Freiburg or Geneva?

Neither city has a coast, but Geneva has a large, clean lake right in its centre. From June to August you can dive off the jetty at the Bains des Pâquis with the Jet d'Eau in view, or spread out on the lawns at Genève-Plage, all a short walk or boat ride from your hotel.

In Freiburg, swimming takes a bike ride or a drive. There are grassy gravel-pit lakes on the Rhine plain that warm up well, and the cooler Titisee and Schluchsee about an hour into the Black Forest. They are fine for a hot afternoon, but in Geneva a swim fits easily into an ordinary city day.

Both kitchens look towards France and both cities drink their own wine, so the difference lies in setting and range. Freiburg is earthier and more casual. There is the morning market around the Münster with its long grilled sausages, Schäufele and Flammkuchen in wood-panelled taverns, and Pinot from the Kaiserstuhl.

Geneva has the broader table. Thanks to the international organisations it serves cuisines from around the world, and Carouge and the Old Town have polished fine dining alongside lake perch and fondue. What Geneva lacks is Freiburg's cheap, everyday eating.

Each city fills a day or two around a cathedral you can climb, but the stories they tell are different. Freiburg's is medieval and Gothic: the red sandstone Münster, the old city gates, the Bächle and the sculpture in the Augustinermuseum, all in a centre carefully rebuilt after the war.

Geneva's story is the Reformation and the modern world. There is Calvin's St Pierre Cathedral and the Reformation Wall, then the Palais des Nations, the Red Cross museum and CERN. Travellers drawn to diplomacy and science will find Geneva the more unusual of the two.

Neither is a place for big nights out, and both are at their best outdoors on summer evenings, by the Dreisam in Freiburg and along the lake and the Rhône in Geneva. Freiburg's evenings are run by its students: pubs, wine bars and beer gardens around the Martinstor, cheaper drinks, and more going on during term.

Geneva's nights cost more and go quiet midweek, but they have more edge. Bars in the Pâquis stay busy late, and the alternative cultural centres of Plainpalais and Jonction put on electronic club nights.

Both are excellent outdoor bases, but the scale of the landscape differs. Freiburg has rounded forest hills on its doorstep: the Schlossberg behind the old town, the Schauinsland by cable car and the Feldberg for hiking and snow. Add vineyard cycling on the Kaiserstuhl and superb mountain biking.

Geneva looks out on higher, harder country. There are the Salève cliffs for paragliding, the Jura ridge for long hikes, and Chamonix and the high Alps about an hour away. It also has the lake for sailing and paddleboarding, which Freiburg cannot match.

From Freiburg, a single week of day trips can take in three countries. Basel's art museums and Rhine-side old town are under an hour by train. Colmar and the half-timbered Alsace villages of Riquewihr and Eguisheim are about an hour by car, and Strasbourg's cathedral and Petite France quarter are a little further. Closer in, Staufen, the hilltop minster at Breisach and the Kaiserstuhl wine villages make easy half days.

Geneva's outings follow the lake instead, and the steamer is part of the pleasure. Boats and fast trains run to Nyon's Roman ruins and to Lausanne, then past the Lavaux vineyard terraces to the Château de Chillon. Yvoire is a boat ride across the water, and Annecy is under an hour by road. Gruyères and Bern, each about two hours away, give Geneva a list just as long as Freiburg's.

Freiburg is the better family base by some way. Europa-Park, Germany's largest theme park, is about 40 minutes north. Closer in, there are the summer swimming lakes, the Steinwasen park with its suspension bridge, gentle forest walks, and the Bächle channels where children float toy boats.

Geneva is safe and easy with a pushchair. Its Natural History Museum holds children for hours, and the small animal enclosures and the yellow harbour boats make good short outings. Beyond those the city has little made for children. Rainy days are the one time Geneva's museums give it the edge.

You can manage both without a car and cover either centre on foot, but Geneva's network reaches further. Its trams, buses and yellow harbour boats work as one system, the airport is a few minutes from the main station by train, and regional rail runs into the French suburbs and the rest of Switzerland.

Freiburg relies more on the bicycle. The old town is flat and largely car-free, there are bike lanes everywhere, and trams run to the suburbs and the cable car. Trains climb the Höllental into the Black Forest, though the Alsace villages are simpler to reach by car.

Geneva is far the stronger place to shop, above all for watches and jewellery. The streets around the Rue du Rhône hold the flagship boutiques of the great Swiss watch houses and international luxury brands. Old Town chocolatiers offer something more affordable, and Carouge has small design workshops.

Freiburg's shopping is pleasant but small in scale. There are chains on Kaiser-Joseph-Strasse, independent bookshops and boutiques in the Gerberau quarter, wine and ham at the Münster market, and cuckoo clocks all over town. For bigger shopping trips, Freiburg people go to Basel.

Freiburg is much kinder on your money, even though its hotels cost more than you would expect for a city of its size, especially on summer weekends. Once you have a bed, market snacks, wine taverns and mostly free sights keep the days cheap.

Geneva is expensive at every level, from a hotel room to a simple glass of wine. Free museums, free transport for hotel guests and cheap lidos help a little. Many visitors on a budget sleep or eat across the French border instead.

Geneva has the fuller programme of opera, ballet, concerts and theatre. The Grand Théâtre stages a full season of opera and ballet, and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande plays in the gilded Victoria Hall. There is French-language theatre at the Comédie, and concerts and dance at the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices, a former pumping station in the middle of the Rhône.

Freiburg's programme is smaller but has one standout: the Freiburger Barockorchester, one of Europe's leading period-instrument ensembles, which plays at the Konzerthaus. In summer the Zelt-Musik-Festival fills a tent village with concerts, Freiburg's answer to Geneva's open-air shows.

Freiburg is the better choice for a restful stay because it sits in spa country. There is a thermal bath on the city's edge and large warm outdoor pools at Bad Krozingen about twenty minutes south. Badenweiler has Roman ruins beside its modern baths, and Baden-Baden is an hour away by train.

Geneva has no thermal springs, so its bathing is cooler and more bracing. In winter the Bains des Pâquis runs a sauna and hammam, and regulars plunge from it into the lake. The city also has hotel spas, and Évian and Divonne are just across the border. Both cities move at a calm pace, but Geneva's Sundays are especially quiet.