Geneva or Paris?

Neither city has a sea, but Geneva's lake gives it a real swimming summer. People dive off the Bains des Pâquis jetty, spread out on the lawns and pools of Genève-Plage, or take a boat to quieter village shores. It is more lido than beach, and the water is cold until June.

Paris makes do with sand laid along the riverbanks, outdoor swimming at the Bassin de la Villette and its handsome Art Deco pools. For real sea you have to go to Normandy, about two hours away by train.

Geneva eats well within a narrow range: perch from the lake, fondue and raclette in wood-panelled brasseries, local Chasselas and Gamay, and polished fine dining in Carouge. What it lacks is cheap, casual food, and every meal is expensive.

Paris is one of the world's great places to eat, and that runs through daily life. There is the neighbourhood boulangerie, morning markets such as the Marché d'Aligre, neo-bistros in the 11th, couscous in Belleville, pho in the 13th and serious patisserie everywhere. You can eat well there at every level of spending, which Geneva cannot offer.

Geneva tells one clear story, of faith and diplomacy. Calvin's St Pierre Cathedral and the Reformation Wall cover the first, and the Palais des Nations, the Red Cross Museum and the Broken Chair cover the second, with CERN adding science. It makes a satisfying two or three days.

Paris works on another scale altogether. The Louvre, the Orsay, the Orangerie and the Pompidou would each be the main sight almost anywhere else, alongside the Gothic Sainte-Chapelle and Notre-Dame. Whole districts, from the Marais to the Haussmann boulevards, are worth seeing for themselves.

Evenings in Geneva are quiet and costly. There are a few late bars in the Pâquis, wine terraces in Carouge, club nights in the alternative centres of Plainpalais and Jonction, and drinks by the lake in summer. On weeknights the city goes quiet early.

In Paris, much of the east of the city is given over to going out. Bars fill Oberkampf, Belleville and the Canal Saint-Martin, Pigalle has its cocktail bars and the Marais its gay scene, and the clubs play house and techno until dawn. For nights out, Paris is the obvious choice.

This is Geneva's great advantage. Mont Blanc shows at the end of the lake, and just over the border the Salève has a cable car up to limestone cliffs. The Jura has forest hikes and cross-country skiing, and Chamonix is about an hour away.

Paris has fine green spaces, including the Buttes-Chaumont, the Bois de Vincennes and the sandstone boulders of Fontainebleau, but no mountains or coast. It is a place for gentle walks and cycling along the canals, not for days in the mountains.

Both are excellent bases, and Geneva's list is unusually varied. Lake steamers run to Lausanne, Montreux and the Château de Chillon, past the Lavaux vineyard terraces. Yvoire and Annecy are just across the French border, and Gruyères and Bern are further afield.

Paris goes deeper. Versailles, Fontainebleau and Chantilly are each under an hour away, and Chartres, Giverny and Rouen are easy trips. Fast trains reach the Champagne houses of Reims and the Loire châteaux, so a long stay can be built around outings alone.

Geneva is safe, mostly flat and easy with a pushchair. The animal dioramas at the Natural History Museum, the yellow harbour boats and the lakeside playgrounds keep young children happy for a few days. With no zoo, aquarium or theme park, though, it runs short after that.

Paris has all three, plus Disneyland, Parc Astérix, the Cité des Sciences and puppet shows in the Luxembourg gardens. Getting about with children is harder there, with stairs in the metro and small hotel rooms, but there is far more for them to do.

Both are easy to get around, in different ways. Geneva is small and calm. You can walk the whole centre, the trams run on time, the harbour boats are part of the same network, and the airport is a few minutes from the main station by train.

Paris is a big city that you can still cover on foot, with a dense metro for longer hops. The price is long corridors and stairs, packed lines at rush hour, confusing changes onto the RER and pickpockets on the busy lines, none of which a visitor to Geneva has to deal with.

Geneva's strength is narrow and very high-end: the watch houses and jewellers of the Rue du Rhône. Chocolatiers, the craft workshops of Carouge and the Plainpalais flea market add some variety, but beyond those the shops are ordinary high street.

Paris covers every level. There are the fashion houses on Avenue Montaigne and the department stores of Galeries Lafayette and Le Bon Marché, independent designers in the Marais, the old covered passages, the huge Saint-Ouen flea market and the bouquinistes along the Seine.

Neither city is cheap, but Geneva is among the most expensive anywhere, from hotel rooms to a glass of wine. Free museums, free local transport for hotel guests and sleeping across the border in France help only a little.

Paris is expensive too, but it gives you more ways to save. Bakeries, markets, lunchtime set menus, picnics by the river and rooms in the outer arrondissements all help, and the same budget goes noticeably further there.

Geneva's stage is stronger than you might expect for its size. The Grand Théâtre has a full season of opera and ballet, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande plays in Victoria Hall, and concerts and dance are held in the old pumping station in the middle of the Rhône.

Paris has far more: two opera houses, the Philharmonie, the Comédie-Française, jazz clubs in cellars and cabaret in Pigalle. In both cities spoken theatre is in French, so for most visitors music and dance are the safer choice.

Geneva is the more restful of the two. In winter the Bains des Pâquis runs a sauna and hammam where regulars plunge into the cold lake, and the spa towns of Évian and Divonne are close by. Its quiet Sundays also help.

Paris has the tiled steam rooms of the Grande Mosquée hammam and plenty of hotel spas, but the city is loud and fast. Rest comes in short breaks, on a café terrace or a chair in the Luxembourg gardens.