Geneva or Lyon?

Neither city has a sea, but Geneva has a clean lake in the middle of town and a real summer swimming habit. The Bains des Pâquis jetty, Genève-Plage and the Eaux-Vives lawns make an afternoon swim easy, even if the shore is more lido than beach.

Lyon has only the bathing lake at Miribel-Jonage on its edge, and people use the Rhône quays for sunbathing, not swimming. For clear Alpine water, Lyon visitors have to drive to Annecy or the Lac du Bourget, so it becomes a day out rather than part of the stay.

Food is Lyon's strongest card. The bouchons serve quenelles, andouillette and salade lyonnaise with a pot of local red, and fine dining runs in a line from the Mères lyonnaises to the city's famous chefs. Set lunches make it easy to eat well. Les Halles Paul Bocuse and the Sunday markets on the Saône and at Croix-Rousse give it a market culture Geneva barely has.

Geneva eats well in a narrower, French-leaning way: lake perch, fondue and raclette, Chasselas from its own vineyards, and polished restaurants in Carouge and the Old Town. Its spread of international cuisines is wider than Lyon's, but there is no casual street food and prices are high at every level, which makes it harder to eat adventurously.

Lyon has far more to see. Two thousand years of history run from the Roman theatres on Fourvière to the Renaissance traboules of Vieux Lyon, the silk-weavers' hill of Croix-Rousse and the Musée des Beaux-Arts, and you need several full days for it.

Geneva's sights tell a narrower story of Calvin and diplomacy: St Pierre Cathedral, the Reformation Wall, the Palais des Nations and the Red Cross museum, with CERN as an extra you will not find elsewhere. It is interesting, but two or three days covers it.

Lyon is the better night out by some distance. Its large student population keeps the Presqu'île wine and cocktail bars busy, the péniches moored on the Rhône turn into bars and clubs, and the electronic scene stretches to warehouse clubs and the Nuits Sonores festival.

Geneva's evenings are quieter and more expensive. They centre on the late bars of the Pâquis, the terraces of Carouge and a small alternative club scene in Plainpalais and Jonction, and outside weekends the city winds down early.

In Geneva the mountains are in view, not at the end of a drive. The Salève cable car, paragliding, forest hikes and cross-country skiing in the Jura are all close, the lake has sailing and paddleboarding, and the high Alps around Chamonix are about an hour away.

Lyon's outdoors is mostly urban and gentle: the car-free Rhône quays, boating on the lake in the Parc de la Tête d'Or, walks in the Monts d'Or and cycling in the Beaujolais. For serious hiking in the Chartreuse or the Vercors, you drive for an hour or more.

Both are excellent bases, and the difference is in the flavour. From Geneva, lake steamers and fast trains take you to Lausanne, Montreux with Chillon, and the Lavaux terraces. Yvoire and Annecy lie on the French side, and Gruyères and Bern are further out.

Lyon's outings are about wine and old towns: Roman Vienne a short train ride south, medieval Pérouges, the Beaujolais villages, and further on Cluny and Beaune. Annecy appears on both lists, but it is much closer to Geneva.

Geneva makes things easy rather than offering a lot to do. Its centre is mostly flat, trams take pushchairs without fuss, and the big animal dioramas at the Natural History Museum, the small enclosures at the Bois de la Bâtie and rides on the yellow harbour boats fill two or three days. After that, families usually head for the mountains.

Lyon has the ready-made outings Geneva lacks: a zoo with pony rides and pedalos in the Parc de la Tête d'Or, an aquarium, Guignol puppet shows and dinosaur skeletons at the Musée des Confluences. The catch is its hills, where the stepped lanes are hard work with a pushchair.

Geneva is the easier city to move around. You can walk the compact centre from the station to the Old Town and Carouge, trams and buses are punctual, the harbour boats belong to the same network, and the airport is minutes away by train.

Lyon also works well, with the flat Presqu'île, metro, trams, funiculars and bike share. Its metro network is small, though, and the hills mean some journeys involve a climb or a change.

For watches and jewellery, Geneva is in a different league, with the flagship boutiques of the Swiss watch houses along the Rue du Rhône. Chocolatiers, the craft workshops of Carouge and the Plainpalais flea market add interest, but beyond luxury the high street is ordinary.

Lyon's shopping is broader but less special: chains on the rue de la République, the big Part-Dieu mall, silk scarves from its weaving tradition and boutiques on Croix-Rousse. Its best souvenirs are edible, from pralines to cheese from the Halles.

The gap here is wide. Geneva is among the most expensive cities in the world to visit, with costly hotels all year and meals and wine priced far above most of Europe. Free museums, free local transport for hotel guests and cheap lidos soften the cost, and some visitors sleep or eat across the border in France.

Lyon is not a budget city, but it is reasonable for a large Western European city, and the set lunches in its bouchons are good value. Rooms become scarce during big trade fairs in both cities, and in Lyon also around the Fête des Lumières in December.

Geneva has a solid formal stage. The Grand Théâtre puts on opera and ballet, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande plays in the gilded Victoria Hall, the Comédie stages French-language theatre, and the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices, out in the middle of the Rhône, hosts concerts and dance. Summer adds open-air concerts.

Lyon offers more to see. Besides its glass-vaulted Opéra, the Célestins and the Théâtre National Populaire, it specialises in dance, through the Maison de la Danse and the Biennale. In summer the Nuits de Fourvière festival holds concerts, theatre and dance in the Roman theatres above the city, and Geneva has no setting like it.

Geneva has the more genuine bathing culture. In winter the Bains des Pâquis becomes a sauna and hammam where regulars plunge into the cold lake, the hotels on the lakefront have serious spas, and Évian and Divonne are close across the border.

Lyon has only a few hammams, day spas and the Tony Bertrand pool on the quays, so its restfulness comes from long lunches and quiet Sunday mornings by the Saône. For thermal baths you go to Aix-les-Bains.