Geneva or Portofino?

Neither place has a long sandy beach. Geneva's swimming happens in the lake: you dive off the Bains des Pâquis jetty or lie on the lawns at Genève-Plage. The water is cold until June and the season is short.

Portofino has the Ligurian sea, which is clearer, warmer and good for swimming from June into early October. You get deep water off the rocks towards the lighthouse, the sheltered cove at Paraggi and the pebbles below the abbey at San Fruttuoso. The catch is space. The spots are small, paid loungers take up most of Paraggi, and in summer the free strip fills early.

Geneva gives you far more to eat. There is lake perch, fondue and raclette in wood-panelled brasseries, and Chasselas and Gamay from the canton's own vineyards. The diplomatic population also brings a wide range of cuisines and polished fine dining, at its best in Carouge and the Old Town.

Portofino's menu is Ligurian: trofie with pesto, fritto misto and the cheese focaccia from Recco. It comes from a small cluster of harbour terraces that charge for the view of the yachts and rarely cook to match. People who care about food head out to Camogli or the trattorie in the hills.

Geneva has a real heritage to work through. You can see St Pierre Cathedral and the archaeological site beneath it, the Reformation Wall, the Palais des Nations and the Red Cross Museum, CERN, and the museums of art and watchmaking. That makes two or three full days.

In Portofino the main sight is the village itself: the painted houses around the harbour, San Giorgio, Castello Brown and the walk to the lighthouse. Add the abbey at San Fruttuoso, reached by boat or on foot. It all fits into about a day, with no museum of any size, and appeals to people who value atmosphere over a list of sights.

Geneva is no party city, but it offers more after dinner. There are late bars in the Pâquis, wine terraces in Carouge, and club nights and electronic music in the alternative centres of Plainpalais and Jonction. In Portofino the evening is an aperitivo and a dressed-up dinner facing the yachts, then bed. There are no clubs, and anyone wanting more goes to Santa Margherita, Rapallo or Genoa.

Both are excellent bases for the outdoors, but the terrain is very different. Geneva looks out on mountains. There is the Salève, with its cable car and paragliding, the forests and cross-country trails of the Jura, and sailing on the lake. Chamonix and the ski resorts are about an hour away, so it works in winter as well as summer.

Portofino's nature is one protected headland where land meets sea. Cliff paths, some with chained sections, run to San Fruttuoso and Punta Chiappa, and below them the marine reserve has coral walls and the Christ of the Abyss for divers. It is best in spring and autumn, when the slopes are cooler.

Both have a strong list of outings, and in both a boat is often the best way to go. From Geneva, lake steamers and trains run to Lausanne, the Lavaux vineyard terraces and Chillon. Annecy and Yvoire are close by on the French side, and Gruyères and Bern make longer days out.

Portofino's outings stay along one coast. Camogli, Santa Margherita and Sestri Levante are close, summer ferries reach the Cinque Terre and Portovenere, and Genoa's palaces and old port are under an hour away. Outside summer the boats stop and the trains take over, while Geneva's rail links work all year.

Geneva is the easier choice with children, if not an exciting one. The streets are flat, the trams take pushchairs, and there are the animal dioramas of the Natural History Museum, small animal enclosures, lakeside playgrounds and the yellow harbour boats. There is no zoo or theme park, so it runs thin after a few days.

Portofino is safe, but it is built for adults. The paths are steep steps, there are no playgrounds, and beach clubs take up most of the sand. Families usually stay in Santa Margherita or Rapallo and go to Genoa for its aquarium.

Geneva is one of the simplest cities to get around. The centre is walkable, the trams and buses are punctual, the harbour boats are part of the same network, and the airport is minutes away by train. Rail lines carry on into France and the rest of Switzerland, so a car is rarely needed.

Portofino itself takes minutes to cross on foot, apart from the steep paths, but getting there is the problem. The one narrow road from Santa Margherita jams in summer, parking is scarce and the buses fill up. The ferries that help only run from spring to autumn.

Geneva is worth shopping in for its own sake. Few cities anywhere can match it for fine watches and jewellery, with the great Swiss watchmakers keeping their flagship stores in the streets just back from the lake. On a smaller budget you can still spend a happy afternoon among the chocolatiers, the craft studios of Carouge and the antiques laid out on the Plainpalais plain, although the ordinary chain-store shopping is nothing special.

Portofino is a pocket-sized version of the luxury end. It has a few designer and jewellery names, some beachwear and linen, and local lace and pesto, and you can see all of it in under an hour. It makes a gentle wander after lunch, and for a market or a proper day of shopping you have to go further along the coast.

Neither is a place to save money. Both are among the most expensive stops in Europe. In Geneva the cost is everywhere, in hotels, meals and wine. Free city museums, free transport for hotel guests and cheap lidos soften it, and France is just across the border for cheaper beds.

In Portofino the cost centres on a few luxury hotels, the tables on the piazzetta, the loungers and boat hire, while walking and the buses cost little. The usual workaround is to sleep in Camogli or Rapallo and come over for the day.

Here the gap could hardly be wider. Geneva has a full season of opera and ballet at the Grand Théâtre, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Victoria Hall, French-language theatre at the Comédie, and concerts and dance in the old pumping station on the Rhône.

Portofino has the odd summer concert in the piazzetta or at Castello Brown and nothing regular. A night at the opera from there means the trip into Genoa for the Teatro Carlo Felice.

Geneva has the stronger bathing culture. In winter the Bains des Pâquis becomes a sauna and hammam, and regulars plunge straight into the cold lake. The spa towns of Évian and Divonne are across the border, and the city's orderly pace and quiet Sundays help too.

Portofino's calm is more fragile. Its spas belong to the hotels on the hillside. The peace of early mornings, shaded paths and long lunches by the water gives way to tour-boat crowds at midday in high summer, so it is most restful outside the peak season.