Bologna or Lucerne?

Neither city is a beach destination, but swimming works differently in each. In Bologna a swim means a day out, an hour by train to Rimini or Cervia, where the Adriatic is warm and shallow but lined with rows of rented sunbeds.

Lucerne keeps its swimming on the doorstep: the Lido, the old wooden lake baths and the lawns at Ufschötti, with clean, cool water and mountains behind. The season is short and there is no sand, but it fits easily between excursions.

Food is a main reason to go to Bologna and only a sideline in Lucerne. Bologna is the home of tagliatelle al ragù, tortellini and mortadella, the Quadrilatero lanes are stacked with delicatessens, and Parmigiano, Parma ham and balsamic vinegar are made less than an hour away.

Lucerne serves good, hearty Swiss cooking, such as Chügelipastete, fondue, rösti and lake perch, in old guild houses, but the choice is narrow and many tables near the Chapel Bridge cater to coach tours. You will eat well enough there, but in Bologna you plan the day around meals.

Bologna has more to see and needs more time for it. Its large brick medieval centre, nearly 40km of UNESCO-listed porticoes, San Petronio, the Two Towers, Santo Stefano and the Archiginnasio's anatomical theatre fill two or three days, with the Pinacoteca adding serious painting.

Lucerne's sights are fewer but famous: the Chapel Bridge and Water Tower, the Musegg towers, the Lion Monument and the Picasso and Klee of the Rosengart Collection. A day or two covers them, which suits a trip where the mountains take up the rest of the time.

Bologna goes out far more. Its large student population fills the bars around Piazza Verdi and Via Petroni, Via del Pratello stays lively until late, and the evening often starts with aperitivo in the Quadrilatero. The one quiet spell is August, when the students leave.

Lucerne's evenings are a drink by the river or lake, a few cocktail bars in the Neustadt, and an empty lakefront by midnight. Fasnacht is the dramatic exception, when the whole town stays out in costume until dawn.

This is where Lucerne pulls well ahead. The lake winds between mountains, and Pilatus with its steep cogwheel railway, Rigi's ridge walks and Titlis's glacier are all day trips by boat and rail, with skiing and sledging in winter.

Bologna has pleasant, gentler outdoors: the arcaded climb to San Luca, the Colli Bolognesi, the gypsum caves of the Parco dei Gessi and the start of the Via degli Dei to Florence. The higher Apennines are an hour and a half away, but nothing there compares with Lucerne's alpine scenery.

Both are rail hubs, but Bologna's range of trips is exceptional. Florence is about half an hour away, Ravenna's mosaics and Ferrara's castle about an hour or less, Modena and Parma a short ride along the Via Emilia, and Venice, Verona and Padua within reach for a full day.

Lucerne puts Zurich, Bern and Basel within an hour, and the lake itself makes an outing, by steamer to Vitznau, Brunnen and the Rütli meadow of the Swiss founding story. It is a good choice, but Bologna gives you more great cities in easy reach.

Lucerne is the easier place with children. The Swiss Museum of Transport fills a whole day, and the paddle steamers, cogwheel trains and summer toboggan run on Pilatus turn travel into the entertainment, though they depend on the weather and the costs add up.

Bologna is flat, traffic-free and easy at mealtimes, and older children enjoy climbing the Asinelli tower, but the sights are aimed at adults. Families usually head out to Mirabilandia or the beach at Rimini, and the summer heat is tough on small children.

Both centres are compact and best on foot, and neither needs a car. Bologna's porticoes give shade and shelter, buses cover the hills, and the central station at the edge of the old town is the key to everything beyond.

Lucerne comes out ahead because the excursions run on the same system as the city. Station, boat piers and Old Town sit together on the lakefront, and integrated tickets carry you from bus to steamer to cable car without a break.

Bologna offers a little more, and mostly it is edible. Mortadella, aged Parmigiano and fresh tortellini from the Quadrilatero are what people carry home, with high-street chains on Via dell'Indipendenza, a small luxury cluster around Galleria Cavour and vintage shops in the university quarter.

Lucerne's shopping centres on watches, with the big houses around Schwanenplatz alongside army knives, chocolate and cuckoo clocks. Beyond that the streets are short and fashion is thin.

The cost gap is large. Bologna is mid-priced for Western Europe: trattoria meals, aperitivo with food and local wine cost less than in Italy's tourist hotspots, and most sights are free. Hotels are the main expense, especially during trade fairs.

Lucerne is very expensive in every respect, from rooms and simple meals to the mountain railways that are the reason for going. A Swiss travel pass and lakeside picnics soften it, but a budget trip there is not realistic.

Lucerne edges ahead thanks to the Lucerne Festival, which brings the world's leading orchestras to Jean Nouvel's lakefront hall, an acoustic showpiece with a year-round programme. Outside festival weeks, though, there is little live music on most nights.

Bologna's scene is broader and more everyday: opera and ballet at the historic Teatro Comunale, jazz in basement clubs most nights, student indie gigs and summer concerts in Piazza Maggiore. Pick Lucerne for one great concert, and Bologna for music on any evening.

Neither has a bathing tradition of its own. Lucerne is slightly the more restful, with quiet evenings, lakeside promenades, slow steamer afternoons and Mario Botta's mineral bath high on the Rigi with mountain views.

Bologna's calm comes from long lunches under the porticoes, though the university quarter is noisy and summer is heavy. For a soak, Castel San Pietro Terme is twenty minutes away and Porretta Terme an hour into the Apennines.