but you also get a real theme park, which Bern lacks.

Bern is much easier to get around. The arcaded centre is a twenty-minute walk end to end, trams and buses run on one fare system, and funiculars and a public lift save the climb from the river. The station sits at the top of the old town, so day trips start a few steps from your hotel.

Colmar's centre is just as walkable, and trains to Strasbourg and Mulhouse are quick. Once you leave the rail line, though, buses to the wine villages and the Vosges are sparse, and most visitors end up hiring a car or bicycle.

Bern offers a bit more range. There is a long arcaded line of Swiss chains, watch and chocolate shops down Spitalgasse and Kramgasse, quirky cellar shops selling antiques and design on Gerechtigkeitsgasse, and a large mall on the western edge.

Colmar is better for gifts than for a shopping trip: wine straight from producers, Soufflenheim pottery, kougelhopf moulds and printed Alsatian linen, with the Christmas markets the peak of the year. Neither suits anyone after fashion or luxury labels.

This is where the two differ most sharply. Bern is expensive across the board, from plain guesthouses to a terrace beer. Free sights like the bear park, the river paths and Federal Palace tours, plus the transport pass most hotels give, only soften it a little.

Colmar is a moderately priced French provincial town. Set lunches and regional wine are reasonable and village tastings are often free. Rooms are its weak point, especially in the Christmas market weeks, so book early or stay in a nearby village.

Bern has a steadier programme. The Stadttheater runs opera, ballet and drama, the Bern Symphony Orchestra plays at the Casino, the Dampfzentrale hosts contemporary dance, and the jazz festival and the Gurtenfestival bring bigger names. You will usually find something on.

Colmar's small Italian-style theatre has a modest season. Otherwise the town comes alive for festival weeks, classical in July and jazz in autumn, and is quiet in between. Serious opera means going to Strasbourg or Basel.

Bern gives you more actual spa time. A large thermal complex on the western edge has warm pools, saunas and steam rooms, and there is a hammam-style spa in the old town. The mountain spa hotels of the Bernese Oberland are within easy reach.

Colmar has only hotel spas. Its restfulness is of a different kind: quiet canal-side evenings once the day-trippers leave, and slow walks through the vines.