Lausanne or Padua?

Lausanne has its swimming on the doorstep. In summer the lake at Bellerive, Vidy and towards Lutry becomes the city's pool, with lawns, piers and pebble shores a short walk or metro ride from the centre, though the season is brief.

Padua has no water of its own to swim in, so a swim means an hour's journey to the sand at Sottomarina or the Lido of Venice. The Adriatic there is warmer, shallow and calm, which suits small children, but it is a day out rather than part of the stay.

Padua eats better day to day. Its twin markets in Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza della Frutta trade every morning, the Venetian home cooking of bigoli, baccalà and risotto is fairly priced, and the early-evening spritz with small bites is a ritual in itself.

Lausanne's strengths sit at the two ends. The Chasselas from Lavaux, tasted in village caveaux, is a real pleasure, and the region's top restaurants are among Switzerland's most celebrated. The everyday middle is plainer and costly, with perch fillets and fondue as the local signatures.

Padua carries far more weight. Giotto's Scrovegni frescoes changed European painting, and around them are the UNESCO-listed fresco cycles, the domed Basilica of Saint Anthony with Donatello's bronzes, the world's oldest permanent anatomical theatre and the oldest university botanical garden still on its original site.

Lausanne offers a fine Gothic cathedral and a steep old town, but its interest lies more in the museums than in the streets: the Olympic Museum at Ouchy, the cluster of museums at Plateforme 10 and the memorable Collection de l'Art Brut.

Neither city is a party destination, but they go out in different ways. Lausanne's evenings gather in the Flon, a former warehouse valley with clubs and late bars that fill on Friday and Saturday nights. Padua lives in its squares, where students and locals stand over spritz glasses around the Palazzo della Ragione, and during term the old centre stays lively on weeknights too, though clubs are few.

Lausanne is in another league. The French Alps rise straight out of the lake opposite, the Lavaux terraces make one of Switzerland's loveliest walks, and sailing and paddleboarding start at the waterfront. Within about an hour you can be skiing at Villars or Les Diablerets, on the glacier at Glacier 3000, or hiking the Jura.

Padua's outdoors is gentler and further off. The volcanic Euganean Hills, about 15km away, offer trails, vineyards and cycling roads, the Brenta towpaths make level bike rides, and real mountain walking on Monte Grappa or the Asiago plateau needs a car.

Both are excellent bases. Lausanne's trips are mainly scenic: Montreux and the Château de Chillon along the lake, cheese-making Gruyères, Bern's arcades and Geneva, all easy without a car.

Padua has the stronger list because of what lies on it. Venice is under half an hour by train, so you can go back several times, and Vicenza's Palladian palaces, Verona, Bologna and Ferrara are all within an hour or so. The Brenta villas and the walled towns of Este and Montagnana add quieter days.

Lausanne is the better choice with children. The Olympic Museum is hands-on, the aquarium-vivarium and the animal park, pedal boats and lookout tower at Sauvabelin fill whole afternoons, and a paddle steamer ride is an outing in itself. The steep streets and the cost of eating out are the drawbacks.

Padua is flat, safe and full of trattorias that welcome children, and Prato della Valle gives them room to run. But the sights are mainly frescoes, so families usually turn to Gardaland or the Adriatic beaches about an hour away.

Both are small enough to manage without a car, but they feel very different underfoot. Lausanne climbs in steep layers from the lake at Ouchy to the cathedral, and the m2 metro does the hard work, rising more than 300m through the station and the Flon, with stairs, bridges and lifts linking the levels in between.

Padua is flat, and much of its core is closed to general traffic, so the walk under the arcades from the Scrovegni Chapel to the Basilica of Saint Anthony takes about twenty minutes and keeps you out of the sun and rain. A tram runs from the station through the centre to Prato della Valle, and bicycles are an ordinary way to get about.

Neither is a shopping destination, and what is worth buying differs. Lausanne is the place for a Swiss watch on Rue de Bourg, chocolate or a bottle of Lavaux wine. Padua offers Italian shoes and fashion under its arcades, university bookshops, food from the delicatessens beneath the Palazzo della Ragione and a large antiques market in Prato della Valle one Sunday a month.

This is the widest gap between them. Lausanne is very expensive in every respect, from hotels and wine to a simple lunch, and visitors on a budget get by on supermarket picnics, free lakeside promenades and the occasional glass in a village caveau.

Padua is moderately priced by Western European standards. That is why many people stay there while visiting Venice, and its cheap spritzes, fair trattorias and walkable centre keep daily costs low.

Lausanne has much the richer stage for a city of its size. Dance leads, through the Béjart Ballet Lausanne and the Prix de Lausanne, and alongside it are the Théâtre de Vidy's contemporary work, a full opera season, a respected chamber orchestra and the Montreux Jazz Festival a short train ride away in July.

Padua's programme is modest: prose and some opera at the horseshoe Teatro Verdi, and chamber concerts in the Sala dei Giganti and the Basilica. For major opera, visitors go to the Fenice or the Arena in Verona.

Padua has the stronger wellness offer. Abano Terme and Montegrotto Terme, about 12km away, form one of Europe's largest thermal districts, with hot springs and mud treatments used since Roman times, and many spa hotels take day visitors after a morning's sightseeing.

Lausanne's calm comes from its lakeside promenades and the lanes through the vines, along with the spas of its grand hotels. Thermal water means a train ride to Yverdon-les-Bains or up the Rhône valley to Lavey-les-Bains.