Lausanne or Lucerne?

Neither city is a beach destination. In both, summer swimming means stepping into a cold, clean lake from a lawn or a jetty. Lausanne's lake gets a touch warmer and the season runs a little longer, from late June into September, with the Bellerive lido and pebble shores at Vidy, Pully and Lutry.

Lucerne's swimming has more old-fashioned charm. You can swim from the wooden lake baths near the centre or the grassy shore at Ufschötti, with mountains straight ahead, and the steamers take you to small bathing spots in the lakeside villages.

Lausanne eats noticeably better. Lavaux Chasselas is poured everywhere, the growers' caveaux are a short ride east, and the Saturday market at the Riponne brings in cheese and charcuterie from across Vaud. The region's top restaurants are among the most celebrated in Switzerland.

Lucerne's cooking is hearty and reliable. Chügelipastete, rösti and lake perch are served in wood-panelled guild houses, but the range is narrow and many tables near the Chapel Bridge cater to tour groups. Neither city makes cheap eating easy.

The two are well matched, but they reward different kinds of sightseeing. Lausanne's strength is its museums: the Olympic Museum at Ouchy, the three museums gathered at Plateforme 10 and the strange, memorable Collection de l'Art Brut, all under the Gothic cathedral where a night watchman still calls the hours.

Lucerne is the place to look at the townscape. The Chapel Bridge and Water Tower, the frescoed squares, the towers of the Musegg Wall and the Lion Monument make a more photogenic Old Town, and the Rosengart Collection's Picasso and Klee are a serious draw.

Lausanne goes out properly at weekends. Tens of thousands of students from the university and the EPFL fill the clubs and late bars of the Flon, and the old town's wine bars and the Ouchy waterfront add slower options.

Lucerne is a city for a drink by the river and an early night. It has a few cocktail bars and a small club scene near the station, but the lakefront empties by midnight. The exception is Fasnacht, when the whole town stays out in costume until dawn.

Both have superb surroundings, but Lucerne has the mountains right next to the city. Pilatus by the steepest cogwheel railway in the world, Rigi by Europe's oldest mountain railway and Titlis with its glacier about an hour away mean you can be on a summit by mid-morning without planning ahead.

Lausanne's landscape is broader and gentler. You look across the lake to the French Alps, walk the UNESCO-listed Lavaux terraces between Lutry and Saint-Saphorin, and reach the Vaud Alps or the Jura in about an hour by train. Its nearest winter peaks are a trip away rather than on your doorstep.

Lausanne has more variety on its doorstep. Montreux, Vevey and the Château de Chillon are minutes along the shore, Geneva and Bern are each about an hour away, and Gruyères, Murten and Neuchâtel make classic outings. Boats cross to Évian, and Annecy is within reach by car, so you get France as well as Switzerland.

Lucerne reaches Zurich, Bern and Basel in under an hour each. Its most distinctive outing is the lake itself: a steamer down to the Rütli meadow and Altdorf, where the William Tell story is set.

Children are equally well looked after in both, though in different ways. Lausanne has more to visit: the hands-on Olympic Museum, the aquarium-vivarium, and the animal park, pedal boats and wooden tower at Sauvabelin. Its steep streets, however, are tiring with a pushchair.

Lucerne has one star attraction, the Swiss Museum of Transport, plus a flat, compact centre. Much of the fun lies in cogwheel trains and the Pilatus toboggan run, which depend on clear weather.

Lucerne is easier on the legs. The station, the steamer piers and the Old Town all meet on the lakefront, most sights lie along a flat riverside walk, and the boats, trains and cable cars to the mountains run on the same integrated tickets.

Lausanne works well, but it is built in layers up a steep slope. The m2 metro carries you more than 300m from Ouchy to the upper town, and without it you face stairs, bridges and lifts.

Lausanne shops like an ordinary city, Lucerne like a tourist town. On Rue de Bourg you find Swiss watches, jewellery and fashion brands, international chains fill the streets around Saint-François, and the Flon adds a few small design shops. Chocolate and a bottle of Lavaux wine are the natural things to take home.

In Lucerne the watch trade sets the tone. The big jewellery and watch houses on Schwanenplatz serve the tour groups, alongside army knives, cuckoo clocks and embroidered souvenirs, while the Old Town lanes hold a few independent boutiques. In both cities the range is modest, so shopping is something to fit around the rest of the trip.

Both are among the most expensive places in Europe, and neither can be done cheaply. The difference lies in where the money goes. In Lucerne, the mountain railways and cable cars that make the stay worthwhile take a large share of the budget, and hotels are dearest in summer and festival weeks.

Lausanne's biggest costs are eating and drinking out. On the other hand, a glass in a Lavaux caveau and the free lakeside promenades are pleasures that cost little.

Lucerne has the stronger draw for music lovers, thanks to the Lucerne Festival. In late summer it brings the world's leading orchestras to Jean Nouvel's lakefront concert hall, which is famous for its acoustics. Outside those weeks, the programme is that of a small, cultured city.

Lausanne's strengths are dance and theatre. It is home to the Béjart Ballet and the Prix de Lausanne, and the Théâtre de Vidy stages contemporary productions that tour Europe. In July, the Montreux Jazz Festival is a short train ride away.

Both offer calm rather than a bathing culture, and the ways to relax are similar. Lausanne has the easier access to thermal water: Yverdon-les-Bains is under half an hour away and Lavey-les-Bains, with the hottest springs in Switzerland, under an hour. The grand lakeside hotels add their own spas.

Lucerne's best soak is the Mario Botta mineral bath high on the Rigi, with a mountain view. Otherwise, the city's restful side is its quiet evenings and slow steamer afternoons, as long as you avoid the Old Town at midday.