Cologne or Lausanne?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Lausanne has its swimming right in front of it. In summer, Lake Geneva turns the waterfront at Vidy, Bellerive and along towards Pully and Lutry into a place to bathe. The old Bellerive lido, with its lawns and pools, makes an easy afternoon. The shores are grass, steps and shingle rather than sand, and the season is short.

Cologne cannot match that. The Rhine is too fast and too busy with shipping to swim in, so its sandy banks at Rodenkirchen are only for sitting. To swim you take a tram or bike out to the gravel-pit lakes such as Fühlinger See or Otto-Maigler-See, which are pleasant but a detour.

The two eat about equally well, and the big difference is beer against wine. Cologne's table is the Brauhaus: Kölsch brought by the Köbes until you cover your glass, with Himmel un Ääd, sauerbraten or a Halve Hahn to soak it up. It also has more variety for everyday meals, especially the Turkish and Middle Eastern cooking along Venloer Strasse in Ehrenfeld.

Lausanne revolves around Chasselas from the Lavaux terraces, tasted in village caveaux, alongside lake perch, papet vaudois and winter fondue. The Saturday market brings in produce from the countryside, and the region's top restaurants are among Switzerland's most celebrated. The everyday middle is plainer, though, and cheap meals are hard to find.

Cologne carries more for a sightseer. The cathedral, with the Shrine of the Three Kings and its stained glass, would be enough on its own, but there are also twelve Romanesque churches, Roman remains and a strong museum line-up: Museum Ludwig for Pop Art, Wallraf-Richartz for older painting and Kolumba in its ruined church. The catch is that the postwar townscape between these highlights is plain.

Lausanne works the other way round, with a smaller list of sights but an old town that hangs together. There are steep lanes and covered stairways around Notre-Dame, where a watchman still calls the hours at night. The Olympic Museum at Ouchy, the Plateforme 10 museums and the Collection de l'Art Brut fill two or three days.

Cologne is the stronger night out by a clear margin. A typical evening moves from the Altstadt brewhouses to wine and cocktail bars in the Belgian Quarter, the packed Zülpicher Strasse or the factory clubs of Ehrenfeld. Around Rudolfplatz is one of Germany's largest gay scenes, and at Carnival the whole city is out in costume from morning on.

Lausanne's going out is concentrated in the Flon warehouse valley, kept going by its university students, and is busiest on Friday and Saturday. Summer evenings spill onto the waterfront at Ouchy. Weeknights are quiet, though, and drinks are expensive.

This is where Lausanne pulls far ahead. The French Alps rise across the water, the Lavaux terraces between Lutry and Saint-Saphorin make one of Switzerland's best walks, and the lake is there for sailing and rowing. Within about an hour you can be skiing or hiking at Villars or Les Diablerets, standing on Glacier 3000 or walking the Jura ridges.

Cologne is flat and gentler. The Grüngürtel parks and the long Rhine cycle paths are good for everyday exercise, and the Siebengebirge around the Drachenfels or the Eifel national park make solid day hikes. These are wooded hills, though, not mountains.

Both are excellent rail bases. What you get from them differs. Cologne's trips are mostly to cities and historic sites: Brühl's rococo palaces, Bonn, Düsseldorf, Charlemagne's chapel in Aachen, the castle towns of the Rhine Gorge, and across the border to Maastricht or Brussels. The Zollverein industrial site adds something completely different.

Lausanne's trips mix towns with scenery. Vevey, Montreux and the Château de Chillon lie along the lake, with Geneva and Bern's arcaded old town further out. Gruyères offers castle and cheese, and boats cross to Évian on the French shore.

Both work well with children, though in different ways. Cologne has the bigger attractions: an old zoo with an elephant park, the Chocolate Museum's working production line, the cable car over the Rhine, and Phantasialand, a major theme park just south of town. Its streets are flat, but Carnival week is best avoided with small children.

Lausanne's family days are gentler and more outdoors. There is the hands-on Olympic Museum, the aquarium-vivarium, the animal park and pedal boats at Sauvabelin, and paddle-steamer trips on the lake. The steep streets are tiring with a pushchair, and eating out as a family is costly.

Both are easy to manage without a car. The difference is in the terrain. Cologne is flat: you arrive at a station next to the cathedral and can walk to the museums, the Altstadt and across the Hohenzollern Bridge, or cycle along the river. Its trams and Stadtbahn reach further out but are confusing to read and can be irregular.

Lausanne is compact but steep. The m2 metro climbs from the lakeshore to the upper town and saves your legs, while stairs and lifts link the levels in between. Swiss trains run punctually along the lake, and boats connect the shore towns.

Cologne is the better place to shop. Schildergasse and Hohe Strasse are among Germany's busiest high streets, while Ehrenstrasse and the Belgian Quarter add independent fashion and design. Eau de Cologne from the historic houses on Glockengasse makes a gift you can only really buy here, and the Advent Christmas markets fill the squares.

Lausanne's range is narrower. Rue de Bourg is good for a Swiss watch, jewellery or chocolate, and a bottle of Lavaux wine is the natural souvenir. Beyond that there are few independents, so shopping is a side activity.

The gap here is large. Cologne is mid-priced for Western Europe. Brewhouse meals are reasonable, transport is fairly priced and many churches are free. Hotels are the main cost, and they jump during the big Messe trade fairs and at Carnival.

Lausanne is very expensive in every area, from rooms and restaurants to wine and taxis. Budget travellers get by on supermarket picnics, the free lakeside promenades and a glass of Chasselas in a caveau, but the overall bill stays high.

Cologne offers more, and across a wider range. The Opera and Schauspiel share Offenbachplatz, and the Philharmonie by the cathedral is home to the Gürzenich and WDR orchestras. Below that sits a long tradition of electronic music, jazz and small gig venues in Ehrenfeld and the Südstadt. The dialect Carnival sessions are a form of performance unique to the city.

Lausanne's stage is smaller but stands out for dance. It is the home of the Béjart Ballet and the Prix de Lausanne, alongside the Théâtre de Vidy's contemporary work, a full opera season and a respected chamber orchestra. In July, the Montreux Jazz Festival is a short ride along the lake.

The two are evenly matched for unwinding, but the style is very different. Cologne offers the German sauna habit: large, mostly textile-free sauna landscapes used by locals at weekends, and a mineral-spring thermal bath in the Rheinpark with a view of the cathedral. Aachen's hot springs are under forty minutes away.

Lausanne's calm comes from scenery and spas. You can stroll the promenades at Ouchy and Vidy or walk the lanes through the Lavaux vines, the grand lakeside hotels have spas, and thermal water is close by at Yverdon-les-Bains or at Lavey-les-Bains in the Rhône valley.