Geneva or Zermatt?

Geneva at least has a summer swimming culture. There is the Bains des Pâquis jetty, the lawns and pools of Genève-Plage on the Eaux-Vives shore, and a lake that turns comfortable by August. It is more lido than beach, but in summer the city really does swim.

Zermatt has nothing like it. Its mountain tarns are glacial meltwater for photographing the Matterhorn, not for swimming, so a hotel pool is the only option.

Geneva has the wider choice of food. You can eat lake perch, or fondue in wood-panelled brasseries, and drink Chasselas and Gamay from the canton's own vineyards. The international population brings cuisines from everywhere, and there is polished fine dining in Carouge and the Old Town.

Zermatt's best meals are up the mountain, at long lunches in chalets at Findeln or Zum See that you reach on skis or on foot. The cooking is Valais Alpine food with good local wines, but the range is narrow and many kitchens close between seasons. Neither is a place for cheap eating.

This is one of the widest gaps between the two. Geneva's heritage comes from the Reformation and modern diplomacy. It has Calvin's St Pierre Cathedral with the excavations beneath it, the Reformation Wall, the Palais des Nations, the Red Cross museum and CERN, enough for two or three full days.

Zermatt has the Matterhorn Museum, the mountaineers' cemetery and the old larch barns of the Hinterdorf, about a morning's worth, almost all of it tied to the story of climbing. The historic Gornergrat railway is the other sight, and it is really a way up the mountain.

Neither is a place for big nights out, but Geneva gives more choice. There are late bars in the Pâquis, wine terraces in Carouge, alternative club nights in the squat-born cultural centres of Plainpalais and Jonction, and summer drinks by the lake.

In Zermatt it depends on the season. Winter après-ski in the slope-side bars is loud and cheerful, and a few clubs stay open past midnight. In summer the hikers go to bed after dinner, and between seasons the village goes dark.

Geneva is a very good base for the outdoors. It has the Salève cable car, walks along the Jura ridge, sailing on the lake, and Chamonix about an hour away by road. Zermatt goes further and puts you inside the high Alps rather than looking at them.

The Matterhorn is right above the village. Lifts reach glacier terrain at over 3,800m, with summer skiing and pistes that link into Italy, and the trails pass ibex, marmots and the Europaweg suspension bridge. For a week of serious hiking, climbing or skiing, Zermatt is the stronger choice. Geneva suits travellers who want the mountains as one part of a wider trip.

Geneva is by far the better base for day trips. Lake steamers and fast trains reach Nyon, Lausanne, the terraced vineyards of Lavaux and the Château de Chillon. Yvoire and Annecy are just across the French border, and Gruyères and Bern make longer days out.

From Zermatt, every outing starts with over an hour on the valley train. Sion's castle hills and Brig's Stockalper Palace are worth seeing, but most visitors sensibly spend their spare days in the mountains instead.

Geneva has a little more to fill the days with children. There are the animal dioramas at the Natural History Museum, the small animal enclosures at the Bois de la Bâtie, lakeside playgrounds and rides on the yellow harbour boats, with CERN for older children. Neither place has a zoo or a theme park.

Zermatt's strengths are its car-free streets and the nursery slopes at Sunnegga, which suit families who ski or hike together. Rainy days are hard to fill, though, and the thin air at the highest viewpoints can be too much for small children.

In Geneva, trams, buses and the harbour boats run as one network, and the airport is a few minutes from the main station by train. The centre is easy to walk apart from the Old Town hill. It is about as simple as a city gets.

Zermatt is easy once you are there. There are no cars, the village is a compact strip you can walk from end to end, and the cog railway, funicular and gondolas are all a short walk away. The catch is arriving by train via Täsch, the hour-plus ride out of the valley, and steep walks with luggage to the hotels at the edges.

Both places have streets lined with Swiss watch and jewellery boutiques. Geneva's Rue du Rhône holds the flagship houses, though, and the city adds the Old Town chocolatiers, the craft workshops of Carouge and the Plainpalais flea market.

Zermatt's one street from the station to the church is worth it for ski and mountaineering gear. Otherwise it offers cowbells, chocolate and Matterhorn souvenirs.

Neither offers any relief, as both are among the most expensive places in Europe for a visitor. The difference is in how you can soften the cost. In Geneva, the free city museums, free local transport for hotel guests and the option of sleeping or eating across the border in France all help a little.

In Zermatt, the lifts and cog railways add a heavy daily cost on top of rooms and meals. The savings come from self-catering, supermarket picnics and staying down the valley in Täsch.

Geneva has a full formal season. There is opera and ballet at the Grand Théâtre, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Victoria Hall, French-language theatre at the Comédie and concerts in the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices in the middle of the Rhône.

Zermatt has no theatre or concert hall. Its live performance comes down to two festivals: Zermatt Unplugged in spring and chamber music in the village church in late summer. Outside those weeks, evenings are about dinner.

The two are close, and neither has thermal springs. Geneva's version is public and local: in winter the Bains des Pâquis turns into a sauna and hammam, with plunges into the cold lake. The spa towns of Évian and Divonne are also close by.

Zermatt's version is its hotel spas, many with mountain views and some open to day visitors, along with clear air and quiet car-free streets. In peak weeks its mood is active rather than slow, while Geneva's lakeside promenades and still Sundays are calmer.