Lucerne or Milan?

Neither city has a coast. Lucerne still has the better bathing for a city visit, because the lake is right in town. You can swim from the Lido, the old wooden lake baths or the lawns at Ufschötti on a summer afternoon, in clean water backed by mountains.

Milan's own options are the Idroscalo basin out by Linate and public pools. Swimming there usually means a train to the pebbly lidos of Como or Maggiore, where the water is a little warmer but the swim takes up a whole day.

Milan is much the better place to eat. Saffron risotto, cotoletta and winter cassoeula are only the start, and the city's mix of people from all over Italy brings good Neapolitan pizza, Sicilian pastry and serious fine dining, with historic pasticcerie and the aperitivo ritual adding to it.

Lucerne serves fondue, rösti, lake perch and its own Chügelipastete well, but the range is narrow and the tables near the Chapel Bridge are geared to coach parties. A riverside terrace and the Saturday market are its high points.

Milan has the heavier collection. The Last Supper, the marble Duomo with its walkable roof, the Brera's Italian painting and Michelangelo's Rondanini Pietà at the Castello could fill several days, though they sit in clusters within a largely modern city.

Lucerne gives you less to see, but it is more pleasant to walk through. The Chapel Bridge, the frescoed squares and the towers of the Musegg Wall form a complete medieval core, and the Lion Monument and the Rosengart's Picasso and Klee round it out in a day or two.

After dark Milan is far ahead. Bars spill onto the Navigli towpaths, Porta Venezia has a mixed crowd and is the centre of the gay scene, and the clubs range from dressy rooms around Corso Como, with strict doors, to warehouse nights on the edge of town.

Lucerne usually means a glass of wine by the Reuss and an early night, with a few cocktail bars near the station. The exception is Fasnacht, when the whole town stays out in costume until morning.

Lucerne wins here, and it is the main reason to go. The lake branches between mountains, Pilatus has its steep cogwheel line, Rigi has long ridge walks, and Titlis has snow all year. All of it is reachable by steamer and train from the town centre.

Milan's own surroundings are flat rice-growing plain, with Parco Sempione and the canal towpaths for cycling. The good scenery begins about an hour north, at Como, Maggiore and the Grigne ridges, so outdoor days start with a train journey.

Both are good bases, but Milan's high-speed lines give it the wider choice. Verona, Turin, Bergamo and Bologna are all within easy reach, along with Mantua, Cremona, Parma, the Certosa di Pavia and the Borromean Islands. You could fill a fortnight without repeating a style of place.

Lucerne offers fewer and more similar outings. Bern, Basel and Zurich are each under an hour away, and boats on the lake run to the Rütli meadow and the William Tell country around Altdorf.

Lucerne is the easier place for children. The Transport Museum on the lakeshore fills a whole day, and the boat rides, cogwheel trains and the Pilatus toboggan run make the journeys part of the fun. The town is small, safe and has lawns by the water. Rainy days are its weak spot.

Milan has a science museum with a submarine, a small aquarium and playgrounds in Parco Sempione, and Leolandia and Gardaland are within reach for older children. But summer humidity and sights aimed at adults make it harder going.

In Lucerne the station, the boat piers and the start of the Old Town share one stretch of lakefront. Most sights are a short, flat walk along the Reuss, and the same integrated tickets take you on by steamer, cogwheel railway and cable car into the mountains, so Lucerne is the simpler of the two.

Milan relies more on its public transport. The five colour-coded metro lines and the old orange trams through the centre are easy to use, and the stretch from the Duomo to Brera is walkable. The drawbacks are hot metro platforms in summer and the long transfer from Malpensa.

Milan is one of the great shopping cities. Via Montenapoleone and Via della Spiga hold the flagships of Italian fashion houses born in the city, and Corso Buenos Aires, the vintage shops of Porta Ticinese, the design showrooms and the Navigli antique markets cover every budget and taste.

Lucerne is really for buying a Swiss watch on Schwanenplatz or picking up chocolate and souvenirs. It has few fashion labels and no department store worth seeking out.

Neither is cheap, but Milan is easier on the budget. Aperitivo snacks can stand in for supper, weekday lunch menus are good value, and staying near a metro stop outside the centre cuts the hotel bill, though trade fair and fashion weeks push rooms up sharply.

Lucerne is expensive at every level, from a plain meal to the mountain railways that are the point of going. A Swiss travel pass and picnics by the lake help a little, but they cannot turn it into a budget trip.

Lucerne's music comes mostly in festival weeks, when leading orchestras play Jean Nouvel's lakefront hall, which is famous for its acoustics. In late summer, when opera in Milan is quiet, the festival is the bigger draw. The rest of the year the symphony orchestra and the city theatre offer a good but small programme, with little live music on an ordinary night.

Milan has more to see all year. La Scala's opera and ballet season opens each December, and gallery seats make it possible to get in. The Piccolo Teatro remains a leading stage, and jazz rooms and summer concerts at San Siro add plenty beyond classical music.

Lucerne relaxes you through its pace, while Milan does it through its facilities. Evenings by the lake are quiet, the promenades suit an unhurried walk and a steamer afternoon asks nothing of you, though the Old Town fills with tour groups at midday. For a proper soak there are only hotel spas and Botta's mineral bath high on the Rigi.

Milan has a large thermal spa complex with outdoor pools in town, and in summer there are the 1930s open-air pools of the Bagni Misteriosi. The city around them keeps a working pace, though, and real calm means a train to the lakes.