Geneva or Pisa?

Pisa has a real seaside and Geneva does not. The long sandy beaches of Tirrenia and Calambrone, backed by pine woods, have shallow water that warms well in high summer, and Viareggio and the Versilia shore are a short train ride away. Most of it is rented beach establishments, and the water near the river mouth is rarely clear.

Geneva's swimming is in the lake. The Bains des Pâquis jetty and the lawns of Genève-Plage are lovely on a hot afternoon, but the water stays cold until June and the season is short. It is a lido experience, while Pisa gives you a proper day on the sand.

The two eat equally well, but in very different ways. Geneva's cooking is French with Swiss touches: lake perch, fondue and raclette in panelled brasseries, local Chasselas, and a polished fine-dining scene in Carouge and the Old Town backed by cuisines from around the world. All of it is expensive, and there is almost no casual street food.

Pisa is the opposite. The food is plain Tuscan cooking, with ribollita, wild boar and hot cecina from wood ovens, best in the student-priced trattorias around the Piazza delle Vettovaglie market. Come to Geneva for a special dinner and to Pisa for honest, cheap lunches.

Pisa has the more striking sights. The cathedral, baptistery, Leaning Tower and Camposanto stand together in white marble on one lawn, one of the finest groups of buildings in Italy. Beyond them are the Piazza dei Cavalieri, the small Gothic Santa Maria della Spina and the medieval painting of San Matteo.

Geneva's heritage is about ideas rather than spectacle. There is Calvin's St Pierre Cathedral with the excavations beneath it, the Reformation Wall, the Palais des Nations and the Red Cross museum, and CERN for the science. It rewards curiosity, but nothing in it has the visual impact of the Campo dei Miracoli.

Neither city is somewhere to go for late nights, and both wind down early on weeknights. Geneva has more of an edge, with late bars in the Pâquis and club nights in the old squat-born cultural centres of Jonction and Plainpalais, but every drink is costly. Pisa's evenings are student crowds drinking outside small bars around the old market during term, aperitivo on Borgo Stretto, and beach bars in summer. It is cheaper and more outdoors, with very few clubs.

Geneva is far better for the outdoors. Mont Blanc can be seen from the lake on clear days, the Salève cable car rises to cliffs and paragliding just over the border, and the Jura ridge offers forest hiking and cross-country skiing. Chamonix and the downhill resorts make easy day trips.

Pisa's countryside is gentler. The San Rossore park has pine forest, wetland, wild dunes and fallow deer, and there are olive-terrace paths on the Monte Pisano and birdwatching at Lake Massaciuccoli. The Apuan Alps offer real mountain walking further out, but the hot plain makes summer a poor season for any of it.

Both are excellent bases, but Pisa's list is hard to beat. Florence is about an hour away by train, walled Lucca is under half an hour, and the Cinque Terre, Volterra, San Gimignano and Siena all fit into a day. Few small cities give such easy access to so many famous places.

Geneva's outings are varied rather than famous. Lake steamers run to Lausanne, the Lavaux vineyard terraces and the Château de Chillon, Yvoire is a boat ride across the water, and Annecy is under an hour away in France. Gruyères and Bern make longer days out.

Neither city has a zoo or a theme park, so families are about equally served, but in different ways. Geneva's strengths are indoors and in its parks. The Natural History Museum's animal dioramas, the small animal enclosures at the Bois de la Bâtie, the yellow harbour boats and CERN for older children all work in any weather.

Pisa's best family days are outside. Children love the tower photo and the lawn to run on, and there are shallow sandy beaches at Tirrenia and bike rides in San Rossore. Children under the age limit cannot climb the tower, though, and midsummer heat is something to plan around.

Both centres are compact enough to walk, but Geneva's public transport is a class above. Trams, buses and the harbour boats run as one punctual network, the airport is a few minutes by train, and regional rail reaches the Alps and the French suburbs with ease.

Pisa's airport is also close, linked by a shuttle train, and the station is a good rail hub for Tuscany. Within the city, though, the buses to the tower and the beaches are slow, and most people walk or cycle across the flat streets.

Geneva is the far stronger place to shop, and one of the world's great centres for watches and jewellery, with the major Swiss houses lined up along the Rue du Rhône. Below that level there are Old Town chocolatiers, craft workshops in Carouge and the antiques of the Plainpalais flea market.

Pisa offers ordinary Italian high-street shopping on Corso Italia, smarter shoes and clothes under the arcades of Borgo Stretto, and a monthly antiques market by the river. For anything more ambitious, people take the train to Florence.

Pisa costs a fraction of what Geneva does. Its central rooms are mid-range, the student trattorias are good value and walking costs nothing. The main expenses are the tower climb and the cafés next to the monuments, plus lounger hire on the summer coast.

In Geneva, even a simple meal or a glass of wine costs far more than in most of Europe, and hotels are expensive all year. Free museums, the free transport pass for hotel guests and cheap lake lidos help a little, but many visitors on a budget stay in France.

Geneva has a much fuller programme. The Grand Théâtre runs a full opera and ballet season, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande plays in Victoria Hall, known for its acoustics, and the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices in the middle of the Rhône hosts concerts and dance, alongside French-language theatre and summer open-air music.

Pisa's stage is essentially the Teatro Verdi. It is a pleasant horseshoe-shaped house for an unfussy night of Italian opera between autumn and spring, supported by chamber recitals in churches and at the university. Bigger productions mean a trip to Florence.

Geneva has the stronger bathing culture, even without springs of its own. In winter the Bains des Pâquis becomes a sauna and hammam where regulars plunge into the cold lake, the lakefront hotels have serious spas, and Évian and Divonne are close by.

Pisa has the real thermal water. San Giuliano Terme has been in use since Roman times and has a spa in its 18th-century bath palace, and Casciana Terme has a larger public pool further inland. Within Pisa itself, though, the calm comes from slow lunches and riverside evenings rather than any bathing habit.