Bern or Lausanne?

Neither city has a beach, and summer swimming is equally modest in both. What differs is the water. In Bern you walk up the Aare from the Marzili, jump in and let a cold, fast current carry you back past the Federal Palace. That is a thrill for confident swimmers, and calmer bathing means the train to Lake Thun.

Lausanne swims in Lake Geneva itself, from lawns, piers and pebble shores at Vidy and Bellerive, in still water that runs a degree or two warmer. It is gentler and more of a lazy afternoon than Bern's river float.

Lausanne eats noticeably better. Its Vaudois cooking, with lake perch fillets and papet vaudois, comes with Chasselas from the Lavaux terraces, which you can taste straight from the growers in village caveaux. The area also has some of Switzerland's most celebrated top-end tables.

Bern's table is heavier and more traditional: the Berner Platte, rösti and veal in cream, served in guildhall rooms and arcade cellars. It has excellent chocolate, Emmental cheese at the markets and the Zibelemärit in November, but the range stays that of a small city.

Bern has the stronger sightseeing, and most of it lies in the streets. The entire old town on its river loop is a UNESCO site, with some 6km of arcades, painted fountains, the Zytglogge and the Minster. Add the Zentrum Paul Klee, the Kunstmuseum and Einstein's flat, and two days are well filled.

Lausanne works the other way round. Its Gothic cathedral and steep old lanes are attractive, but the museums carry the visit: the Olympic Museum at Ouchy, the Plateforme 10 cluster by the station and the strange, memorable Collection de l'Art Brut.

Lausanne is the better night out. Its students fill the Flon, a former warehouse valley where clubs, late bars and terraces stack up in old industrial buildings, and on summer evenings people crowd the lakeside at Ouchy.

Bern is more subdued. Weekend drinking happens in vaulted cellar bars and along Aarbergergasse, and the Reitschule is the one place for rough-edged late parties. Both cities go quiet on weeknights, but Bern goes quiet earlier.

Both are superb outdoor bases with different scenery. From Bern the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau fill the horizon and are about an hour away by train for high hiking, cable cars and skiing. Closer in are the Gurten, the wooded Aare paths and the farmland of the Emmental.

Lausanne's landscape is lake and vines: the walk through the Lavaux terraces from Lutry to Saint-Saphorin, plus sailing and paddleboarding on the water. The Vaud Alps at Villars and Les Diablerets, and the glacier at Glacier 3000, give it mountains within the hour as well.

Bern looks north and east into German-speaking Switzerland, while Lausanne looks west along the lake into the French-speaking part. From Bern, Lucerne, Basel and Zurich are each about an hour by train, with Thun and baroque Solothurn closer still.

From Lausanne, Vevey, Montreux and the Château de Chillon line the shore, Geneva is under an hour away and boats cross to Évian in France. Between the two lie Fribourg, Gruyères, Murten and Neuchâtel, easy from either city, and each city is a good day out from the other.

Both are safe, clean and relaxed with children. The outings differ. Bern has its bear park, the riverside Dählhölzli zoo and the playground at the top of the Gurten funicular, but no aquarium. Its river is for strong swimmers only, so children paddle in the lido pools.

Lausanne offers the hands-on Olympic Museum, an aquarium-vivarium, pedal boats at Sauvabelin and paddle steamer trips, and the calm lake water suits young swimmers better. Its steep streets are much harder going with a pushchair than Bern's centre.

Bern is the easier city to move around. You can walk the whole old town from the station to the bear park in about twenty minutes, under arcades if it rains. Only the streets dropping to the Aare are steep, and short funiculars and a lift handle those.

Lausanne is compact too, but it rises in steep layers from the lake to the cathedral. The m2 metro carries you up more than 300m and saves the effort, but walking between levels means stairs and real climbs.

Bern's shopping runs under cover in one straight line, from Spitalgasse to Kramgasse, with watches, chocolate, chains and a long-established department store near the station. The best of it is further down. The cellar shops on Gerechtigkeitsgasse, reached by steep steps from the pavement, sell antiques, books, design and crafts.

Lausanne's main street, by contrast, climbs. Rue de Bourg leans towards watches, jewellery and fashion brands, and the Flon below adds chains and a few design shops. There are fewer independent finds than in Bern's cellars, but Lausanne has the better souvenir to take home: a bottle of Lavaux wine.

Both are among the most expensive cities in Europe, and neither offers real savings over the other. The ways to soften the bill differ a little. In Bern hotels usually include a local transport pass, and the bear park, the river paths and the Federal Palace tours are free.

In Lausanne the free pleasures are the lakeside promenades and parks. A glass of Chasselas in a Lavaux caveau is good value for what you get.

Lausanne has much the richer stage. Dance leads, with the Béjart Ballet and the Prix de Lausanne. The lakeside Théâtre de Vidy produces contemporary work that tours Europe, and the opera and the chamber orchestra are well regarded. In July the Montreux Jazz Festival is a short train ride away.

Bern offers solid evenings rather than a reason to travel: German-language opera and drama at the Stadttheater, its symphony orchestra at the Casino, new dance at the Dampfzentrale, a spring jazz festival and the Gurtenfestival in July.

Both cities are equally good for slowing down, though the calm sits in different places. In Bern it is the centre itself, with unhurried arcades, quiet Sundays and long riverside lunches. A thermal complex on the western edge covers spa time, and serious retreats mean mountain hotels in the Oberland.

In Lausanne the calm is on the edges, along the lakefront and in the vineyards. Its advantage is thermal water within easy reach, at Yverdon-les-Bains and at Lavey-les-Bains, which has Switzerland's hottest springs, plus the spas of the grand lakeside hotels.