Bern or Montpellier?

Bern has no beach in the usual sense, but it has a memorable swim. In summer you can drift down the cold, fast Aare past the Federal Palace and climb out at the Marzili lido, which is thrilling for strong swimmers and unsuitable for small children. Lake Thun offers calmer bathing under the Alps.

Montpellier gives you real sand and warm, shallow sea. Palavas and Carnon are about 11km away, and the coast runs east to the wild dunes of l'Espiguette, with water that shelves gently and warms through summer. It is still a trip out of town rather than a beach on the doorstep, and the nearer stretches get crowded in high summer.

Bern feeds you well in a hearty, Alpine way: the Berner Platte of smoked meats, rösti and fondue in vaulted cellar dining rooms, Emmental cheese at the markets and very good chocolate. The range is that of a small city and every meal out is a real expense.

Montpellier offers more to explore at the table. The Languedoc vineyards start at the city's edge, oysters and mussels come from the Thau lagoon, and specialities such as Sète's octopus tielle turn up in the markets. Student demand keeps plenty of cheap, casual places open, so eating well here costs far less and feels more varied.

The two are broadly level, but they reward different kinds of sightseeing. Bern's old town is a single, unusually intact townscape on its loop of the Aare, with arcades, painted fountains and the Zytglogge, plus focused museums: the largest Klee collection anywhere and Einstein's flat on Kramgasse.

Montpellier spreads its interest across more periods. The Écusson's medieval lanes and courtyard mansions lead to the grand Peyrou terrace and its aqueduct, the Musée Fabre covers European painting broadly, and Bofill's Antigone adds bold twentieth-century architecture.

Montpellier is the better place for a night out. Its huge student population fills the bars and squares of the Écusson on weeknights too, and the crowd moves on to clubs towards Lattes and the coast late, though that usually means a taxi and the centre quietens outside term.

Bern's evenings are a cellar bar under the arcades, a drink on an Aare terrace in summer, or a rough-edged party at the Reitschule. Midweek it goes to bed early.

Bern has the grander landscape. The snow peaks of the Bernese Oberland are visible from the old town and reachable in about an hour for serious hiking, cable cars and skiing, while the Gurten, the Aare woods, the Emmental and the Jura give gentler walking close by.

Montpellier's nature is softer and southern: flamingo lagoons, the Camargue marshes, the climb up Pic Saint-Loup and the Hérault gorges for canoeing. Its hot, dry summers push walking into spring and autumn, whereas Bern's mountain season peaks in summer.

Both are excellent bases, and the difference lies in what you go to see and how. From Bern the trains do everything: Lucerne, Basel and Zurich in about an hour, Fribourg and Gruyères, and lakeside towns such as Murten and Thun, with no car needed.

From Montpellier the trips run through Roman and medieval southern France: the arena at Nîmes, the Pont du Gard, Arles, Avignon and the walls of Carcassonne. The big names are easy by train, but villages such as Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert and Uzès are far simpler with a car.

Both are calm and easy with children. Bern's draws are the bear park, the wooded Dählhölzli zoo and the playground on top of the Gurten, with days in the mountains for a longer stay, though the river itself is only for strong swimmers.

Montpellier offers what Bern cannot: warm, gently shelving sea where small children can paddle safely. The Odysseum aquarium and planetarium cover rainy or hot afternoons, but the stone centre gets very hot in July and August.

Bern is easier to get around. The old town takes about twenty minutes to walk end to end under arcades that keep the rain off, and the main station stands right at its top. Punctual trams and buses, plus a funicular and a lift down to the river, handle the rest.

Montpellier's walkable Écusson and its tram network serve the city well, but the coast means a tram followed by a slow bus in summer, and the hills, gorges and Camargue really call for a car.

Neither is a shopping destination, and both are pleasant for an afternoon. Bern's long arcaded streets suit Swiss souvenirs such as watches and chocolate, and the cellar shops down steep steps hold antiques, design and books.

In Montpellier the best buys are things to eat and drink: Languedoc wine, olive oil and honey from the covered markets. Small boutiques fill the Écusson lanes and the Polygone mall covers the big brands.

This is the widest gap between the two. Bern is very expensive for rooms, dinners and even a beer on a terrace, and budget visitors rely on supermarket lunches, the free hotel transport pass and free pleasures such as the river paths and the bear park.

Montpellier is mid-range for Western Europe, and its students keep cheap counters and modest bars plentiful. Lunch menus and the market halls stretch the money further, with only sit-down dinners with wine and summer room rates pushing costs up.

Montpellier has the stronger stage, and contemporary dance is its speciality: the Montpellier Danse festival each summer draws international attention, two opera houses share a season with a national orchestra, and the Radio France festival brings many free summer concerts.

Bern offers a reliable small-capital programme instead: opera and ballet at the Stadttheater, the symphony orchestra in the Casino, new dance at the Dampfzentrale, a spring jazz festival and the Gurtenfestival on the hill in July. It is enough for an evening, though not a reason to time a visit.

Bern is slightly better for unwinding. It has a large thermal bath complex with saunas within the city, a hammam-style spa in the old town, quiet Sundays and an unhurried pace, and mountain spa hotels in the Oberland are within reach.

Montpellier's spa offer inside town is mostly hotel spas, with real thermal water at Balaruc-les-Bains half an hour away. Its long lunches and shaded squares are relaxing, but the student-filled centre is lively rather than quiet.