Bern or Maastricht?

Neither city has a coast, but Bern has a real swimming culture. On summer afternoons you walk upstream from the Marzili, drop into the fast, glacier-green Aare at 18-22°C and let it carry you back past the Federal Palace. The riverside lidos have lawns and pools, and Lake Thun is twenty minutes away for calmer water. The river is for confident swimmers only.

Maastricht can offer only the old gravel-pit lakes along the Maas, with small sandy shores and lifeguarded areas. They are fine for a hot afternoon, but if swimming matters, a hotel pool is the realistic answer.

Maastricht is the better city to eat in. Its Dutch reputation for good living rests on Limburg dishes such as zuurvlees and vlaai, Belgian beer, white wine from the surrounding hills and a fine-dining scene that is strong for a city of its size. On fine days the terraces on the Vrijthof and the Markt fill up.

Bern's cooking is heavier and plainer: the Berner Platte, rösti and fondue served in guildhall rooms and arcade cellars. Its highlights are the chocolate and the Emmental cheese at the markets. Neither city has much international range, and in Bern every dinner out is a serious expense.

These two are closely matched, and each needs about two days, but the appeal differs. Bern's strength is the old town as a whole: a UNESCO-listed loop of sandstone arcades, painted fountains and the Zytglogge. It also has the stronger museums, with the Zentrum Paul Klee, Switzerland's oldest art museum and the Einstein Museum.

Maastricht goes deeper into history, layer by layer. It has two Romanesque basilicas, the Helpoort as the oldest city gate in the Netherlands, a bridge that has crossed the Maas since the 13th century, and guided tours through the tunnels of the Sint-Pietersberg. The Bonnefanten museum and a Gothic church turned bookshop complete the picture.

Neither city has a real club scene, but Maastricht stays livelier for longer. Its large student population keeps the brown cafés around the Markt and the Platielstraat busy late at weekends during term. For several days before Lent, carnival turns the whole city into a street party around the clock.

Bern's evenings happen in vaulted cellar bars under the arcades and around Aarbergergasse, with the Reitschule for rough-edged late nights and riverside bars in summer. On weeknights it winds down early.

Bern has the Alps on its doorstep, and nothing near Maastricht compares. The Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau stand on the skyline from the old town, and an hour by train brings high-mountain hiking, cable cars and skiing in winter. Closer to the city are the lakeside paths at Thun, the Gurten hill above the city, wooded walks along the Aare and the gentler Emmental and Jura.

Maastricht's surroundings are pastoral rather than dramatic, though the land here is not flat like most of the Netherlands. The marl cliffs of the Sint-Pietersberg begin at the edge of town, and road cyclists love the sunken lanes and short climbs of the Heuvelland. Hoge Kempen's heath and the Ardennes valleys lie further out, and this countryside is at its best in spring and early autumn.

Both are excellent bases, but Bern is the easier one. Lucerne, Basel and Zurich are each about an hour by train. Fribourg, Murten, Thun, Solothurn and Neuchâtel are closer still, and Gruyères is a short hop beyond Fribourg, all without planning around connections.

Maastricht wins on variety of countries. Aachen and Liège are about half an hour away, Tongeren and Valkenburg are nearer, and Cologne, Brussels and Leuven are within reach. Some of the smaller places, such as Thorn, are easiest by car.

Bern has more for children inside the city. There is the bear park below the old town, the Dählhölzli zoo along the river, the dioramas at the Natural History Museum and a big playground at the top of the Gurten funicular. The Marzili has shallow pools for small children, though the Aare itself is no place for them.

Maastricht is flat and easy with a buggy, and the dark tunnel tour of the Sint-Pietersberg is a hit. Most of its children's outings, however, are in Valkenburg's caves and fairy-tale park or at the zoo in Kerkrade.

Both centres are walkable, but Bern runs more smoothly. Punctual trams and buses share one fare system, funiculars and a public lift connect the old town to the riverside below, and the main station sits right at the top of the centre. The only real effort is the steep climb up from the Aare.

Maastricht is flat, with cobbles as the main nuisance, and the bike is how locals get around. The station is over the bridge in Wyck. Buses reach the hill villages, but the countryside is far easier to explore with a bike or a car.

Maastricht is the stronger shopping destination, good enough to draw Dutch, Belgian and German weekenders. The 17th- and 18th-century Stokstraat quarter is full of fashion and designer boutiques, the Grote Staat has the high-street brands, and Wyck has independent interiors, vintage and food shops.

Bern is pleasant rather than extensive. Its arcaded line of Spitalgasse, Marktgasse and Kramgasse is good for watches and chocolate, and the cellar shops down steep steps on Gerechtigkeitsgasse sell antiques and crafts. Neither city goes deep into luxury.

Maastricht is much the cheaper of the two, though it is not cheap. Prices are normal for the Netherlands and lower than in the big Dutch cities, so a bakery lunch or a Belgian beer in a brown café stays modest. Rooms are easier to find from Sunday to Thursday.

Bern is very expensive across the board, from plain guesthouses to a beer on a terrace. Hotels usually include a local transport pass, and the bear park, the river paths and Federal Palace tours are free. Many visitors buy lunch at supermarket counters.

Bern offers a little more on a given evening. The Stadttheater stages opera, ballet and drama in German, the symphony orchestra plays at the Casino above the Aare, and the Dampfzentrale presents contemporary dance. The spring jazz festival and the Gurtenfestival in July add bigger names.

In Maastricht almost everything centres on the theatre on the Vrijthof, with conservatory recitals, church organ concerts and the large open-air summer concerts on the same square. Neither city is worth a trip for its stage alone.

Both cities move at an easy pace, but they offer spa time in different ways. Bern has its own large thermal and sauna complex on the western edge of town and a hammam-style spa in the old town. For anything more serious, visitors head to the mountain spa hotels of the Bernese Oberland.

Maastricht has nothing of the kind in town, but the region has a long bathing tradition. There is the thermal spa above Valkenburg, Aachen's baths dating back to Roman times and the Belgian town of Spa itself, all within an hour.