Como or Lugano?

Both are lakes for a swim rather than a beach. The water reaches about 23°C at its summer peak, the season runs from June to early September, and neither has sand to speak of. In Como, swimming in town centres on the lido beside Villa Olmo, and the water at the busy southern tip is less inviting, so many people take the ferry to the pebble strands of Moltrasio or the Tremezzina.

Lugano makes a swim easier without leaving town. The main lido at the mouth of the Cassarate has pools, decks and ladders into the lake, and there are smaller bathing spots along the shore towards Castagnola and Paradiso.

The two kitchens are close cousins, with polenta, risotto and cured or braised meats on both sides of the border, and neither has much street food or international cooking. Como leans on the lake, with perch risotto and sun-dried missoltini, and the aperitivo with small plates on the squares by the cathedral is the ritual to join.

Lugano's signature is the grotto, a rustic tavern built against cool rock cellars, where you eat at granite tables under chestnut trees with a glass of Ticino Merlot. In both places the best meals are found away from the lakefront, up in the hills and villages.

Como has more of substance to see. The marble cathedral, the Romanesque churches of San Fedele and Sant'Abbondio and Terragni's Casa del Fascio, which architects travel to study, give the walled town real depth. The Tempio Voltiano and the silk museum add the story of the city's science and trade.

Lugano's arcaded old town around Piazza della Riforma is pleasant, and Luini's Passion fresco in Santa Maria degli Angioli is a fine single work. The rest, from San Lorenzo to the art collection split between LAC and Palazzo Reali, is quickly seen, and the Hesse museum up in Montagnola is its most distinctive extra.

Neither is a place for a late night. Evenings in both revolve around an aperitivo and a long dinner, and young locals from both go to Milan for anything bigger. In Como the night ends in a few wine and cocktail bars around Piazza Duomo and San Fedele, with no clubs at all. Lugano adds lounge bars by the water and one or two clubs, with a dressier crowd and higher prices.

Both sit on long lakes between steep wooded mountains, and both are superb for walking in spring and autumn. Como has the funicular to Brunate and the ridge path to the Volta lighthouse, the Greenway del Lago between villages and the climb to the Madonna del Ghisallo chapel, which draws road cyclists.

Lugano has more ways up the mountains: funiculars to Monte Brè and San Salvatore, a rack railway on Monte Generoso and the ridge walk from Monte Lema to Tamaro. It also has the green rivers of the Verzasca and Maggia valleys about an hour away.

Como's best outings start on its own lake. Ferries and hydrofoils run north to Bellagio on its promontory, to Varenna, and to Tremezzo for the gardens of Villa Carlotta and the terraces of Villa del Balbianello. Milan's Last Supper and Duomo are only about forty minutes away by train.

Lugano's reach crosses a border. Bellinzona's three castles, Locarno and Ascona on Lake Maggiore and arcaded Morcote by boat are all on the Swiss side, Milan is just over an hour away, and Lucerne is about two hours north through the Gotthard. The two towns are about half an hour apart, so each makes an easy day out from the other.

Children find more to do around Lugano than around Como, although both towns are calm and safe and neither has a zoo or aquarium. In Como the treats are the Brunate funicular, boat rides and a summer paddle at the lido. Its flat promenade and the Villa Olmo gardens are also far easier with a pushchair than Lugano's steep streets.

Lugano adds pools and slides at its lidos, playgrounds in Parco Ciani, two funiculars and the rack railway up Monte Generoso. A short trip away at Melide is the park of Swiss landmarks in miniature, which families have enjoyed for generations.

Lugano is the smoother place to get around. A short funicular links the station high on the hill to the old town, city buses reach Paradiso and the hillside districts, and Swiss trains, boats and mountain railways connect neatly, so you rarely need a car.

Como's centre is flatter and easy on foot, and the trains to Milan and Lugano are quick. The lake itself is slow going, though: ferries take a long time to reach the far villages, and the shore roads clog in summer.

Serious shoppers from both go on to Milan, but each town has its own thing to buy first. In Como it is silk: scarves, ties and fabric from old-town specialists and from mill outlets on the edge of the city, with a short run of boutiques along Via Vittorio Emanuele II.

Lugano is about luxury, with Swiss watches, jewellery and Italian fashion under the arcades of Via Nassa, and a large designer outlet village near Mendrisio.

Neither is cheap, but Como is noticeably easier on the wallet. Rooms back from the water and fair-priced trattorias let you keep spending under control, especially outside July and August.

In Lugano, Swiss prices apply to everything from hotels and wine to boat trips and mountain railways. Grotti, set lunches and the regional transport included with many hotel stays help a little, and some visitors cross into Italy to eat.

Lugano has the stronger programme. The concert hall at LAC has fine acoustics, is home to the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana and hosts visiting orchestras, and Estival Jazz fills Piazza della Riforma with free open-air concerts each summer.

Como has the handsomer old house, the neoclassical Teatro Sociale, with opera, ballet and theatre and a summer open-air Arena, plus chamber concerts in churches and lakeside villas. For opera on a grand scale, both look to La Scala.

Neither has thermal springs, and in both the serious spas belong to the big lakeside hotels. The difference is in how a slow day feels. In Como the calm comes from gardens running down to the water and slow ferries to quiet villages, best in spring or autumn when the lakefront is quieter.

Lugano offers long grotto lunches and afternoons on a bench in palm-lined Parco Ciani, and a large indoor complex of pools and saunas near Rivera for a rainy day.