Geneva or Lugano?

Neither city has a beach in the usual sense. Both swim in clean lakes that warm to about 23°C at the height of summer, and both do it from lidos. Geneva's swimming is more central and more social: people dive off the Bains des Pâquis jetty in the middle of the harbour, and Genève-Plage has lawns and pebbles.

Lugano's lidos feel more like a resort, with wooden decks and pools at the mouth of the Cassarate, and small village baths you reach by boat, all below steep green mountains. Either way, swimming is a summer extra.

Geneva gives you more choice at the table. Its French-leaning cooking runs from lake perch fillets and fondue in wood-panelled brasseries to polished fine dining in Carouge. The international organisations also support a much wider spread of world cuisines, and Chasselas from the canton's own vineyards goes with most of it.

Lugano's strength is narrower but distinctive: the grotto, a rustic tavern serving polenta, braised meats and salumi at granite tables under chestnut trees, with a glass of Ticino Merlot. Beyond that the choice thins out quickly, and many visitors save their big meals for Italy.

Geneva has far more to see. St Pierre Cathedral has an archaeological site beneath it, the Reformation Wall stands in the Parc des Bastions, and the Palais des Nations and the Red Cross museum tell the story of its diplomacy. With CERN and the watchmaking museum as well, there is enough for two or three full days.

Lugano's old town is attractive, with Lombard arcades around Piazza della Riforma and the Luini Passion fresco in Santa Maria degli Angioli as its highlight. Add the LAC galleries and the Hesse museum up in Montagnola, and a single day covers it.

Neither city is a place for big nights, but Geneva at least has some range. The Pâquis behind the station has bars that stay busy late, Carouge has wine terraces, and the alternative centres in Plainpalais and Jonction run club nights and a small electronic scene.

Lugano's evenings are an aperitivo under the arcades or on the lakefront, followed by a long dinner, and the town is mostly quiet before midnight. Its young people go to Milan when they want to go out.

Both are excellent bases for the outdoors, but the scenery differs. Geneva looks out to the high mountains: the Salève's cliffs and paragliding, forest walks and cross-country skiing on the Jura, Mont Blanc at the end of the lake, and Chamonix and the ski resorts about an hour away.

Lugano is greener and closer in. Funiculars climb Monte Brè and San Salvatore, the lakeside path runs to Gandria and the Lema to Tamaro ridge makes a fine day hike. The Verzasca and Maggia valleys are about an hour away, though the high Alps are further off.

Both cities sit on a border and give you two countries to explore, so the choice is about what kind of day out you want. From Geneva you get Swiss lake towns and France: steamers to Lausanne, Montreux and Chillon, the Lavaux vineyard terraces, medieval Yvoire and the canals of Annecy.

From Lugano the pull is Italy and its big art. Milan's cathedral and The Last Supper are just over an hour away, and Como is closer still. Bellinzona's castles, Lake Maggiore's Borromean Islands and Bergamo's walled upper town round out the choice.

Both are safe, calm and short of attractions made for children, with no zoo or aquarium in either. Geneva is easier with a pushchair, thanks to its flat centre and trams. Its Natural History Museum dioramas can hold young children for hours, and CERN suits older ones.

Lugano is steep on foot, but its outings feel more like adventures: funicular and rack-railway rides, slides at the lidos, boats to the villages and the miniature Swiss landmarks at Melide.

Geneva is the easier of the two to get around. Its centre is mostly flat from the station to Carouge, trams and the yellow harbour boats are part of one network, and the airport is a few minutes by train.

Lugano's centre is just as compact, but it is built on a slope. The station sits high above the old town and is linked to it by a short funicular. Once you are out of town, boats, mountain railways and Swiss trains to Bellinzona and Milan work well.

Geneva is a world capital for watches and jewellery, with the flagship boutiques of the Rue du Rhône. It also has independent design workshops in Carouge's low streets and antiques at the Plainpalais flea market.

Lugano has a smaller version of the luxury offer on arcaded Via Nassa, with delicatessens and wine shops in the lanes nearby and a designer outlet village towards Mendrisio. There is little depth beyond that, and its keen shoppers make for Milan.

Both are among the most expensive places in Europe to visit, and there is little to choose between them. In each case, the way to save is to cross the border. Geneva's budget travellers sleep or eat in France and use the free museums and cheap lidos.

In Lugano, a grotto or a set lunch is the reasonable way to eat, and meals in Italian lake towns on day trips cost less. In both cities, hotel guests usually get free public transport.

Geneva has the fuller programme on stage. The 19th-century Grand Théâtre runs a complete season of opera and ballet, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande plays in the gilded Victoria Hall, and the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices, out in the middle of the Rhône, hosts dance.

Lugano's stage life centres on one place, LAC, where the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana plays in a fine hall. Its summer highlight is the free Estival Jazz concerts in Piazza della Riforma, but its opera lovers head to La Scala.

Geneva has an actual bathing habit. In winter the Bains des Pâquis becomes a sauna and hammam, and regulars plunge from the sauna into the cold lake. The spa towns of Évian and Divonne are close by across the French border.

Lugano's calm comes from its pace instead: coffee under the arcades, afternoons on a bench in Parco Ciani and long grotto lunches. Beyond the hotel spas, its one big pool and sauna complex is out near Rivera.