Bern or Frankfurt?

Neither city is on the coast, but Bern has a real summer swimming culture. Locals walk upstream from the Marzili lido, jump into the Aare and float back past the Federal Palace in cold, fast water. Lake Thun, about twenty minutes away by train, has calmer bathing spots below the Alps.

Frankfurt has far less. The Main is for sitting beside, not swimming in, so a swim means an outdoor pool or a gravel-pit lake such as the Langener Waldsee. The lake does have sandy shores and warm summer water, which is easier for small children than the Aare.

Frankfurt is the better place to eat. A meal in an apple-wine tavern feels like an occasion, with Grüne Soße or Handkäs mit Musik at long shared tables. The Kleinmarkthalle, the cheap food from around the world in the Bahnhofsviertel and the Turkish and Asian kitchens give it a range Bern cannot match.

Bern's cooking is heavy and traditional: Berner Platte, rösti and fondue in guildhall dining rooms and cellars under the arcades. Its chocolate and the Emmental cheese at its markets are excellent, but the choice is narrower and eating out costs considerably more.

The two are close, but what they offer is different. In Bern the city itself is the main sight. Its sandstone old town on a loop of the Aare is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with arcades, painted fountains, the Zytglogge and the Minster. The Zentrum Paul Klee and Einstein's flat on Kramgasse add to it.

Frankfurt's old centre around the Römer was mostly rebuilt after the war, so its strength lies in the Museumsufer, with the Städel as the international highlight, and in a skyline like no other in Germany. Choose Bern for walking a preserved old town, Frankfurt for days spent in museums.

Frankfurt has more going on after dark. Its small clubs continue the techno and house tradition it shares with Offenbach. The Bahnhofsviertel has cocktail bars with real character, and Berger Straße and the Main riverbanks offer quieter evenings.

In Bern, going out mostly means the vaulted cellar bars under the arcades, the bars along Aarbergergasse, and the Reitschule for rough late parties. It is a pleasant place for a drink, but there is no real club scene. Both cities come alive mainly at weekends.

Bern has by far the more striking landscape. The Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau are visible from the old town and about an hour away for Alpine hiking, cable cars and skiing. Lake Thun, the Gurten and the wooded paths along the Aare are nearer still.

Frankfurt's surroundings are green and gentle: the beech forests of the Taunus, the large Stadtwald, flat cycle paths along the Main, and the vineyard slopes of the Rheingau and the Rhine Gorge. They make a good day's walk or bike ride, but there are no mountains.

Both are excellent bases for trips by train, so the difference is in where the trains take you. From Bern you reach Swiss lake and walled towns: Lucerne, Fribourg and nearby Gruyères, Murten, Thun and Neuchâtel. Basel, Zurich and the Lavaux vineyard terraces are also within reach.

From Frankfurt the trips lead to German river and cathedral towns: Heidelberg, the castles and wine villages of the Rhine Gorge, Cologne by high-speed train, Würzburg's Residenz, and Mainz, Speyer and Worms. Bern's trips are more about lakes and mountains, Frankfurt's more about history and big cities.

Both cities work well with children for a few days, in different ways. Bern's pleasures are simple and outdoors: the bear park, the Dählhölzli zoo along the Aare, and the playground at the top of the Gurten funicular. The Marzili has shallow pools for children, but the river is not for young swimmers, and many families add a few days in the mountains.

In Frankfurt the big draw is the dinosaur hall at the Senckenberg. The central zoo, the Palmengarten glasshouses and boat trips past the skyline fill more days, and the Taunus has a wildlife park and a small fairy-tale amusement park.

Bern is the simpler city to get around. You can walk the old town from the station to the bear park in about twenty minutes under arcades that keep off the rain, and funiculars and a public lift take you down to the river and back. The station sits at the top of the old town, so day trips start a few steps from the centre.

Frankfurt's centre is also compact, but the city is larger, and its U-Bahn, S-Bahn, tram and bus zones take some learning. In return the network covers the whole region and gets you from the airport to the centre in about a quarter of an hour.

Frankfurt has more choice. The Zeil has the department stores and malls, Goethestraße has the luxury fashion and jewellery houses, and Berger Straße and Schweizer Straße have independent boutiques and delis.

Bern has more charm than range. Chain stores, watch shops and chocolate shops line Spitalgasse and Kramgasse under the arcades, and on Gerechtigkeitsgasse steep steps lead down to cellar shops selling antiques, books and crafts. There is little luxury or fashion.

Neither city is cheap, but Bern is far more expensive. Even plain guesthouses, a beer on a terrace and a dinner with wine cost much more than most visitors expect. The free tram pass from hotels, the many free sights and supermarket lunches help only partly.

In Frankfurt the main expense is hotels, which are priced for business travellers and become very expensive during trade fairs. Weekends and summer are often much cheaper, and taverns and Turkish grills are inexpensive, so a well-timed visit can cost a moderate amount.

Frankfurt is the stronger city for performances. Its opera company is one of the most respected in Germany and known for adventurous productions. The Alte Oper hosts the regional radio symphony orchestra and touring ensembles, and the Schauspiel, Mousonturm, an English-language theatre and cellar jazz clubs fill the season from autumn to early summer.

Bern offers solid evenings out but not a reason to travel: opera and drama at the Stadttheater, the Bern Symphony Orchestra at the Casino, and new work at the Dampfzentrale. In summer, when Frankfurt's season winds down, Bern has the Gurtenfestival in July.

The two are evenly matched, and neither has a bathing tradition of its own. Bern's appeal is its slow pace: quiet Sundays, long lunches by the river and a large thermal complex on the western edge, with mountain spa hotels in the Bernese Oberland for more serious spa time.

Frankfurt itself runs at a working pace, but the old spa towns nearby make up for it. Wiesbaden has the Art Nouveau Kaiser-Friedrich-Therme, fed by hot springs, and Bad Homburg has a large thermal bath. Choose Bern to slow down in the city itself, Frankfurt for a day out at the hot springs.