Bern or Cortina d'Ampezzo?

Neither city has a coast, but Bern has a real summer swimming culture. Locals drift down the fast, glacier-green Aare past the Federal Palace and climb out at the Marzili, Lorraine or Eichholz lidos. For calmer water, Lake Thun is about twenty minutes away by train.

Cortina's alpine lakes, Ghedina and Pianozes, are for walking round rather than swimming, because snowmelt keeps them cold all summer. Swimming there mostly means a hotel pool, and the Adriatic is more than two hours' drive away.

Neither is a trip for food lovers, and eating out costs a lot in both, but the cooking is different. Bern serves Swiss comfort food in guildhall rooms and vaulted cellars: the meat-heavy Berner Platte, rösti and fondue. Add good chocolate, Emmental cheese at the markets and a modest choice of Italian and Asian kitchens.

Cortina's Ampezzan cooking has a Venetian accent, with beetroot-filled casunziei, polenta with game and barley soup. Its best meals come on rifugio terraces among the peaks. There are a few ambitious kitchens and good Veneto and South Tyrolean wines, but almost nothing international.

Bern has far more to see. Its old town on a loop of the Aare is a UNESCO World Heritage Site of sandstone arcades, painted fountains, the Zytglogge and the Minster. The Zentrum Paul Klee, the Kunstmuseum and the Einstein Museum easily fill two days.

Cortina's centre has its basilica bell tower, painted houses and the ice stadium from the 1956 Olympics. The three small museums run by the Regole, led by the Rimoldi art collection, take an afternoon. Its most striking history, the First World War tunnels on Lagazuoi and the Cinque Torri, means a day in the mountains rather than a stroll.

Bern's evenings mostly happen underground, in the vaulted cellar bars beneath the arcades and along Aarbergergasse near the station, which stay busy at weekends. The Reitschule, a former riding school, puts on late, rough-edged parties, and in summer people move out to the terraces along the Aare. Weeknights end early, and there is no big club scene.

In Cortina, going out depends on the season. After the lifts close come après-ski drinks, the passeggiata along the Corso Italia and long dinners. Only in the peak winter weeks do a few smart bars and a club stay open late. In summer and the quieter months the town goes quiet by late evening, so Bern gives you more choice through the year.

Both are superb mountain bases, but Cortina sits right among the peaks. The Tofane, Cristallo and Cinque Torri ring the town and lifts start from its streets. The Tre Cime and Lago di Misurina are under an hour away, and the Dolomiti Superski area, the Alta Via 1 and some of the oldest via ferrata routes in the Alps are close at hand.

Bern looks out at the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau and reaches Interlaken in about an hour by train, with Lake Thun, the Gurten and the Aare paths much closer. Nearer the city the country is gentler, with cycling through farmland and walks in the Emmental and the Jura. The high peaks are a day out rather than the view from your hotel.

Bern is by far the better base for day trips. It sits at the hub of the Swiss rail network, with Lucerne, Basel and Zurich each about an hour away. Fribourg is twenty minutes off with Gruyères beyond, and Murten, Thun, Solothurn and Neuchâtel are closer still. None of it needs a car.

From Cortina most outings go into the mountains. San Candido, Dobbiaco and Brunico in South Tyrol are the easiest towns to reach, Bolzano and its Iceman take about two hours by road, and Venice is a long day by coach.

Bern is easier with children. The bear park, the Dählhölzli zoo along the Aare, the dioramas in the Natural History Museum and the playground on the Gurten give plenty of choice in any weather. Trams take pushchairs easily, though the river itself is for strong swimmers only.

Cortina suits families who ski or hike. It has ski schools, beginner slopes at Socrepes, public skating at the Olympic stadium and gentle trails to huts. Beyond the outdoors there is little built for children, so wet days drag.

Getting around Bern is about as simple as travel gets. You can walk the old town end to end in about twenty minutes under the arcades. Punctual trams and buses share one fare system, funiculars and a lift drop down to the riverside, and the main station is at the top of the old town.

Cortina's centre is small and flat, and ski buses reach the slopes in winter, but there has been no railway since 1964. Arriving means a coach from Venice or a long drive. Local buses to the passes run a limited service, so many visitors hire a car.

Bern has the wider choice of the two, though its shops are pleasant rather than extensive. The arcaded run of Spitalgasse, Marktgasse and Kramgasse has Swiss chains, watch shops and chocolate shops. The cellar shops of Gerechtigkeitsgasse, reached by steep steps from the pavement, sell antiques, design, books and crafts. A large shopping centre on the western edge covers mainstream brands, but there is little luxury or fashion.

Cortina is the reverse. Its one short street, the Corso Italia, is lined with luxury fashion, jewellers, furriers and upmarket ski wear. Its anchor is the Cooperativa, founded in 1893, which sells everything from local food to outdoor gear. It is polished and good for wood carving and filigree, but you can see it all in a single walk.

Both are among the most expensive places you could choose, so neither will save you money. In Bern hotels, dinners and even a beer on a terrace all cost a lot. Some things help: hotels usually give guests a tram pass, the bear park, river paths and Federal Palace tours are free, and lunch from a supermarket counter or market stall keeps costs down.

Cortina's prices peak in the winter season and in August, when lift passes and equipment hire come on top of luxury hotel rates. Rifugio meals are fair value and early summer and late September are cheaper. Budget travellers often sleep in nearby valleys and drive in.

Bern has a real cultural calendar. The Stadttheater stages opera, ballet and drama and the Bern Symphony Orchestra plays in the Casino hall. The Dampfzentrale puts on contemporary dance, and with a spring jazz festival and the Gurtenfestival in July there is usually something on.

Cortina has no theatre season and no regular venue. Summer classical and chamber festivals bring concerts to churches and sometimes into the mountains, but on most evenings there is nothing to book.

Both are calm places to slow down, and neither has a bathing tradition. Bern offers a large thermal bath complex on its western edge, a hammam-style spa in the old town and an easy pace of quiet Sundays and long riverside lunches.

In Cortina the spas are in the hotels, with saunas, hay baths and indoor pools for after a day outdoors. The rest comes from clear air and hut terraces in June or September, although in the peak weeks the traffic and crowds make it far less restful.