Bern or Strasbourg?

Neither city has a sea, but Bern makes much more of its water. Drifting down the fast, green Aare past the Federal Palace from the Marzili baths is a summer ritual, the riverside lidos have lawns and pools, and Lake Thun is twenty minutes away by train. The current is strong, though, so it suits confident swimmers.

Strasbourg's swimming is limited to old gravel-pit lakes such as the Baggersee, which the tram reaches. They are calm and lifeguarded in July and August, and good for a hot afternoon, but they are not a reason to go.

Strasbourg is the better place to eat. Alsace mixes French and German cooking in choucroute, baeckeoffe and tarte flambée, and the winstub pours Riesling and Pinot Gris from vineyards just to the south. A strong fine-dining tier and foie gras add a richer layer on top. Avoid the tourist menus around the cathedral.

Bern's cooking is heavy and traditional: the Berner Platte, rösti and fondue in guildhall dining rooms and arcade cellars. Its chocolate is excellent, but the range is narrow and every meal is expensive.

Both old towns are UNESCO-listed and wrapped by a river, but they differ in scale and in range. Bern's is one compact piece of townscape, arcades, fountains and the Zytglogge, that you take in simply by walking it. Its real depth is in two specialist museums, Paul Klee in Renzo Piano's wave-shaped building and Einstein's years in the city, which reward a particular interest more than a general one.

Strasbourg gives a broader visit. Its cathedral is a bigger draw than Bern's Minster, and the listing covers the imperial Neustadt as well as the medieval island and Petite France. Its museums run from fine and decorative arts through Alsatian folk life to modern art. Unless you are coming for Klee or Einstein, Strasbourg has more to fill each day, and its European institutions give it a role well beyond the region.

Neither city is for clubbing, and evenings in both end fairly early. Strasbourg's are student-driven, with bars and beer cellars around the Krutenau and Place Saint-Étienne and full riverside terraces in summer. Bern goes out in vaulted cellar bars under the arcades, with the Reitschule for rough-edged late parties and bars along the Aare when the weather is warm.

Bern has the stronger outdoors by a distance. The Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau stand on its horizon and are about an hour away by train, with proper alpine hiking and winter skiing. Lake Thun, the Emmental and the Jura offer gentler options closer in.

Strasbourg's landscape is flat and green, with Rhine forests full of storks and herons and some of France's best cycling. The Vosges and the Black Forest give good walking within an hour, but they are rounded hills rather than high peaks, and a car helps to reach them.

Both are excellent bases, and Bern is slightly easier. As the hub of the Swiss rail network it puts Lucerne, Basel and Zurich an hour away and Fribourg, Murten and Thun closer still, all without any planning.

Strasbourg's trips are just as tempting but less effortless. Colmar and Baden-Baden are easy by train, but the Alsace wine villages such as Riquewihr and Eguisheim are much easier with a car or bike, and Heidelberg is a longer day.

Both work equally well with children, in different ways. Bern has the bear park, the Dählhölzli zoo and the playground on the Gurten, though steep streets and the fast river need care.

Strasbourg is flat and largely car-free, with boat trips round the Grande Ile, the storks of the Orangerie and the Le Vaisseau science centre. Europa-Park, about an hour away, gives it the theme park that Bern lacks.

Bern is a little easier. Its centre runs twenty minutes from station to bear park under covered arcades, and the trams, buses and funiculars run with Swiss precision. Its main drawback is the steep climb up from the river.

Strasbourg's island centre is flat and largely pedestrianised, its trams reach as far as Kehl, and the bike is often the quickest way to get about. A car is only needed for the wine route.

Neither is a shopping destination, and neither has much luxury or fashion. Bern's appeal is its arcaded main streets and the cellar shops down steep steps on Gerechtigkeitsgasse. Strasbourg is better for regional things to take home: Alsace wine, Soufflenheim pottery, printed linens and kougelhopf moulds, plus crafts at the Christmas market in December.

This is where the two differ most. Bern is among the most expensive places in Europe for rooms, meals and drinks, and visitors on a budget eat lunch from supermarket counters. The free tram pass and the free sights help only so much.

Strasbourg is priced like a French regional city, so a winstub dinner with wine is an affordable pleasure rather than a splurge. Hotels are its main cost, and they rise sharply in December and during Parliament sessions.

Strasbourg has the fuller stage. The Opéra national du Rhin, the Philharmonic and the Théâtre National de Strasbourg, one of France's leading theatres, run serious seasons, and the Musica festival makes autumn a draw for contemporary music.

Bern offers opera and drama in German at the Stadttheater, concerts in the Casino and new dance at the Dampfzentrale, with a spring jazz festival and the Gurtenfestival in July. There is plenty for an evening, though less to plan a trip around.

Strasbourg is slightly ahead, mainly because Baden-Baden's Friedrichsbad and Caracalla baths are under an hour away, and the tiled Bains municipaux give the city a bathing tradition of its own.

Bern has a large thermal complex on its western edge but no historic baths. Its calm comes instead from quiet Sundays and riverside terraces, and the mountain spa hotels of the Oberland are within reach.