Lausanne or Stuttgart?

Neither city has a beach, but Lausanne at least has Lake Geneva. In high summer the water is warm enough to swim from the lawns, piers and pebble shores at Vidy and Bellerive, and the old Bellerive lido makes an easy afternoon.

Stuttgart has nothing like it. The Neckar is a working river and nobody swims there, so swimming means the outdoor pools. Lake Constance, the nearest big lake, is more than two hours away.

The two are evenly matched, and both cities rely on local wine. In Lausanne the cooking is Vaudois: lake perch, papet vaudois and fondue, with Chasselas from the Lavaux terraces and tastings in village caveaux. In Stuttgart it is Swabian: Maultaschen, Käsespätzle and onion-topped roast beef, with Trollinger from vineyards inside the city limits and seasonal Besen taverns in growers' homes.

Both cities have excellent fine dining and not much street food. Stuttgart's taverns and the Markthalle make an ordinary meal easier to find, while Lausanne's Saturday market is the place for cheese and charcuterie from the countryside.

Stuttgart has more to see, much of it modern. The Mercedes-Benz and Porsche museums, the Staatsgalerie and the Weissenhof Estate with its Le Corbusier houses are the highlights. The bombed centre leaves only pockets of old buildings around Schlossplatz and the Stiftskirche.

Lausanne has fewer major collections but a more complete old town. Its Gothic cathedral, where a night watchman still calls the hours, sits above steep lanes and covered stairways. The Olympic Museum, the museums at Plateforme 10 and the Collection de l'Art Brut fill two or three days.

Nightlife is about level, and in neither city is it a reason to go. In Lausanne it centres on the Flon, a valley of former warehouses where students from the university and the EPFL fill the clubs and late bars at weekends, and in summer evenings people gather by the lake at Ouchy.

Stuttgart's night out runs along the bar strip of Theodor-Heuss-Strasse and in basement clubs. Its big moments are seasonal: the beer tents of the Cannstatter Volksfest in autumn and the wine village in the old centre in late summer.

Here Lausanne is far ahead. The Alps rise straight from the lake opposite the city, and the UNESCO-listed Lavaux terraces are a walk you will remember. Within about an hour you can ski, hike or visit the glacier in the Vaud Alps, and the Jura offers long ridge walks.

Stuttgart's countryside is green and easy to get into, with wine trails above the Neckar, deer in the Rotwildpark, and the escarpments of the Swabian Jura and the firs of the northern Black Forest an hour out. It is good walking and cycling country, but the land stays low and rolling.

Both cities are excellent bases, and most outings need no car. From Lausanne the trips are about lake and mountain scenery and other Swiss towns: Montreux and the Château de Chillon on its rock in the lake, Geneva, Bern, the hilltop village of Gruyères, and boats across to Évian.

From Stuttgart they lean towards palaces and old towns. Ludwigsburg's baroque palace, Tübingen's punts, Heidelberg's castle, Hohenzollern on its hill and the monastery at Maulbronn are all within reach, and Strasbourg is close enough for a long day.

Both cities are safe and easy with children, and both have hills that make pushchairs hard work. In Lausanne the outings use the lake: paddle steamers, lakeside pools, the Olympic Museum, and pedal boats and a lookout tower in the Sauvabelin woods. Eating out as a family costs a great deal.

Stuttgart has Wilhelma, a zoo and botanical garden that fills a whole day, as well as the little railway on the Killesberg and the fairy-tale garden at Ludwigsburg. Its beer gardens and lower prices make the days cheaper and easier.

Lausanne is the slightly easier city to get around because it is so small. Nearly everything lies on one line between the lake and the cathedral, and the m2 metro climbs more than 300m between them, so the steep layers of the city stop being a problem.

Stuttgart's centre is flatter and easy to walk. The car museums, Wilhelma and the hillside districts are further out, though, so you rely more on the Stadtbahn and S-Bahn, or climb the public stairways known as Stäffele.

Stuttgart is the better place to shop. Königstrasse, one of Germany's longest pedestrian streets, has the high-street chains, Breuninger covers designer fashion, and the outlet village at Metzingen is about half an hour away.

Lausanne's shopping is a sideline. The best of it is a Swiss watch or chocolate from Rue de Bourg, or a bottle of Lavaux wine, and there are few independent boutiques.

The gap in cost is wide. In Lausanne there is no part of the trip where the bill eases off: the room, the dinner, the bottle on the table and the taxi home all come at Swiss rates, and even a plain lunch is a noticeable expense. What softens it is free: the lake promenades at Ouchy and Vidy, the parks and the view of the Alps. A glass of Chasselas poured by the grower in a Lavaux caveau is one of the few treats that feels fairly priced.

Stuttgart is a prosperous city and not cheap for Western Europe, but it sits well below Swiss levels. Its costs gather in a few places, mainly central hotels during the big trade fairs and the smarter restaurants. Away from those, a beer garden supper or a glass of local Trollinger costs much less than its Lausanne equivalent, which leaves more room in the budget for ballet tickets or an afternoon in the mineral baths.

Both cities are known for dance, but Stuttgart has the bigger stage life. The Stuttgart Ballet, famous since John Cranko's time, shares the state theatre with an adventurous opera company, and there is serious drama, Bach concerts at the Liederhalle, long-running musicals and a well-known jazz club.

Lausanne is impressive for a city of its size, with the Béjart Ballet, the Prix de Lausanne, contemporary theatre at Vidy and a respected chamber orchestra. In July the Montreux Jazz Festival is a short train ride along the lake.

Stuttgart has a bathing tradition of its own. The mineral springs at Bad Cannstatt and Berg feed public baths where you soak in naturally carbonated warm water indoors and out, all within the city.

In Lausanne, relaxing means slow walks along the promenades at Ouchy or through the Lavaux vines, and the spas of the grand lakeside hotels. For thermal water you take the train to Yverdon-les-Bains or Lavey-les-Bains.