Interlaken or Salzburg?

Neither is a beach destination, and both offer the same thing: cool, clear lake water from lawns and small shingle or pebble shores in high summer. The difference is distance. In Interlaken, Lake Thun and Lake Brienz lie on either side of town, the glacial turquoise of Brienz is colder, and a swim fits easily after a day in the mountains. Salzburg's swimming lakes, Fuschlsee, Wolfgangsee and Mondsee, are half an hour or more away, slightly warmer at their best, and make a separate afternoon outing.

Salzburg gives you more to enjoy at the table. Its coffee house tradition, the Salzburger Nockerl and Kasnocken, and the Augustiner monastery brewery in Mülln, with beer from wooden barrels under chestnut trees, make eating part of the visit. The old town's tourist menus are best avoided in favour of the inns in the outer districts.

Interlaken feeds people well enough with fondue, rösti and a run of Indian and Asian places for its international crowd, but little stands out. Its best meals are up on hut terraces above Grindelwald or Mürren, with Alpine cheese from a mountain dairy, and many visitors simply picnic.

Here the two are worlds apart. Salzburg's prince-archbishops left a whole Baroque old town: the cathedral, the Residenz, Mirabell Palace and its gardens, and the medieval Hohensalzburg fortress above. Add St Peter's catacombs, Mozart's birthplace and Schloss Hellbrunn and you have two or three full days of sightseeing.

Interlaken was built as a base for the mountains, and it shows. A stroll past the nineteenth-century hotels on the Höheweg and the timber houses of Unterseen takes an hour. For castles and old towns you take the train to Thun or Bern.

Neither keeps late hours, but Salzburg makes for the better evening. Its beer halls, with long tables and litre mugs, are full of locals, and the student pubs along Rudolfskai stay open later at weekends during term. Interlaken's nights are built around early starts, with a few backpacker pubs and basement clubs near the hostels, the Kursaal casino, and quiet streets well before midnight. For a real night out, Salzburg at least has Munich within reach by train.

Both sit among mountains, but Interlaken is in the high Alps proper. The Jungfraujoch at 3,454m looks over the Aletsch glacier, the waterfalls of Lauterbrunnen and Trümmelbach are close by, and trains and cable cars put ridge trails above Grindelwald, Mürren and Schynige Platte within easy reach. Paragliding, canyoning and rafting run straight from town, and winter brings the Jungfrau ski areas.

Salzburg's landscape is softer and more spread out: wooded ridges inside the city, the Untersberg's limestone walks, the Salzkammergut lakes and Königssee in Berchtesgaden National Park. It is lovely country, but for big peaks and adventure sport Interlaken has the edge.

The two are about equal for day trips, but they lead to different things. From Interlaken the Swiss railways and lake steamers make outings effortless: Bern's arcaded old town, the castles at Thun, Spiez and Oberhofen, Ballenberg's open-air museum and the scenic line to Lucerne.

From Salzburg the theme is salt and lakes: Hallstatt, the salt mines at Hallein and Berchtesgaden, the clifftop fortress at Werfen, and Munich across the border. Some of the lake villages are far easier by car than by bus.

Both are safe and easy with children. Interlaken has the slight edge for outdoor families, as the rack railways, gondolas and steamers are the treat, with summer toboggan runs and cliff walks at the summit stations, the St Beatus caves and Ballenberg's farm animals. Wet days are its weak spot, as are the high altitudes for very young children.

Salzburg covers rainy days better, with the hands-on Haus der Natur, the zoo by Hellbrunn and its trick fountains, and the miners' slides in nearby salt mines. Its cobbled, steep lanes are hard going with a pushchair.

Interlaken is the smoother place to be without a car. The town is flat and small, and mainline trains, narrow-gauge mountain lines, cog railways, gondolas and lake boats connect so neatly that the whole Jungfrau region opens up, though popular summer trains can get crowded.

Salzburg's centre is a compact, largely pedestrian walk, and trolleybuses reach Hellbrunn and the Untersberg. Beyond the city it is weaker: regional buses to the lakes are slow, which is why many visitors hire a car.

Salzburg is the better place to shop, mainly for traditional crafts. Getreidegasse, with its wrought-iron guild signs, leads to workshops making dirndls, loden and leather to measure, and the farmers' market by the Andräkirche and the Advent market on Domplatz add regional food and handmade decorations.

Interlaken's Höheweg is aimed at tour groups, with large watch and jewellery stores, army knives, chocolate and outdoor gear. Woodcarving from Brienz is the one local craft worth bringing home.

Neither is cheap, but Interlaken costs considerably more. Hotels and meals there run at full Swiss levels, and the mountain railways, the Jungfraujoch above all, plus adventure activities make up the biggest part of the bill. Hostels, regional passes and picnics only soften it.

Salzburg is costly mainly in the old town and during the festival and Advent seasons. Beer halls in the outer districts, a city card bundling transport and museums, and a room across the river keep a stay much more manageable.

Salzburg is one of Europe's great music cities, and Interlaken barely competes. The summer Festival fills the Festspielhaus and the cliff-cut Felsenreitschule with opera and orchestras, Jedermann plays outside the cathedral, and Mozart Week and the Easter Festival add more seasons. The Mozarteum, the Landestheater and the Marionette Theatre keep a programme running all year.

Interlaken's highlight is the amateur open-air William Tell in the woods each summer, plus folklore evenings with yodelling and alphorns. For a real concert, Bern is the nearest option.

Salzburg is the more restful choice. The city itself is slow-paced, with quiet river paths, the Mirabell gardens, coffee houses and the Paracelsus Bad's saunas looking up at the Kapuzinerberg. True spa culture is close by in the brine baths of Bad Reichenhall and the thermal springs of the Gastein valley.

Interlaken offers spas in its grand hotels and calm on the lakeshore or aboard a steamer, but the town centre is geared to coach groups and adrenaline. Those who want peace stay in the lakeside villages or up in Wengen and Mürren.