Freiburg or Zurich?

Neither city has a sea, but Zurich is much the better place for a swim. Its lake is clean and clear, with wooden bathing houses and lawned lidos along both shores. On the Limmat you can let the current carry you downstream at the river baths, and the historic bathing houses sit right in the old town.

In Freiburg, swimming means cycling out to the gravel-pit lakes on the Rhine plain or using the busy open-air pools. Titisee and Schluchsee are about an hour away and very scenic, though the water stays cool. Neither city has sand, so think of both as a cooling dip, not a beach vacation.

The two eat about equally well, but in different ways. Freiburg's Baden cooking has a French lightness: Flammkuchen, Black Forest ham, mountain trout and spring asparagus, with Kaiserstuhl Pinot from just outside town. The daily market around the Münster, with its long grilled sausages, is the heart of eating here.

Zurich is richer and more international. Veal in cream sauce with rösti, winter fondue in guild houses, and outstanding chocolate and Luxemburgerli on Paradeplatz are the classics, while Kreis 4 and 5 offer a wider range from abroad. Zurich has no real market culture, though, and every meal costs far more.

Freiburg's sights are mostly out in the streets, while Zurich's are mostly behind museum doors. In Freiburg you see the town by walking it: the red sandstone Münster with its open-lace tower to climb, the oxblood-red Historisches Kaufhaus on the market square, the Martinstor and Schwabentor gates, and the Bächle running beside the pavements. Much of it was rebuilt after wartime bombing. The Augustinermuseum's medieval sculpture is the main reason to go indoors.

Zurich's Altstadt is tidy rather than striking, but its collections go deeper. The Kunsthaus runs from Swiss painters to Monet, Munch and Giacometti, the Swiss National Museum covers the country's history, and the Rietberg adds art from Asia, Africa and the Americas. The Grossmünster, where the Swiss Reformation began, and the Chagall windows of the Fraumünster complete a visit that needs a day longer than Freiburg's.

Zurich offers far more after dark. Electronic music runs deep, and clubs in Kreis 4 and 5 and the old industrial spaces of Zurich West go on until morning at weekends. Langstrasse is the rough-edged centre, and the August Street Parade turns the lake shore into a huge techno gathering. The high price of drinks, though, keeps many nights short.

Freiburg's evenings are run by its students: pubs and wine bars around the Martinstor, beer gardens, and summer crowds sitting by the Dreisam. It is friendly and easy-going, with a few clubs, but noticeably quieter when term is out.

Both are excellent outdoor bases, but for different landscapes. Freiburg is a forest-and-vineyard town. The Schlossberg rises behind the old town, the Schauinsland cable car takes you up into the Black Forest, the Feldberg is about an hour away, and the Kaiserstuhl terraces and Rhine plain are made for cycling. Mountain biking here is excellent.

Zurich has the lake and the high Alps. You can walk the shore paths or the Uetliberg ridge, and Rigi, Pilatus and the Glarus valleys are within about an hour for proper alpine hiking. Zurich's grey, foggy winter is the main drawback against Freiburg's milder, sunnier seasons.

Zurich edges ahead, mainly because Switzerland's rail network starts at its main station. Lucerne, Bern, Basel and the St Gallen abbey library are each about an hour or less by train, the Rhine Falls and Stein am Rhein make a good pair, and Rapperswil is a boat ride up the lake. You never need a car.

Freiburg's strength is that three countries are within reach. Basel is close by train and Strasbourg is not far, but the half-timbered Alsace villages such as Riquewihr and Eguisheim are much easier to reach with a car.

A day at Europa-Park, Germany's largest theme park, about 40 minutes north, is the big draw for families in Freiburg. Around town there are the free Mundenhof animal park, the Schauinsland cable car and the Bächle, where children chase toy boats. Summer swimming lakes and the suspension bridge at Steinwasen are out in the hills. On wet days, though, there is little to do indoors.

Zurich has no theme park, but rain matters less there. The zoo's huge Madagascar rainforest hall is under cover, the Technorama science centre in Winterthur is about twenty minutes by train, and Lucerne's transport museum makes an easy day out. In summer the shallow lake lidos and boat trips fill the afternoons, and the quiet evenings suit younger children best.

Zurich is about as easy as cities get. Trams, S-Bahn trains, funiculars, the Uetliberg railway and even the lake boats all run on one ticket, and the airport is a short train ride from the centre.

Freiburg works well too, but in a smaller way. The car-free old town is walkable in twenty minutes, trams cover the suburbs, and it is one of Germany's best cities for cycling. Many hotels give a guest card for local transport, though the Alsace villages and some valleys still call for a car.

Zurich is the destination for serious shopping. Bahnhofstrasse runs from the station to the lake past watchmakers, jewellers and old department stores, and design shops and a covered food market fill the viaduct arches in Zurich West. Outside luxury and design the range is narrow.

Freiburg is modest by comparison. It has chains on Kaiser-Joseph-Strasse, independent shops in the Gerberau and Konviktstrasse lanes, and wine, schnapps and ham from the market. Its typical souvenir is a cuckoo clock rather than a Swiss watch.

Freiburg is far easier on the wallet. Hotel rooms are tight and cost more than you might expect for a town its size, but meals at the market and in taverns are reasonable and most sights are free or nearly so. Staying in a Black Forest village is another way to save.

Zurich is among the most expensive cities in the world to visit. Rooms, lunches, drinks, transport and museums all cost a lot. Supermarket picnics, free lidos and a visitor card help a little, but only a little.

Zurich has the stronger stage. The Opernhaus on the lake shore is one of Europe's most respected opera houses, the Tonhalle Orchestra plays in a restored nineteenth-century hall, and the Schauspielhaus is a leading German-language theatre. The Rote Fabrik and the clubs of Kreis 4 and 5 cover jazz, indie and electronic music.

Freiburg is good for a town of its size. Theater Freiburg puts on opera, drama and dance, and the Freiburger Barockorchester is a period-instrument ensemble of real international standing. The summer Zelt-Musik-Festival is the highlight of its year, but it is something to enjoy while you are there, not a reason to go.

For a proper spa trip, Freiburg is the better base, because southern Baden is spa country. Bad Krozingen's large thermal complex with warm outdoor pools is twenty minutes south, Badenweiler has a modern bath beside Roman ruins, and the grand bathhouses of Baden-Baden are an hour away by train. The city has its own thermal bath on its eastern edge, and the riverside paths along the Dreisam keep the pace slow.

Zurich's bathing is urban and on a smaller scale. Thermal pools fill the stone vaults of the old Hürlimann brewery, with a rooftop pool above the city. In the colder months, the wooden bathing houses on the lake and the Limmat become saunas, with cold dips between sessions. Baden's hot springs are twenty minutes away, but beyond them it is mostly hotel spas.