Ljubljana or Zurich?

Neither city has a beach, but Zurich builds summer around water in a way Ljubljana cannot. In Zurich, clean lake lidos and wooden bathing houses sit along both shores, and you can drift down the Limmat at the Letten river baths, all a short walk or tram ride from the old town.

In Ljubljana, swimming means the Sava on the city's edge or a trip out: Bled is about an hour away, and the pebble and concrete shore of the Adriatic at Piran about an hour and a half. If you want to swim every day, Zurich is the easier place to do it.

The two are much alike on food, but in different ways. Ljubljana is earthy and regional, with its open-air Central Market, gostilna inns serving štruklji and jota, and a real strength in wine, especially the orange wines of the west, poured in bars along the river.

Zurich is more polished and much more expensive: veal Geschnetzeltes with rösti in guild-house dining rooms, fondue in winter and a chocolate and confectionery tradition that Ljubljana can't match. Zurich has no markets or street food to speak of, so if you like to graze, Ljubljana is the better fit.

These are two compact old towns that you can cover in a couple of days, but they reward different kinds of visitor. In Ljubljana, the city itself is the sight: Plečnik's bridges, colonnades and library, UNESCO-listed, give it a single designer's character, and the museums play a supporting role.

Zurich puts more into its collections. The Kunsthaus has Monet, Munch and Giacometti, there is the Swiss National Museum, and the Rietberg holds non-European art. In the old town you also have the Grossmünster, where the Swiss Reformation began, and Chagall's windows in the Fraumünster.

Zurich is the place for a proper night out. Its electronic music scene runs deep, clubs in Kreis 4 and 5 and Zurich West stay open until morning at weekends, and the August Street Parade fills the lake shore. The catch is the price of every round.

Ljubljana's evenings are gentler and mostly happen on the terraces along the Ljubljanica, livelier during university term. Metelkova's scruffy clubs are the one late-night draw, and the riverside goes quiet after midnight on weekdays.

Both cities have outstanding countryside close by, but the landscapes differ. Near Ljubljana you get rivers and rock: the emerald Soča for rafting, the Vintgar gorge, Triglav National Park about an hour away and the karst caves of Postojna and Škocjan, plus Šmarna Gora right on the edge of town.

Zurich's scenery centres on its lake, with the Glarus Alps on the horizon, shoreline promenades and the Uetliberg a short train ride up. The big peaks, Rigi and Pilatus, are about an hour away. Fog can sit over the lake in late autumn and winter, while Ljubljana's autumn is good walking weather.

Zurich has the edge, mainly because of its trains. Lucerne, Bern, Basel, St Gallen and the Rhine Falls are each about an hour or less by train, and you never need a car.

Ljubljana sits in the middle of a small country with plenty to see, including Bled, Predjama Castle, Lipica, Idrija and Piran, and Trieste and Zagreb are within reach across the borders. The difference is that buses and a hired car do more of the work, especially for the smaller places.

Zurich gives families much more to do. The zoo's indoor rainforest hall and elephant park, the lidos with their shallow areas, the lake boats and the Technorama in Winterthur can fill a week. Getting about with a buggy is easy too.

Ljubljana is pleasant for children rather than thrilling. Its flat, car-free centre, the castle funicular, the Dragon Bridge and a puppet theatre that needs no Slovene will keep young children happy, but the small zoo and science centre won't take more than a few days.

Both centres are easy to walk, but Zurich adds a transport system that reaches everywhere: blue trams, S-Bahn trains, funiculars and even lake boats, all on one ticket, with the airport a short train ride away.

Ljubljana has no tram or metro, and as a visitor you will rarely need its buses, since the main sights are within about 20 minutes of each other on foot or by shared bike. Outside the city, the slow rail network means intercity buses or a hired car.

This is one of the widest gaps between the two. Zurich's Bahnhofstrasse is a luxury street of world standing, with Swiss watches as the speciality. The Niederdorf adds antiques and small boutiques, and the viaduct arches in Zurich West hold design shops.

Ljubljana's best buys come from its market and the country around it: honey, coastal salt, Idrija lace and gingerbread hearts. There is also a Sunday flea market on the embankment, but no luxury quarter at all.

Ljubljana costs about what most of Europe does, and the only real expense is a central hotel room in July or August. Lunch menus at the inns, cheap entry to sights and walking instead of taking transport keep daily costs down.

Zurich is a different matter. Simple rooms, casual lunches, drinks and museums are all expensive, and even budget travellers living on supermarket food and free lidos will spend far more than they would in Ljubljana.

Zurich has the stronger stage. The Opernhaus is one of Europe's most respected opera houses, the Tonhalle Orchestra plays in a restored nineteenth-century hall, and Rote Fabrik and the Kreis 4 and 5 venues regularly host touring bands and jazz.

Ljubljana is good for one evening rather than a whole trip. You could see the Slovenian Philharmonic, an opera at the national house, or a summer concert in Plečnik's Križanke courtyard during the Ljubljana Festival. Most drama in both cities is in the local language.

For proper bathing, Zurich does better within the city. It has the thermal pools and rooftop pool in the vaults of the old Hürlimann brewery, and in winter the lake bathing houses open as saunas with cold-water dips. Roman Baden is twenty minutes away by train.

Ljubljana offers calm more than bathing. The car-free centre and long afternoons at riverside cafés slow you down, and the city's own wellness is a water park on the eastern edge. For thermal pools you would drive to one of Slovenia's spa towns, about an hour away.