Bern or Lucerne?

Neither city has a coast, but Bern's river swim is the more memorable experience. You walk upstream from the Marzili baths, jump into the glacier-green Aare and let the current carry you back below the Federal Palace. Lidos at Marzili, Lorraine and Eichholz have lawns and pools, but the river is for confident swimmers only.

Lucerne's lake is about as warm in high summer and much calmer. People swim from the Lido, the old wooden lake baths and the lawns at Ufschötti. With jetties and grass rather than sand, it works as a break between excursions more than a reason to come.

Bern's own dish is the Berner Platte, a heavy board of smoked meats and sausages with sauerkraut and beans. Rösti, fondue and veal in cream sauce fill the menus of the guildhall dining rooms and vaulted cellars under the arcades. Bern also has a little more to graze on: Emmental cheese at the Bundesplatz markets, onion tarts at the late-November Zibelemärit, and chocolate that is a real local strength.

Lucerne's speciality is Chügelipastete, a puff-pastry case of veal and mushrooms in cream, and perch and whitefish come from the lake. Its terraces along the Reuss are best kept for coffee or a glass of Swiss white wine, as many tables near the Chapel Bridge serve the coach groups. In either city, expect a narrow range and high prices.

In Bern the whole old town is the attraction: sandstone arcades, painted fountains, the Zytglogge and the Minster tower, all on a loop of the Aare. Behind that sit stronger museums than Lucerne has, including the Zentrum Paul Klee, Switzerland's oldest art museum and the Einstein Museum, with his flat on Kramgasse nearby.

Lucerne has fewer sights, though several are famous: the Chapel Bridge and Water Tower, the Lion Monument and the climbable towers of the Musegg Wall. The Rosengart Collection is a fine Picasso and Klee stop, but the list runs out sooner.

Neither is a night-out city, but Bern stays up a little later. Its cellar bars under the arcades and along Aarbergergasse fill at weekends, the Reitschule hosts rough-edged late parties and in summer people gather at riverside bars on the Aare.

In Lucerne, most evenings end with a drink by the water, and the lakefront is mostly empty by midnight. Apart from student weekends in the Neustadt, the real exception is Fasnacht, when the whole town is out in costume until dawn.

Lucerne's mountains rise straight from its lake. Pilatus has the steepest cogwheel railway in the world, Rigi has wide ridge walks, and Titlis keeps glacier snow all year about an hour away. Steamers make it easy to combine a boat, a train and a hike in one day, though low cloud can hide the views.

From Bern the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau line the horizon, but they are an hour away by train. Closer to town the outdoors is gentler: the Gurten funicular, wooded paths along the Aare, and walking and cycling in the Emmental and the Jura.

Both sit on the Swiss rail network, but Bern reaches more varied places. Fribourg is twenty minutes away, Gruyères is just beyond it, and Murten, Thun, Solothurn and Neuchâtel are all close. Lausanne and the Lavaux terraces add the French-speaking side, and Interlaken is an hour off.

From Lucerne, Zurich, Basel and Bern are all under an hour, and Zug and Einsiedeln are nearby. Its best outing is the lake itself, by boat to Brunnen, the Rütli meadow and the William Tell country around Altdorf. Interlaken takes twice as long as it does from Bern.

Both cities are safe, calm and easy with children, but they keep them busy in different ways. In Bern the days are spread across small outings: the bear park, the Dählhölzli zoo along the river, the animal dioramas at the Natural History Museum and the playground at the top of the Gurten. Keep children out of the fast river.

Lucerne relies on one big draw, the hands-on Swiss Museum of Transport, plus the Glacier Garden and rides on steamers and mountain trains. These rides depend on the weather and get expensive, and with no zoo, rainy days can be harder to fill.

Bern's arcades keep you dry on the twenty-minute walk from the station to the bear park, and its trams and buses cover the rest of the city. Funiculars and a public lift go down to the riverside quarter, but some streets climbing up from the Aare are steep.

In Lucerne the station, the boat piers and the edge of the Old Town sit together on a flat lakefront, so the steamers leave almost from the platform. The same tickets take you up the lake and into the mountains, though trips that combine boats, trains and cable cars take some reading of the timetables. You won't need a car in either city.

Bern is better for browsing. Steep steps lead down from Gerechtigkeitsgasse to cellar shops selling antiques, design, books and crafts, and the arcades of Spitalgasse, Marktgasse and Kramgasse have Swiss chains, chocolate and a long-established department store near the station.

Lucerne is about watches. Large watch and jewellery houses on Schwanenplatz serve the tour groups, with army knives and cuckoo clocks alongside. Beyond those there are few fashion labels, no department store worth a visit and little for homeware.

In Bern many of the best things cost nothing: the bear park, the river paths, guided tours of the Federal Palace and the old town's arcades. Hotels usually include a pass for trams and buses, and lunch from supermarket counters and market stalls keeps costs down during the day.

Lucerne's highlights come with a fare. The mountain railways and cable cars that make the stay worthwhile take a large share of the budget, and a Swiss travel pass and lakeside picnics only soften the cost. Hotels, meals and drinks are very expensive in both cities, so neither works as a budget trip.

Lucerne is the stronger stage for classical music. The Lucerne Festival brings the world's leading orchestras and soloists, mainly in late summer, and Jean Nouvel's concert hall, known for its acoustics, has a year-round programme. At Fasnacht, Guggenmusik brass bands fill the Old Town.

Bern offers more variety than prestige. There is German-language opera at the Stadttheater, the symphony orchestra at the Casino, new dance at the Dampfzentrale and alternative concerts at the Reitschule. Its jazz festival in spring and the Gurtenfestival in July are pleasant extras, not a reason to come.

In Bern you can have a spa day in town. On the western edge there is a large thermal bath complex with warm pools, saunas and steam rooms, and there are a hammam-style spa in the old town and several hotel spas. The slower pleasures are long lunches on riverside terraces and Sundays when the arcades go quiet.

Lucerne's best soak is outside the city, at Mario Botta's mineral bath high on the Rigi, about an hour away by boat and cogwheel train. In town, rest means hotel spas, the old wooden lake baths in summer, walks along the promenade and an unhurried steamer ride. The Old Town does fill with tour groups in the middle of the day.