Hallstatt or Interlaken?

Swimming is a short summer extra in both, and neither is a reason to choose. Hallstatt has one deep, dark-green lake with a small lawn and jetty in the village and a larger lido at Obertraun, bracing rather than balmy.

Interlaken has the advantage of two lakes. Lake Thun is a little warmer, with grassy lidos and shingle at Neuhaus, while the glacial turquoise of Lake Brienz looks spectacular but stays colder.

Neither is a place to travel for food, but they disappoint in different ways. Hallstatt's few dining rooms serve schnitzel and goulash, with smoked or pan-fried lake char as the one local touch, and kitchens close early.

Interlaken has a little more range, with fondue, raclette and rösti alongside Indian and Asian places for its international visitors. Its best eating is up the mountain, on hut terraces or with cheese bought from a dairy.

Here Hallstatt is well ahead. The village is a UNESCO landscape in its own right, and the salt mine, the museum telling the story of the Iron Age Hallstatt culture and the painted skulls of the Beinhaus fill a rich day.

Interlaken was built as a base for the mountains and has little beyond the row of grand hotels on the Höheweg and a few timber houses in Unterseen. For museums you take the train to Bern or Thun.

Interlaken at least has an evening scene, with backpacker pubs, sports bars, a couple of basement clubs near the hostels and the casino in the Kursaal, though it is quiet well before midnight. Hallstatt has nothing of the kind: after the day visitors go, the night is dinner, a glass of wine by the water and a dark lakeside walk, which is exactly why some people stay.

Both are superb mountain bases, with Interlaken a step ahead for sheer scale and ease of access. Hallstatt has the Dachstein right behind the village: the Five Fingers platform on the Krippenstein, the ice caves, the Echerntal waterfalls and the walk to the Gosausee.

Interlaken puts the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau within an hour by rail, with the Jungfraujoch over the Aletsch glacier, the Lauterbrunnen valley and endless high trails reached by cable car. It is also the place for paragliding, canyoning and rafting, which Hallstatt does not offer on the same level.

Interlaken has the stronger spread of outings, helped by fast trains. Bern's medieval arcades are under an hour away, Thun and the lake castles at Spiez and Oberhofen are close by steamer, and Lucerne makes a scenic longer day.

Hallstatt's outings are gentler lake towns of the Salzkammergut: imperial Bad Ischl, St Wolfgang and Gmunden, with Salzburg as the big day. They are lovely, but slower to reach without a car.

Interlaken is the easier place with children. The trains, gondolas and steamers are fun in themselves, summit stations have playgrounds and toboggan runs, and the St Beatus caves and Ballenberg's farm animals are reliable on most days.

Hallstatt has a few highlights, above all the salt mine's miners' slides and underground lake, but the village is a steep, narrow lane crowded at midday. Families usually stay in Obertraun and visit for a few hours.

Both centres are small and walkable, but Interlaken is flat and Hallstatt is all steps and slopes. The bigger gap is beyond town: Interlaken's trains, cog railways, gondolas and steamers fit together so well that a car is unnecessary.

From Hallstatt, the station is across the lake and reached by boat, and the regional buses thin out outside summer, so many visitors find a car worth having.

Neither is a shopping destination, though Interlaken offers a little more. Its Höheweg has large watch and jewellery stores, chocolate, army knives and outdoor gear, with Brienz woodcarving the craft to look for. Hallstatt is a half-hour stroll past souvenir shops, and its one distinctive buy is salt from the mine above the village.

Both are expensive, but Hallstatt is the more manageable. Rooms in the village are scarce and pricey, yet staying in Obertraun, Bad Goisern or Bad Ischl brings costs down noticeably.

Interlaken runs at full Swiss prices for everything, and the mountain railways and cable cars at the heart of any stay are a heavy extra. Passes and supermarket picnics help, but there is no cheap way to see the Jungfrau region.

Interlaken has slightly more to plan an evening around: the open-air William Tell play staged by locals each summer, folklore evenings with alphorns and yodelling, and Bern's theatre and orchestra under an hour away. Hallstatt has only its brass band at feast days and the odd church concert, though Bad Ischl's summer operetta and Salzburg's classical season are within reach.

Neither has a spa culture of its own, so the difference lies in where you find it. From Hallstatt, the historic brine baths of Bad Ischl, Bad Aussee and Bad Goisern are close, a real spa tradition dating back to the nineteenth century.

Interlaken relies on the large spas in its grand Höheweg hotels and a public wellness area. In both, the calm comes from the edges of the day and from staying outside the busiest streets.