Bern or Venice?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Venice has an actual stretch of sand. The Lido is a short boat ride away, with shallow Adriatic water around 25°C in high summer that suits children and waders, and quieter Pellestrina beyond.

Bern's swimming is a river experience rather than a beach one: drifting down the cold, fast Aare past the Federal Palace and climbing out at the Marzili lawns. It is exhilarating for strong swimmers, but for gentle bathing you take the train to Lake Thun.

Bern cooks in an Alpine register. Expect the Berner Platte of smoked meats and sausages, rösti and fondue served in old guildhall rooms and arcade cellars, and fine chocolate and Emmental cheese at the Bundesplatz markets. The food is dependable rather than memorable. There are Italian, Asian and modern Swiss kitchens as well, but only as many as a small city can offer.

Venice is the better place to eat, as long as you avoid the picture-menu restaurants around San Marco. Cicchetti with a small glass of wine at a bacaro counter near the Rialto, cuttlefish risotto blackened with its ink and lagoon seafood from the market have a character Bern cannot match. Beyond Venetian and Italian cooking, though, the choice is thin.

Both old towns carry UNESCO status, but they are on a different scale. Bern's sandstone arcades, fountains, Zytglogge and Minster make a handsome, compact centre, and the Zentrum Paul Klee and Einstein's flat give it real substance for a city of its size.

Venice is in another league. The whole city is the monument, from San Marco and the Doge's Palace to the palazzi on the Grand Canal, and the art inside its churches and scuole could fill a week without repeating itself.

Neither city is for clubbing, but Bern has a little more going on after dark. Its vaulted cellar bars and the streets around Aarbergergasse stay busy at weekends, and the Reitschule runs late, rough-edged parties.

Venice peaks at aperitivo time with spritzes outside the bacari on the Fondamenta della Misericordia, then thins out to a few student bars in Campo Santa Margherita. By midnight the canals are silent, which suits a romantic walk better than a night out.

This is where Bern pulls far ahead. The Bernese Alps are visible from the old town and about an hour away by train, with high hiking, cable cars and skiing, while the Gurten, the Aare woods, the Emmental and the Jura give easier walks and rides close by.

Venice's nature is the lagoon: salt marshes around Torcello with herons and flamingos, best explored by kayak or rowing boat. It is lovely in its quiet way, but the land is flat and the Dolomites are more than two hours off.

Both are superb bases, and the difference is in what you see. From Bern the trips are Swiss towns and lakes: Lucerne, Fribourg, Gruyères, Murten and Thun, all reached easily by train, with mountain scenery thrown in.

From Venice the draw is art and history: Giotto in Padua, Verona's arena, Palladio's Vicenza and the Brenta villas, plus Murano, Burano and Torcello by boat without boarding a train at all.

Bern is much the easier city with children. It is calm, clean and safe. The bears on the riverbank below the old town and the wooded enclosures of the Dählhölzli zoo along the Aare make easy half-days, and the animal dioramas at the Natural History Museum fill a wet morning. Little ones can splash in the shallow pools at the Marzili lido while the fast river beside it is left to strong swimmers, and the mountains an hour away round off a longer stay.

Venice wins children over at first sight, with travel by boat, no cars and glass-blowing on Murano, and the Lido's shallow sand is a good escape on a hot afternoon. Day to day, though, it is hard going. Hundreds of stepped bridges make a pushchair a struggle, the main routes are packed in summer, the alleys turn hot and humid, and there are few parks or playgrounds where children can run about.

Bern is one of the simplest cities to move around. The old town walks end to end in about twenty minutes under cover of the arcades, trams and buses run to the minute, and the main station sits right at the top of the centre.

Venice is walkable too, but more slowly and with more effort. Its alleys twist and dead-end at canals, the vaporetti are slow and crowded, and hundreds of stepped bridges make luggage and pushchairs a constant chore.

Venice has more to buy, chiefly crafts made in the city: Murano glass, Burano lace, papier-mâché masks, marbled paper and furlane slippers, plus Italian fashion names near San Marco. The catch is the cheap imported copies on the main routes.

Bern's arcades offer watches, chocolate and Swiss chains, with antiques and design in the cellar shops of Gerechtigkeitsgasse. It is pleasant browsing, but there is less that you could not find elsewhere.

Both cities are expensive, and Bern is the costlier of the two. Hotels, meals and even a terrace beer cost well above most of Europe, softened by a free local transport pass from many hotels and free sights such as the bear park and river paths.

Venice is steep too, with dear hotels and visitor-priced boats, but standing cicchetti meals and a bed in Mestre or the quieter sestieri bring the cost of a stay down further than Bern allows.

Venice has the stronger evening programme, led by La Fenice, where Verdi and Rossini had premieres, along with Biennale festivals and the ever-present Vivaldi concerts in churches. Jazz and rock are scarce.

Bern covers the range of a small capital, with opera at the Stadttheater, the symphony orchestra at the Casino and contemporary dance at the Dampfzentrale. Its spring jazz festival and the Gurtenfestival in July give it the popular music Venice lacks.

Bern is the more restful place overall. The whole city runs at an easy pace, Sundays are quiet, and a large thermal and sauna complex on the western edge adds proper spa time, with mountain spa hotels within reach.

Venice offers stillness in pockets, such as early mornings in Castello or on Giudecca, but the daytime crush around San Marco works against it. For real thermal bathing you travel an hour to Abano Terme.