Cannes or Lucerne?

This is the clearest gap between the two. Cannes is a real beach town, with fine sand along the Croisette, a free public stretch at Plage du Midi, and a sea warm enough to swim from June to early October. The Lérins islands and the Esterel coves add clearer water a short trip away.

Lucerne offers lake bathing instead: the Lido, the wooden lake baths and the lawns at Ufschötti, in clean mountain water that warms only in July and August. It makes a lovely afternoon break, but not a reason to choose the city over the Riviera.

Cannes eats better, mostly thanks to the Forville market and Provençal cooking: grilled fish, bouillabaisse, socca and rosé on a terrace, with fine dining up towards Mougins. The seafront tourist menus need avoiding.

Lucerne's table is hearty Swiss fare, such as Chügelipastete, fondue, rösti and lake perch in old guild houses. It is well made but has a narrow range, and the tables around the Chapel Bridge are geared to tour groups.

Lucerne has more to see. The covered Chapel Bridge, the towers of the Musegg Wall, the carved Lion Monument and the Rosengart Collection's Picasso and Klee fill a day or two, and the Bourbaki Panorama and Wagner's villa add depth.

Cannes's sights fit into a morning: the castle museum and church on Le Suquet, the Belle Époque palace hotels and the red-carpet steps of the Palais des Festivals. For serious art, visitors head along the coast instead.

Cannes has the livelier nights, at least from June to September, when the Croisette beach clubs turn into party venues and the lanes behind the old port fill with cocktail bars. The style is champagne and dressing up, and off-season it goes quiet.

Lucerne is a drink by the river and an early night, with a few bars and a small club scene in the Neustadt. The exception is Fasnacht, when the whole town stays out in costume until dawn.

Lucerne's setting is in another league. Pilatus, Rigi and the Stanserhorn rise from the shores of a branching lake, Titlis keeps glacier snow all year about an hour away, and paddle steamers make it easy to string a boat, a railway and a ridge walk into one day.

Cannes has its own good landscape: the red volcanic rock of the Esterel, pine paths on Sainte-Marguerite and the wild shore of Cap d'Antibes, plus sailing and diving. Summer fire risk can close the forest trails, though.

Both are excellent bases, and Cannes has the edge because so much lies so close. Antibes is fifteen minutes by train, with Nice, Villefranche, Monaco and Menton further along the same line, and the perched villages, Grasse and Saint-Tropez are reachable by road.

From Lucerne the trips are longer but just as rewarding. Zurich, Bern and Basel are each under an hour by train, and the lake boats run to the Rütli meadow and the William Tell country around Altdorf.

Lucerne gives children a bit more to do. The Swiss Museum of Transport fills a day on its own, and cogwheel trains, steamers and the summer toboggan run on Pilatus turn the journeys into the outing, though these depend on the weather.

Cannes is easy rather than exciting. Its gently sloping sand and calm sea suit small children, and the flat Croisette has carousels, but little in town is aimed at them, and the summer heat calls for long breaks indoors.

Lucerne is the simpler place to get about. The station, boat piers and Old Town sit together on the lakefront, and one integrated ticket system runs from city buses through to the mountain railways, so a car is never needed.

Cannes is compact and walkable, and the coastal trains are handy, but the hill villages, Grasse and the Esterel corniche really call for a car. Summer traffic and scarce parking then make that a chore.

Cannes offers more to browse. The great Paris fashion and jewellery houses face the sea on the Croisette, Rue d'Antibes adds a long run of mid-range French fashion, and Rue Meynadier sells olive oil, soaps and Provençal fabrics.

Lucerne's shopping is mainly watches, around Schwanenplatz, plus army knives, chocolate and souvenirs. There is little fashion or design beyond that.

Neither is cheap, but Cannes leaves more room to save. Away from the waterfront, prices return to ordinary French levels: backstreet lunch menus, market picnics, free public beaches and cheap coastal trains all help, and spring and autumn outside event weeks are far kinder.

In Lucerne even a simple meal is dear, and the mountain railways and cable cars that make the stay worthwhile take a large share of the budget. A Swiss travel pass and lakeside picnics soften the cost, but they do not make it a budget trip.

Lucerne is the stronger choice for live performance, especially classical music. The Lucerne Festival brings leading orchestras and soloists to Jean Nouvel's acoustically famous lakefront hall, which keeps a year-round programme alongside opera and dance at the city theatre.

Cannes's famous film festival is closed to most visitors apart from free beach screenings. Beyond that there are touring shows at the Palais, summer concerts in the castle courtyard on Le Suquet, and the jazz festival at nearby Juan-les-Pins.

Both are about equally restful, and neither has a bathing tradition. Cannes relies on polished palace-hotel spas and seawater thalassotherapy, with calm seafront mornings in spring and autumn.

Lucerne offers slow steamer trips, quiet evenings and the old wooden lake baths. Its best soak is Mario Botta's mineral bath high on the Rigi, with the mountains in view.