Cesky Krumlov or Lucerne?

Neither is a beach destination, but Lucerne makes swimming far easier. You can swim straight from town at the Lido, the old wooden lake baths or the lawns of Ufschötti, and boats reach more bathing spots in the lakeside villages.

From Cesky Krumlov you need to drive half an hour to the Lipno reservoir, which does have sandy and grassy shores. The Vltava in town is for rafting, not swimming.

Neither is a place to come for the food, and the meals are similar in weight but differ in flavour. In Cesky Krumlov it is roast pork, duck with dumplings, river trout and game in vaulted cellars, with beer brewed in the town for centuries. In Lucerne it is creamy Chügelipastete, fondue and lake perch, with Swiss white wine on terraces along the Reuss and a Saturday riverside market.

Both have plenty of menus aimed at day-trippers. The real gap is the cost, since the same kind of hearty meal costs a great deal more in Lucerne.

Cesky Krumlov has the stronger townscape. The whole UNESCO-listed old town is intact, and the castle above it, with its painted tower, the three-level Cloak Bridge and a Baroque theatre that still has its original stage machinery, is one of the largest in the country.

Lucerne has a handful of famous sights, including the Chapel Bridge, the Lion Monument and the Musegg towers, and it has the better art, with the Rosengart Collection's Picasso and Klee. Either can be seen in a day or two.

Lucerne has more going on after dark, although it is still modest. Cocktail bars and a small club scene around the Neustadt keep students out at weekends, and Fasnacht turns the whole town into a carnival that lasts until dawn.

Cesky Krumlov has no clubs at all, just a few pubs and cellar bars and busy riverside terraces on summer nights.

This is where Lucerne pulls well ahead. Real mountains begin almost at the edge of town: Pilatus by the steepest cogwheel railway in the world, ridge walks on Rigi, and year-round snow on Titlis. Lake steamers make it simple to combine a boat, a train and a hike in one day.

Cesky Krumlov's countryside is gentler. You can canoe down the wooded meanders of the Vltava, walk or cycle in the spruce woods and bogs of the Bohemian Forest, and look out from Klet towards the distant Alps.

From Lucerne, Zurich, Bern and Basel are all under an hour by train, and the lake itself is an outing to the Rütli meadow and the William Tell country around Altdorf. Interlaken is a scenic ride away.

South Bohemia gives Cesky Krumlov a good few days of its own: the arcaded square of České Budějovice, the white castle at Hluboká, the farmhouse village of Holašovice and the spa ponds of Třeboň. Most of these are much easier with a car.

Lucerne gives families more to do. The Swiss Museum of Transport is a full day of trains, planes and a planetarium, and paddle steamers, cogwheel trains and the summer toboggan run on Pilatus are adventures in themselves, though they cost a lot and depend on the weather.

Cesky Krumlov has the bears in the castle moat and a gentle raft trip, which children love. But steep cobbles make pushchairs hard work, and the castle interiors suit adults better.

Both centres are small enough to walk. What sets Lucerne apart is everything beyond the centre: boats, trains, cogwheel railways and cable cars all run on integrated tickets from the lakefront station, so a car is never needed.

You can cross Cesky Krumlov's old town in a quarter of an hour, climb to the castle included. Leaving it is harder, though, because buses and trains to the forest and the smaller castles are thin, and most visitors hire a car.

Lucerne has more to buy, though most of it is watches. Big watch and jewellery houses line Schwanenplatz, with army knives, chocolate and a few Old Town boutiques besides.

Cesky Krumlov is almost all souvenirs, but they are regional ones: Bohemian glass, garnet jewellery, marionettes and the green moldavite stone found in the area. Neither city has much for fashion.

The gap could hardly be wider. In Cesky Krumlov, what you pay depends mostly on where you are. A room looking onto the castle or the river and a table on the main lanes cost more for the view, and each castle tour has its own ticket. Sleep a short walk outside the centre, or come outside summer, and the bill drops noticeably.

Lucerne has no such easy saving. Central hotels are expensive all year and cost even more in summer and during the music festival. The trips up Pilatus or Rigi are a large cost of their own. A Swiss travel pass covers the lake boats and some excursions, and a supermarket picnic on the lakeside lawns saves on lunch, but the trip remains expensive whatever you do.

Lucerne is in a different class for classical music. The Lucerne Festival brings leading orchestras to Jean Nouvel's lakefront concert hall, which is famous for its acoustics and runs a year-round programme, and the city theatre adds opera and dance.

Cesky Krumlov's stage is mainly a summer one, with plays and opera in the open-air theatre in the castle garden, whose revolving auditorium turns between scenes, and an international music festival. For the rest of the year there is little on.

Neither has a bathing tradition, but Lucerne offers more ways to unwind. There are resort spas above the lake, a Mario Botta mineral bath high on the Rigi with mountain views, and long steamer trips with nothing to do but watch the shore.

Cesky Krumlov offers a few hotel wellness rooms, beer baths and deep evening calm once the day visitors leave. For real treatments you would go for the day to the peat baths at Třeboň.