Bern or Hallstatt?

Neither has a beach, but Bern makes more of its water. The summer ritual is to walk upstream from the Marzili, jump into the fast green Aare and drift back past the Federal Palace. The riverside lidos have lawns and pools, and Lake Thun's bathing spots are a short train ride away.

Hallstätter See stays cold and deep, with only a small jetty area in the village and the lido at Obertraun. Here a swim is a bracing extra after a hike, and serious lake bathers head north to the Wolfgangsee.

Bern is no food capital, but it gives you options. You can work through the Berner Platte, rösti and veal in cream in old guildhalls and arcade cellars, buy Emmental cheese and bread at the Bundesplatz markets, and eat good chocolate, with a reasonable spread of Italian and Asian kitchens on top.

Hallstatt has a few guesthouse dining rooms serving schnitzel and dumplings. The one dish worth seeking out is char or whitefish from the lake. There is no market, and for anything more ambitious, such as the imperial-era patisseries, you go to Bad Ischl.

Both are UNESCO sites, but on different scales. In Bern the whole capital's old town is the attraction: arcades, Renaissance fountains, the Zytglogge, the Minster tower and the Federal Palace. Add the Klee collection and Switzerland's oldest art museum and you have two solid days.

Hallstatt's culture is deep in time rather than broad. Seven thousand years of salt mining, the Iron Age finds that named a whole era of European prehistory, and the Beinhaus skulls make a memorable half day or full day. After that the sightseeing runs out.

Bern is quiet by city standards, but it does have a night out. There are cellar bars under the arcades, a weekend crowd on Aarbergergasse, riverside terraces in summer and the Reitschule for late, rough-edged parties.

Hallstatt has none of this. Evenings mean dinner, a glass of wine by the water and a dark walk along the lake, which is exactly why some people stay the night.

Bern's outdoors is gentler, and most of it you reach from the city. Lake Thun is nearer than the high peaks and has lakeside paths and boats. The Gurten gives an easy walk above the rooftops, and cycling routes cross the farmland towards the rolling Emmental and the Jura ridges. For winter skiing you take the train into the Bernese Oberland, and the city itself often sits under grey cloud while the slopes higher up are in sun.

Hallstatt comes out ahead because the serious terrain needs no journey at all. In summer there are via ferratas on the rock above the lake, cycling around the shore and paddling on still water. In winter there is freeride and ski touring on the Krippenstein, with groomed pistes at Dachstein West near Gosau. The cost is Alpine weather: mist can sit on the lake for days, so plans need some slack, but on a clear morning few places look better.

Bern is one of the easiest day-trip bases in Switzerland. Zurich, Basel and Lucerne are each about an hour away by train, and Fribourg, Murten, Thun, Solothurn and Neuchâtel are nearer still. From Fribourg it is a short trip on to Gruyères and its cheese dairies. The trains run so often that you rarely have to plan around them.

Hallstatt's outings are lovely in their own way: the Habsburg spa town of Bad Ischl and its Kaiservilla, St Wolfgang's altarpiece, Gmunden's lake castle, and Salzburg for a long day. But buses are sparse, and without a car each trip takes planning.

Bern is the easier place to bring children. The bear park, the Dählhölzli zoo along the river, the Natural History Museum dioramas and the Gurten playground spread out over several relaxed days, and trams take pushchairs without fuss. The fast-flowing Aare is the main thing to keep children away from.

In Hallstatt, the salt mine's miners' slides and the ice caves are real highlights for older children. The crowded, steep single lane is hard work with toddlers, though, and many families base themselves in Obertraun instead.

Both centres are walkable. The difference is everything beyond them. Bern's main station sits at the top of the old town, and trams, buses and little funiculars link the arcades with the riverside quarter. You will not miss a car for a moment.

Hallstatt village takes minutes to cross on foot, up steep steps. Arriving is another matter: the train stops on the far shore and a boat ferries you over, regional buses thin out outside summer, and many visitors end up hiring a car.

Bern has a real if modest high street. Spitalgasse, Marktgasse and Kramgasse run under the arcades with watch and chocolate shops, while the cellar shops on Gerechtigkeitsgasse sell antiques, books and design pieces. A big shopping centre on the western edge covers the mainstream brands.

Hallstatt has one souvenir lane. Salt from the mine is the only buy you would not find elsewhere, alongside carved wood and schnapps.

Neither is cheap, but Bern costs more. Everything, from plain business hotels to a beer on a terrace, is priced at Swiss levels. A free tram pass from your hotel, free Federal Palace tours and supermarket lunches help soften it.

Hallstatt charges resort prices for its handful of lakeside rooms, and the salt mine and cable car tickets add up. The easy fix is to stay in Obertraun, Bad Goisern or Bad Ischl and come in for the day.

Bern has a small capital's stage life: German-language opera and ballet at the Stadttheater, the symphony orchestra at the Casino, new dance at the Dampfzentrale, a spring jazz festival and the Gurtenfestival in July.

Hallstatt has a brass band at feast days and the occasional church concert. For a real performance you would drive to Salzburg or to the summer operetta in Bad Ischl.

For winding down, the two come out about even, but in different ways. Bern offers city spa time: a large thermal complex on its western edge, a hammam-style spa in the old town, and quiet Sundays with long riverside lunches.

Hallstatt has little more than hotel saunas. What it offers instead is stillness at dawn and after dark, plus nineteenth-century brine baths half an hour away in Bad Ischl. Expect a crowded lane around midday.