Lausanne or Zurich?

Neither city has sand, and both swim in their lake in summer. In Lausanne that means lawns, piers and pebble shores at Vidy and Bellerive, with the old Bellerive lido as the classic afternoon and the French Alps across the water.

Zurich has a bit more variety. Wooden bathing houses line the lake, the historic baths sit right in the old town, and at Letten you can drift down the Limmat with the current, which Lausanne can't offer.

The two eat at much the same level, with different emphases. Lausanne's table is Vaudois and wine-led: lake perch, papet vaudois and Chasselas poured straight from the growers in Lavaux caveaux, plus a proper Saturday market around Place de la Riponne.

Zurich is creamier and more polished. Think veal Geschnetzeltes with rösti in guild-house dining rooms, the Paradeplatz tea rooms and their Luxemburgerli, and a more international, casual spread in Kreis 4 and 5. Neither city has much street food.

Both reward two or three days, with different strengths. Lausanne's highlight is its Gothic cathedral high above the steep old town, where a night watchman still calls the hours. Its museums lean towards the unusual: the Olympic Museum at Ouchy and the Collection de l'Art Brut.

Zurich is stronger on fine art and history. The Kunsthaus runs from Monet to Giacometti and the Swiss National Museum sits beside the station. The Grossmünster, where the Swiss Reformation began, and Chagall's windows in the Fraumünster give its riverside Altstadt more historical weight.

Zurich is much the better place for a night out. Electronic music runs deep there: clubs in Kreis 4 and 5 and Zurich West stay open until morning at weekends, Langstrasse stays rough-edged and late, and the August Street Parade turns the lake shore into a huge techno gathering.

Lausanne goes out mostly at weekends, in the converted warehouses of the Flon and the old-town wine bars, with students making up much of the crowd. It is enjoyable but small, and quiet by midweek.

Both are excellent bases for the outdoors, and the difference is in the setting. Lausanne has the more dramatic view, with the French Alps rising straight from the lake. The UNESCO-listed Lavaux terraces start at its edge, and it has mountains on two sides: the Vaud Alps and Glacier 3000 to the south-east, the Jura for long hikes and cross-country skiing to the north-west.

Zurich's own hill, the Uetliberg, and the Albis ridge walk are a short train ride away. Within an hour you reach Rigi, Pilatus and the slopes of Flumserberg.

Both are first-rate bases with fast trains, and the difference lies in which part of the country is on the doorstep. Lausanne opens up French-speaking Switzerland and its lake: Montreux and the Château de Chillon on its rock in the water, the walled hilltop village of Gruyères with its cheese dairies, Geneva in under an hour, and a boat across to Évian on the French shore.

Zurich reaches into central and northern Switzerland instead, with Lucerne's covered wooden bridges, Basel's museums on the Rhine and St Gallen's abbey library. North of the city, the Rhine Falls near Schaffhausen pair with the painted houses of Stein am Rhein, and Konstanz on Lake Constance is close by. Bern is an easy day out from either.

Zurich is the easier city with children. The zoo, with its Madagascar rainforest hall and elephant park, is a full day on its own, and the trams take buggies without fuss. The Technorama in Winterthur and Lucerne's Swiss Museum of Transport make simple days out.

Lausanne has good things too: the hands-on Olympic Museum, the aquarium-vivarium, and pedal boats and a lookout tower in the Sauvabelin woods. But its steep streets make every outing with a pushchair harder work.

Zurich is close to effortless. Its flat, walkable old town is laced with trams, and boats, funiculars and the Uetliberg railway all run on one integrated ticket. The airport is a short train ride from the main station.

Lausanne is small but built in steep layers joined by stairs, bridges and lifts. The m2 metro climbs more than 300m from Ouchy to the upper town and handles most of it, but on foot you will feel the gradient.

Zurich has a real shopping street in Bahnhofstrasse, which runs from the station to the lake past the big watch names, jewellers, fashion houses and department stores. The Niederdorf adds antique shops and the old viaduct arches add design shops.

In Lausanne, Rue de Bourg and the streets around Place Saint-François cover chocolate, watches and the usual international chains, with little beyond that. A bottle of Lavaux wine is its most distinctive buy.

Both are among the most expensive places in Europe to visit, and the gap between them is too small to matter. Hotels, meals and drinks will strain any budget in either city.

The savings differ a little. In Lausanne, a glass of Chasselas in a village caveau and the free lakeside promenades are the better-value pleasures. In Zurich, the visitor card that bundles transport and museums, the free lidos and the drinking fountains help most.

Zurich has the bigger stage life. The Opernhaus is one of Europe's most respected opera houses, the Tonhalle Orchestra plays in a grand nineteenth-century hall, and the Rote Fabrik handles jazz, indie and electronic acts. The Schauspielhaus is a leading theatre, though its work is mostly in German.

Lausanne's strength is dance, with the Béjart Ballet and the Prix de Lausanne, along with contemporary theatre at the lakeside Vidy. In July the Montreux Jazz Festival is a short train ride away.

Zurich has more on hand for a relaxing stay. Its thermal bath fills the stone vaults of the old Hürlimann brewery and has a rooftop pool. In winter the wooden bathing houses turn into saunas with cold lake dips, and Roman-era Baden is twenty minutes away.

Lausanne's calm is mainly in the Lavaux vines, the lakeside promenades and the grand hotel spas. For warm water you go out of town, to Yverdon-les-Bains or to Lavey-les-Bains, which has the hottest springs in Switzerland.