Geneva or Stuttgart?

Geneva at least has somewhere to swim. In summer the city takes to its clean lake, diving off the Bains des Pâquis jetty or spreading out on the lawns and pebbles of Genève-Plage. It is lido bathing over a short season rather than a beach, but it is real open water in the middle of town.

Stuttgart has nothing like it. The Neckar is a working river of locks and barges and Max-Eyth-See is not for bathing, so a hot day means the outdoor pools, some of them fed by mineral springs, or a drive of more than two hours to Lake Constance.

Both cities eat well at the top end and offer little cheap street food, but the cooking differs in character. Geneva's table is French with a Swiss accent: perch fillets from the lake, fondue and raclette in panelled brasseries, Chasselas from the canton's own vineyards, and a wide international spread that serves the diplomatic crowd.

Stuttgart is heartier and more firmly regional, with Maultaschen, Käsespätzle and Zwiebelrostbraten in wine taverns, Trollinger from vineyards inside the city and the seasonal Besen that growers open in their own homes. Its Art Nouveau Markthalle gives it one handsome place to browse produce, where Geneva relies on neighbourhood markets and chocolatiers.

Geneva's sights tell the story of faith and diplomacy, while Stuttgart's tell one of engineering and modern design. In Geneva you climb the towers of St Pierre Cathedral, where Calvin preached, pass the Reformation Wall in the Parc des Bastions, then cross the river to the Palais des Nations and the Red Cross museum, with CERN adding the science.

In Stuttgart the Mercedes-Benz and Porsche museums are the big draws, backed by the Staatsgalerie's European painting and the Le Corbusier houses of the Weissenhof Estate. Wartime bombing left its older heritage in pockets around Schlossplatz. The two run to about the same depth, and either one fills two or three days.

Neither city is a place to go out in, and both quieten early on weeknights. Geneva's late bars cluster in the rough-edged Pâquis behind the station. It also has an alternative club scene in Plainpalais and Jonction, and summer drinks by the lake, all at a steep price.

Stuttgart's evenings are more tied to the calendar. Theodor-Heuss-Strasse fills with bar crowds at weekends, but the city really lets go at the Cannstatter Volksfest beer tents in autumn and the late-summer wine village in the old centre.

Geneva has the grander setting by some distance. Mont Blanc closes the view down the lake, and the Salève and the Jura offer cliffs, paragliding and cross-country skiing just outside town. Chamonix and the ski resorts make easy day outings.

Stuttgart's outdoors is gentler: vineyard trails above the Neckar, deer in the Rotwildpark, and the Swabian Jura and northern Black Forest about an hour away. It is good walking and cycling country, but it has no high peaks and no lake for sailing.

Both are excellent bases, and the difference lies in the kind of outing. From Geneva, the days revolve around the lake and the French border: steamers to Lausanne, Montreux and the Château de Chillon, the Lavaux vineyard terraces, Yvoire by boat and Annecy by road.

Stuttgart's list is a run of German towns and monuments by train: Ludwigsburg's palace, half-timbered Esslingen, Tübingen's punts, Heidelberg's castle, the abbey at Maulbronn and Hohenzollern on its hilltop. Geneva's scenery is more dramatic, while Stuttgart packs more historic towns into the first hour.

Stuttgart is the better city for children. Wilhelma, a zoo and botanical garden among Moorish-style pavilions, fills a day on its own. Killesberg park, the rack railway and the fairy-tale garden at Ludwigsburg add more, though the hills make pushchairs harder work.

Geneva is flatter and just as safe, and its Natural History Museum dioramas and yellow harbour boats go down well. With no zoo or aquarium, though, families tend to run out of things after a few days.

Geneva is the easier city to move around. Its centre is small and mostly flat, so you can walk from the station over the bridges to the Old Town and on to Carouge. Trams, buses and the harbour boats share one network, and the airport is a few minutes away by train.

Stuttgart's flat core around Königstrasse and Schlossplatz is walkable too, but the city climbs steeply up the sides of its basin. Beyond the core, more journeys need the Stadtbahn, the S-Bahn or the Stäffele stairways. The integrated network is good and reaches the car museums and Wilhelma, but there is more climbing in between.

For watches and jewellery, Geneva is in a different league. The Rue du Rhône is lined with the flagships of the great Swiss houses, and Carouge's craft workshops and the Plainpalais flea market give it some browsing as well.

Stuttgart is a city for brand shoppers: the long pedestrian Königstrasse, the Breuninger department store and the outlet village at Metzingen, half an hour away. The outlets give it a bargain side Geneva lacks, but nothing there comes close to Geneva's luxury.

Stuttgart is far easier on a budget. It is not cheap, and trade fairs push up hotel rooms, but rates fall at weekends and in quieter months. Tavern meals are fair for the portions, and public transport is reasonably priced.

Geneva is among the most expensive places in the world to visit, from the hotel room to a glass of wine. Free museums, free local transport for hotel guests and cheap lidos help a little, and many visitors save by sleeping or eating across the border in France.

Stuttgart has the more distinguished stage. The Stuttgart Ballet, famous since John Cranko's time, is one of Europe's most respected companies, and the Staatsoper is known for bold productions. The Liederhalle, the musical theatres at Möhringen and a jazz scene keep the rest of the week busy.

Geneva puts on a solid season of its own, with opera and ballet at the Grand Théâtre, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Victoria Hall and concerts at the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices on the Rhône. It has no company with the reputation of Stuttgart's ballet.

Stuttgart has real mineral water, which Geneva does not. The springs of Bad Cannstatt and Berg feed public baths such as the Mineralbad Leuze, where you soak in warm, naturally carbonated pools indoors and out and finish in the sauna.

Geneva's bathing habit is colder. In winter the Bains des Pâquis runs a sauna and hammam, with a plunge into the lake, and there are hotel spas, plus Évian or Divonne across the border. Its quiet Sundays and lakeside promenades make it the calmer city, but not the better one for a day of bathing.