Interlaken or San Marino?

Neither is a beach destination. Interlaken offers lake swimming in July and August, in the milder water of Lake Thun at Neuhaus or the colder glacial turquoise of Lake Brienz at Bönigen, lovely under the peaks but cool and brief.

San Marino has the real sea within reach. The long sands of Rimini and Riccione are about half an hour down the mountain, with warm, shallow water and rows of umbrellas from July to early September, a proper beach day rather than a dip.

Interlaken's restaurants serve fondue, raclette and rösti alongside Indian and Asian kitchens, filling and dependable but rarely more, and the better meals are on hut terraces above Grindelwald or picnics of mountain dairy cheese.

San Marino eats somewhat better on the Romagna and Montefeltro cooking of hand-rolled strozzapreti, passatelli in broth and piadina, with the republic's own Sangiovese to drink. The trick is to skip the summit view terraces for the family trattorias of Borgo Maggiore.

Interlaken has almost nothing to see in town beyond the grand hotels and Kursaal on the Höheweg and the timber houses of Unterseen. It was built as a base for the mountains, and its history and museums are in Bern and Thun.

San Marino is a sight in itself: a walled medieval town along the crest of Monte Titano, the Guaita and Cesta towers joined by a cliffside path, and the Palazzo Pubblico where the Captains Regent are installed. Half a day covers it, but the story of one of the world's oldest surviving republics gives it a weight Interlaken cannot match.

Interlaken has more going on after dark, though early starts for trains and paragliding keep evenings short. A small backpacker scene of pubs, sports bars and a couple of basement clubs gathers near the hostels, busiest in summer and the ski season, and the casino in the Kursaal gives a quieter option.

On Monte Titano the evening ends when the coaches leave. A glass of wine on a terrace with the lights of the coast below is about all there is. For clubs and seafront bars that stay open late, you have to drive down to Rimini and Riccione.

Interlaken is one of the great Alpine bases. The Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau are within an hour by rail, the Lauterbrunnen valley falls away in waterfalls, gondolas lift you to trails at Grindelwald First and Schynige Platte, and paragliding, canyoning, rafting and winter skiing are all run from town.

San Marino's Monte Titano is a limestone ridge of about 740m, with cliff views to the Adriatic and woodland paths down to Borgo Maggiore. It makes a fine morning walk or a drive into the Montefeltro hills, but with no high peaks or adventure sports it is scenery rather than a playground.

Both make good bases, and the difference lies as much in how you travel as where. From Interlaken, trains and paddle steamers reach Bern's arcaded old town in under an hour, the castles of Thun, Spiez and Oberhofen, the open-air museum at Ballenberg and, over the Brünig Pass, Lucerne, all without a car.

San Marino's list is just as rich in history, with the fortress of San Leo, Renaissance Urbino, Ravenna's mosaics and the castle at Gradara. Beyond the bus to Rimini, though, most of it needs a car, which tips the balance slightly towards Interlaken.

Interlaken works better with children. Rack railways, gondolas and lake steamers are adventures in themselves, the summit stations have playgrounds, cliff walks and summer toboggan runs, and the St Beatus caves fill a morning; wet days and the altitude for toddlers are the weak points.

San Marino's towers and battlements thrill children for a morning, but steep steps make pushchairs hard work and the summit has little built for them. The family draws, Italia in Miniatura, Fiabilandia and the waterparks, are down on the coast.

Interlaken is flat, walkable between its two stations, and tied into a network where mainline trains, narrow-gauge lines, cog railways, cable cars and steamers all connect, so a car is never needed. Only the summer crowds on the busiest mountain trains spoil it.

San Marino's centre is small but steep, all climbs and steps, with a cable car down to Borgo Maggiore. Arriving without a car means the bus from Rimini, and beyond that the surrounding hill towns realistically need a hire car.

Shopping is a minor part of either stay, and the two sell different things. Interlaken's Höheweg is given over to large watch and jewellery stores for tour groups, army knives, cuckoo clocks, chocolate and outdoor gear, with Brienz woodcarving the one craft worth seeking out.

San Marino has a little more range: lower taxes make perfume, leather goods and spirits worth a look, an outlet centre on the valley floor adds fashion brands, and collectors come for the republic's stamps and coins.

Interlaken is expensive in every direction: Swiss hotel and restaurant levels, plus mountain railways and cable cars that cost far more than most visitors expect, with the Jungfraujoch the steepest of all. Hostels, transport passes and supermarket picnics help, but only so far.

San Marino follows provincial central Italy, with moderate hotels outside August, fairly priced trattorias in the lower villages and inexpensive sights. Sleeping off the summit trims the bill further, and money goes a great deal further than in the Bernese Oberland.

Each town's stage comes down to one summer tradition. In Interlaken it is the open-air William Tell, played by local amateurs in the woods since the early twentieth century, with folklore evenings of yodelling and alphorns and the odd concert in the Kursaal. For proper theatre and an orchestra, Bern is under an hour away by train.

In San Marino it is the Medieval Days festival, when costumed musicians, crossbow contests and flag-throwers fill the old town, and summer evenings bring music to the squares. For opera or a full concert season, visitors go to Bologna, or to Pesaro for Rossini.

Interlaken offers more ways to unwind: sizeable spas in the grand Höheweg hotels, a public pool and wellness area, slow steamer crossings, and quiet nights up in Wengen or Mürren, even if the town centre itself is geared to activity.

San Marino has only a few hotel spas and no bathing culture. Its restful side is the evening walk along the walls once the day visitors have gone, with thermal spas a separate outing to the coast or the Apennine valleys.