Geneva or Zurich?

Neither city has a beach in the usual sense, and the swimming is just as good in both. It is a summer habit of lidos, piers and lawns rather than sand. What differs is the style. Geneva's best spot is the Bains des Pâquis jetty out in the harbour, with the Jet d'Eau in view, plus pebbles and pools at Genève-Plage. Zurich has more variety: wooden bathing houses along the lake and the Limmat river baths at Letten, where swimmers let the current carry them downstream.

The two eat equally well, but the cooking points in different directions. Geneva looks to France, with filets de perche from the lake, longeole and cardoons in winter, and its own Chasselas and Gamay on the wine list. Its fine dining is at its best in Carouge.

Zurich is German-Swiss at heart: veal Geschnetzeltes with rösti in guild-house dining rooms, and confectionery as its real strength. Kreis 4 and 5 add more casual, international places. Neither has much street food, and both are expensive whatever you order.

There is about as much to see in each, and two or three days covers either, but the themes are different. Geneva tells the story of Calvin's Reformation at St Pierre Cathedral and the Reformation Wall, then of world diplomacy at the Palais des Nations and the Red Cross Museum. CERN adds a scientific angle Zurich cannot match.

Zurich is the stronger choice for art. It has the Kunsthaus collection, the world art of the Museum Rietberg and Chagall's windows in the Fraumünster, along with the Swiss National Museum and the Grossmünster, where Zwingli began the Swiss Reformation.

Zurich is by far the better city for going out. Electronic music runs deep there. Clubs in Kreis 4 and 5 and the old industrial spaces of Zurich West stay open until morning at weekends, and the Street Parade turns the lake shore into a huge techno party every August.

Geneva's evenings are quieter and shorter. There are late bars in the Pâquis, wine terraces in Carouge and a small alternative club scene around Plainpalais and Jonction, but weeknights fade early. Both are costly for a round of drinks.

Both are fine bases for the outdoors, and the choice comes down to which mountains you want. From Geneva you can take the cable car up the Salève's limestone cliffs, hike the Jura forests or drive about an hour to Chamonix and the high Alps under Mont Blanc.

Zurich's own Uetliberg is a short train ride away, with the Albis ridge walk beyond it, and Rigi, Pilatus and the Glarus valleys are about an hour out. The difference is altitude and drama in Geneva against easy rail access to central Swiss peaks from Zurich, where winter fog can sit over the lake.

Both are excellent for day trips, with Zurich slightly ahead because the whole Swiss rail network starts at its station. Lucerne is under an hour away, and Bern, Basel, St Gallen's abbey library and the Rhine Falls with Stein am Rhein are all easy days out.

Geneva's outings work along the lake and over the border. Steamers run to Lausanne and to Montreux for the Château de Chillon, the Lavaux terraces lie in between, and on the French side you can visit medieval Yvoire and canal-lined Annecy, which Zurich has no equivalent for.

Zurich is much better for families. Its zoo is a full day on its own, with a huge Madagascar rainforest hall and an elephant park. The lake lidos have shallow areas for small children, and the Technorama and Lucerne's Transport Museum are short train rides away.

Geneva is safe and easy with a pushchair, but it has less to offer children. The Natural History Museum's dioramas and the small animal enclosures at the Bois de la Bâtie are the highlights, and with no zoo or aquarium, families usually head to the mountains by the third day.

Both are among the easiest cities in Europe to get around, and Zurich is the smoother of the two. One ticket covers its blue trams, the S-Bahn, funiculars, the Uetliberg railway and the lake boats, and the main station links straight to the whole country.

Geneva's centre is small enough to walk from the station to the Old Town and Carouge. The yellow harbour boats are part of the tram network, the airport is minutes away by train, and hotel guests usually travel for free. A car only helps for some mountain trips.

The two are very evenly matched, each with a world-class luxury street built around watches: the Rue du Rhône in Geneva and Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich. Beyond that they differ in character. Geneva has craft workshops in Carouge's low old streets and the big Plainpalais flea market, while locals often cross into France for everyday shopping. Zurich has antique shops in the Niederdorf and design shops under the railway viaduct arches in Zurich West.

Neither city will stretch a budget. Both are among the most expensive places in the world to visit, from hotel rooms to a simple lunch. What differs is how you soften it. Geneva has free city museums, free local transport for hotel guests and France just across the border for cheaper beds and meals. In Zurich the main savings are supermarket lunches, picnics by the lake, the free lidos and a visitor card that bundles transport with museum entry.

Zurich has the stronger stage. The Opernhaus is one of Europe's most respected opera houses, the Tonhalle Orchestra plays in a restored nineteenth-century hall, and the Schauspielhaus is a leading German-language theatre. The Rote Fabrik and the venues of Kreis 4 and 5 draw more touring bands.

Geneva's scene is solid and French-speaking. It has opera and ballet at the Grand Théâtre, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in the gilded Victoria Hall, and concerts and dance at the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices in the middle of the Rhône.

Both are calm, restful cities rather than spa destinations, and both turn their lake bathing houses into winter saunas with cold plunges in between. Zurich also has real thermal water. There is the bath in the stone vaults of the old Hürlimann brewery, with a rooftop pool, and the Roman hot springs at Baden are twenty minutes away. Geneva has no springs of its own, so a proper soak means a trip over the French border to Évian or Divonne.