Como or Lucerne?

Neither city is a beach destination, and a summer swim in either is a lake dip from lawns and jetties rather than a day on sand. What differs is where you swim.

Como's swimming centres on lidos with decks and pontoons, such as the one by Villa Olmo, and the water at the city end is less appealing than in the pebble coves up the lake, so the better swims often mean a ferry ride. Lucerne's clean water is good right in town, from the old wooden lake baths or the grassy shore at Ufschötti, though it stays a degree or two cooler than Como's in high summer.

Como eats better. Its Lombard lake and mountain cooking, with perch risotto, sun-dried missoltini and polenta from the valleys, has more character, and the aperitivo on the squares around the cathedral gives evenings a shape. The best tables are in family-run places up the lake and in the hills.

Lucerne's menu is narrower: Chügelipastete, fondue, rösti and lake fish in guild houses and panelled taverns, well made but often geared to the coach-tour crowds near the Chapel Bridge. Both charge for a lakefront view, but in Lucerne even a plain meal is costly.

Lucerne has the more memorable sights: the Chapel Bridge and Water Tower, the climbable towers of the Musegg Wall, the Lion Monument and the Rosengart Collection with its Picasso and Klee. It fills a day or two where Como fills one.

Como's offer is smaller but rewards a closer look, especially for anyone interested in architecture: Romanesque Sant'Abbondio and San Fedele, the marble cathedral, and Terragni's Casa del Fascio, a pilgrimage for admirers of Rationalist building. The Volta temple and the silk museum tie the city to its own story.

Both are quiet after dark, but Lucerne has a little more going on. The Neustadt and the streets by the station hold cocktail bars and a small club scene kept alive by students at weekends, and Fasnacht turns the Old Town into an all-night carnival once a year. Como stops at the wine bars around Piazza Duomo and a summer stroll on the lakefront, with no clubs at all, and young locals take the train to Milan for a big night.

Both sit on long lakes framed by mountains, but Lucerne's peaks are higher and easier to reach. Cogwheel railways and cable cars climb Pilatus, Rigi and the Stanserhorn, Titlis keeps its glacier snow all year, and winter adds skiing and sledging, which Como cannot offer.

Como's outdoors is gentler: the funicular to Brunate and the ridge walk to the Volta lighthouse, the Via dei Monti Lariani and the Greenway del Lago between villages, paddling on the lake and the cyclists' climb to Madonna del Ghisallo. Its walking is best in spring and autumn, whereas Lucerne's hiking peaks in summer and early autumn.

Como has the richer list. The lake supplies classic ferry outings to Bellagio, Varenna and the gardens of Villa Carlotta and Balbianello, and Milan, with the Last Supper and La Scala, is close enough for a half-day. Lugano, Bergamo's upper town and the Borromean Islands on Lake Maggiore add another country and another lake.

Lucerne's trips are easy rather than numerous. Zurich is under an hour by train, and Bern and Basel are each about an hour away. Its own steamers reach the Rütli meadow and the William Tell country around Altdorf, and Interlaken is a longer, scenic run over the Brünig Pass.

Lucerne is the easier choice with children. The Swiss Museum of Transport fills a whole day, the Glacier Garden and the Goldau wildlife park add more, and cogwheel trains and the summer toboggan run on Pilatus turn travel into entertainment, though these cost a lot and need clear weather.

Como has the boats, the Brunate funicular and paddling at a lido, but little else built for children, and its villas and churches mostly interest the parents. It suits a slow family stay with outdoor days rather than a full programme.

Lucerne is far simpler. The station, the steamer piers and the Old Town sit together on the waterfront, and one integrated ticket system links boats, trains, cogwheel railways and cable cars, so a car is never needed.

Como's centre is just as walkable and its rail links to Milan and Lugano are good, but moving along the lake is slower. The ferries take a long time to reach the upper villages, the shore roads clog in summer and parking near the centre is difficult.

Silk in Como, watches in Lucerne: each town has one thing worth taking home and not much else. Como's scarves, ties and fabric come from specialist shops in the old town and from mill outlets on the edge of the city, the same mills that supply the fashion houses. For clothes, Milan's fashion streets are a short train ride away.

Lucerne's trade is aimed at tour groups. Large watch and jewellery houses line Schwanenplatz, with army knives, chocolate and cuckoo clocks sold in the shops around them. The Old Town lanes have a few independent boutiques, but there is little fashion or design.

Neither is cheap, but Como is the gentler bill. Rooms back from the water, old-town trattorias and inexpensive trains and ferries let you keep costs down, especially outside July and August.

Lucerne is expensive at every level, from a simple meal to the mountain railways that are the reason for coming. Swiss travel passes and supermarket picnics by the lake help, but there is no budget version of a stay.

Lucerne is the place for music. The Lucerne Festival brings the world's leading orchestras to Jean Nouvel's lakefront hall, famed for its acoustics and busy all year with the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, and Fasnacht fills the streets with Guggenmusik brass bands.

Como's stage is the Teatro Sociale, a handsome neoclassical opera house with an open-air Arena for summer evenings, plus chamber concerts in Romanesque churches and lakeside villas. It makes a pleasant night out rather than a reason to come, and for more, people go to Milan.

Neither has a thermal tradition, so relaxing in both means hotel spas and the calm of the lake. Lucerne has the one memorable soak: Mario Botta's mineral bath high on the Rigi, with the mountains in view.

Como's strength is its setting, with gardens running down to the water and quiet villages up the lake where evenings end early. Both get busy at the wrong moments, Como's lakefront in midsummer and Lucerne's Old Town at midday when the tour groups arrive.