Interlaken or Saint-Tropez?

Saint-Tropez is a real beach destination. Pampelonne runs for about 5km of pale sand on the Ramatuelle side, with clear water and wilder coves further south, and from June to September swimming is the whole point of a stay.

Interlaken offers lake swimming instead, at grassy lidos and small shingle beaches on Lake Thun and in the colder turquoise water of Lake Brienz at Bönigen. It is a fine way to cool off after a mountain day, but the swimming months are only July and August and the water stays cool even then.

Neither town is a food destination in its own right, but Saint-Tropez gives more to look forward to: grilled fish, bouillabaisse and aïoli, the Place des Lices market, the cream-filled tarte tropézienne and rosé from the surrounding vineyards, with polished cooking at the top end.

Interlaken's restaurants serve dependable fondue, raclette and rösti alongside Indian and Asian places for its international visitors. Its best meals are up in the hills, on hut terraces above Grindelwald or with cheese bought at mountain dairies.

Saint-Tropez has more to see, though it is still about a day's worth: the Musée de l'Annonciade with its pointillist and Fauvist paintings from Signac's circle, the maritime museum in the citadel and the ochre lanes of La Ponche. Interlaken has almost nothing in town beyond the grand hotels of the Höheweg and the old timber houses of Unterseen; for museums and historic streets you take the train to Bern or Thun.

In July and August Saint-Tropez is a proper party town, with afternoon beach-club sessions at Pampelonne, champagne on the harbour terraces and famous clubs running until dawn, all glamorous and dress-coded. Outside summer it falls quiet.

Interlaken goes to bed early because its visitors rise for trains and hikes. A few backpacker pubs and basement clubs near the hostels and the casino in the Kursaal are about all there is.

Both have fine landscapes, but Interlaken's are on another scale. The Jungfraujoch at 3,454m above the Aletsch glacier, the waterfalls of the Lauterbrunnen valley and the high trails from Grindelwald First and Mürren are all reached by train and gondola, and the town is a base for paragliding, canyoning and skiing.

Saint-Tropez offers a gentler, sea-facing outdoors: the coast path to the capes of Camarat and Taillat, cork-oak forest in the Massif des Maures, sailing, snorkelling and the national park islands of Port-Cros and Porquerolles. Summer heat and fire risk limit it in high season.

Interlaken is the better base for outings, because the rail network does the work: Bern's arcaded old town is under an hour away, Thun's castle is a steamer ride along the lake, Ballenberg's open-air museum lies near Brienz, and Lucerne is reached over the Brünig Pass.

Saint-Tropez's trips are charming but smaller: hilltop Ramatuelle and Gassin, Grimaud's ruined castle, canal-laced Port Grimaud by boat and wine tastings among the vineyards, with Porquerolles and Roman Fréjus for longer days. Summer traffic makes all of them slower than they look on the map.

Interlaken works better for children, as long as they enjoy the outdoors. Trains, gondolas and boats are part of the fun, and the St Beatus caves, summer toboggan runs and Ballenberg's farm animals fill the days, though wet weather and high altitude need some planning.

Saint-Tropez has gently shelving sand at Pampelonne and Gigaro, which small children love, but the rest of the town is built for adults, and hot afternoons and traffic jams make days harder work.

Both towns are small and easy on foot, so the difference lies beyond the centre. From Interlaken, mainline trains, mountain railways, cable cars and lake steamers connect across the Jungfrau region and nobody needs a car; the only nuisance is summer crowding on the busiest lines.

Saint-Tropez has no railway, slow buses and beaches several kilometres out, so most visitors rely on cars, scooters or taxis, and the single road along the gulf jams for hours in high summer. The passenger boats from Sainte-Maxime and Port Grimaud are the most pleasant way in.

Saint-Tropez is far stronger for shopping, with the summer shops of the big fashion houses behind the port, resort-wear and swimwear labels, hand-made Tropézienne sandals and linen and pottery at the Place des Lices market, although much shuts in winter. Interlaken's Höheweg mostly sells watches, army knives, cuckoo clocks and chocolate to tour groups, and carved wood from Brienz is the one local craft worth seeking out.

Both are among the most expensive places you could choose, but the money goes on different things. In Interlaken the mountain railways and cable cars, the Jungfraujoch above all, add a heavy layer on top of Swiss hotel and restaurant prices, and that holds in every season.

In Saint-Tropez the expense peaks in July and August, with rooms, beach loungers and harbour cocktails priced for the yachting crowd and taxis on top. Staying across the gulf and coming over by boat, or visiting in late spring or autumn, eases it.

Neither is a place for serious theatre or concerts, and both lean on seasonal tradition. Interlaken has the open-air William Tell played by local amateurs in the woods each summer, plus folklore evenings of yodelling and alphorns, with Bern's theatre and orchestra under an hour away. Saint-Tropez has open-air classical and jazz on the citadel in summer and the Bravade, a costumed procession with muskets each May.

Calm in Interlaken comes from the setting rather than the town: an early morning on the lakeshore, a slow steamer crossing, or a night up in car-free Wengen or Mürren, away from the coach groups and backpackers on the Höheweg. Several of the grand hotels in town have sizeable spas, and there is a public pool with a wellness area.

In Saint-Tropez it is a matter of timing. High summer is loud and crowded, but in May, June and September the town slows to long lunches, walks up to the citadel and pétanque under the plane trees. Its spas belong to the luxury hotels and villas and are aimed at their guests, and like Interlaken it has no thermal baths of its own.