Bern or Luxembourg?

Neither city has a coast, but Bern makes much more of its water. On summer afternoons people float down the fast, cold Aare past the Federal Palace and climb out at the Marzili lido, and Lake Thun's bathing spots below the Alps are about twenty minutes away by train. The river is only for confident swimmers.

In Luxembourg, swimming is a day out: the Upper Sûre reservoir is about an hour north and the Remerschen lakes are in the Moselle valley. In town the indoor pools are the usual option.

Luxembourg eats better. French cooking sets the standard in its restaurants, Portuguese and Italian neighbourhood places add variety, and the fine dining is unusually serious for a city of its size. Moselle Riesling and crémant are poured everywhere by the glass.

Bern is heartier and more traditional, with the Berner Platte, rösti and fondue in vaulted cellars, Emmental cheese at the markets and very good chocolate. The range is that of a small city, so a week of dinners is more varied in Luxembourg.

Both are UNESCO-listed old towns that take about two days, and Bern has slightly more to fill them. Its arcaded streets, painted fountains, Zytglogge and Minster form one continuous historic townscape, and the Zentrum Paul Klee, the Kunstmuseum and Einstein's Kramgasse flat give it more depth in museums.

Luxembourg's draw is its setting rather than its buildings: fortress walls above deep gorges, the Bock casemates you can walk through and the view down from the Chemin de la Corniche to the Grund. MUDAM covers contemporary art on Kirchberg.

Bern does most of its drinking underground, in vaulted cellar bars beneath the old town arcades and along Aarbergergasse, with riverside terraces on the Aare in summer and the Reitschule for late, rough-edged parties. Luxembourg's bars sit down in the valleys: the old brewery site of the Rives de Clausen, the stone pubs of the Grund and the later venues of Hollerich near the station, with an international crowd of young professionals.

The week runs differently too. Bern's bars fill up at weekends, while Luxembourg's busiest nights are Thursday and Friday, because many residents leave at weekends. Neither city has a big club scene.

Bern's position near the Alps puts it well ahead. The Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau are visible from the old town and reachable in about an hour, with cable cars, high walks and skiing in winter. Lake Thun, the Emmental and the Jura offer gentler options.

Luxembourg is green rather than grand. Wooded gorges run through the city centre, and the Müllerthal's mossy rock passages and the Ardennes hills are close by. It suits easy day walks and Moselle cycling, especially in autumn.

Both are excellent bases, but Bern is the easier one. From the hub of the Swiss rail network, Lucerne, Basel and Zurich are each about an hour away, and Fribourg, Murten, Thun and Solothurn are nearer still, so you can visit a different town every day without planning.

Luxembourg's advantage is variety across borders: Roman Trier in Germany and Metz in France are each under an hour away. Vianden's castle and the Moselle wine villages fill the days in between.

Bern gives children more to do. The bear park, the Dählhölzli zoo along the Aare, the dioramas at the Natural History Museum and the playground up the Gurten funicular fill several days, and the mountains add more.

Luxembourg is just as calm and safe, and its casemate tunnels are a real adventure for children. Beyond those and the small Parc Merveilleux there is little made for them, so it suits two or three days rather than a full school vacation.

Bern is the easier city to get around. The whole centre is one walk of about twenty minutes under the arcades, from the station to the bear park. Trams and buses run to the minute on a single fare system, and short funiculars and a lift take you down to the river. Because the station sits at the top of the old town, a day trip to Thun or Lucerne starts a short stroll from the main streets.

Luxembourg is fiddlier on foot. The city is stacked on several levels, so you keep switching between the upper town, the Grund and Kirchberg by public lift or funicular. Its big advantage is the fare: every tram, bus and second-class train in the country is free, so Vianden, Clervaux and the Moselle cost nothing to reach.

Bern makes for the more enjoyable browse. Kilometres of arcades link the chocolate and watch shops of Marktgasse to the antique, book and craft cellars along Gerechtigkeitsgasse, and the Zibelemärit in late November sells braided onions.

Luxembourg is narrower but more polished. Luxury and premium fashion line the Grand-Rue, and Villeroy & Boch porcelain and Moselle crémant are the best things to take home. There is little independent or craft shopping.

Neither is a cheap stay, but the costs hit in different places. In Bern the worst of it comes at the table and the bar. A dinner with wine or a beer on a terrace is where Swiss prices really show, so a sensible pattern is a picnic lunch and one proper meal a day. What eases it is how much costs nothing: the bear park, the Aare paths, the Federal Palace tours and the arcaded streets, plus the tram and bus pass that most hotels hand out.

In Luxembourg the room is the main expense, since hotels are priced for business travellers and the EU institutions, though Friday and Saturday nights can come cheaper. After that it saves you more. You pay no fare on any train, tram or bus in the country, several museums are free, a lunch menu lets you eat well for less and crémant is fairly priced by the glass. Some visitors avoid the hotel bill altogether by sleeping in Trier or Metz and coming in by train.

The two are about level, with the programme of a small capital. Luxembourg's highlight is the Philharmonie on Kirchberg, a fine-sounding hall that brings touring orchestras and soloists, with performances at the Grand Théâtre often in English or French. Bern's strengths are its festivals: the International Jazz Festival in spring and the Gurtenfestival's rock and pop on the hill in July, alongside German-language opera at the Stadttheater.

Bern's spa time is modern and close at hand. A large thermal bath and wellness complex on the western edge of the city has warm pools, saunas and steam rooms, the old town has a hammam-style spa, and the serious spa hotels are up in the Bernese Oberland. Luxembourg's is historic: about half an hour away, Mondorf-les-Bains has drawn on its warm mineral spring since the nineteenth century, in a landscaped park that makes an easy restorative day out.

Away from the pools, Bern slows you down with quiet Sundays and long lunches on its riverside terraces. In Luxembourg the calm is found on the river walks through the Grund and the Pétrusse valley.