Lucerne or Pula?

Pula is the place for a swimming vacation. Its rocky and pebbly coast south of the centre, from Verudela and Stoja to the coves of Kamenjak, has very clear water and pine shade down to the shore, and the season lasts from June to late September. Water shoes are wise, and families head for the shallow bays around Medulin.

Lucerne has a pleasant bathing culture on the lake, at the Lido, the old wooden lake baths and the lawns of Ufschötti. The water is clean and calm, with mountains behind it, but it is only warm enough in high summer. A swim there fits between excursions rather than being the point of the trip.

Pula eats better because it sits in Istria, with fuži pasta with truffle, scampi buzara, pršut, estate olive oil and Teran wine all produced close by. The best meals are often in village taverns inland or by the coastal harbours rather than near the Arena.

Lucerne serves well-made Swiss comfort food, such as Chügelipastete, rösti, fondue and lake perch, in wood-panelled guild houses. The choice is narrow and costly, though, and you would not plan a trip around it.

The two are about even, but they offer very different pasts. Lucerne is medieval and Swiss, with the covered Chapel Bridge, the towers of the Musegg Wall, the Lion Monument and a fine Picasso and Klee collection at the Rosengart. Pula is Roman first, with a near-complete amphitheatre, the Temple of Augustus on the Forum and the Arch of the Sergii, plus Venetian and Habsburg layers above them. Either can be seen properly in a day or two.

Neither city is built for big nights, but Pula has a little more going on in summer. Evenings move from Forum terraces to beach bars on Verudela and around Medulin, and a few small clubs fill up at weekends.

Lucerne usually goes quiet by midnight, and its evenings mostly mean a drink by the Reuss or a few cocktail bars in the Neustadt. The exception is Fasnacht, when the whole town is out in costume until dawn.

Lucerne's landscape is in another league. A branching lake meets mountains you can ride straight up: Pilatus by the world's steepest cogwheel railway, Rigi by Europe's oldest mountain railway, and Titlis with its glacier an hour away. Hikes, boat trips and cable cars combine easily in one day.

Pula's outdoors is gentler and shaped by the sea. Kamenjak offers car-free walking and cycling among cliffs and wild flowers, and there is kayaking, windsurfing and wreck diving. Proper hiking means driving about an hour and a half to Učka.

Both are strong bases, but you tour them differently. From Lucerne, fast trains reach Bern, Basel and Zurich in under an hour each, and lake steamers carry you to the Rütli meadow and William Tell country without any planning beyond a timetable.

From Pula the trips are about Istria: Rovinj on its peninsula, the Byzantine mosaics of Poreč, and the hill towns of Motovun and Hum among truffle and wine estates. The Brijuni islands are a short boat ride away, but buses are sparse and most outings need a car.

Lucerne has a slight edge with children, mainly because of the Swiss Museum of Transport, which fills a whole day, and a small, safe, flat centre where everything can be reached without a car. Cogwheel trains and steamers are part of the fun, although they are costly and depend on the weather.

Pula's family days happen at the sea. The shallow bays around Medulin, the aquarium in an old fort and climbing around the Arena are its main draws, but rocky shores, summer heat and reliance on a car make it more work.

Lucerne is far easier. The station, the boat piers and the Old Town sit together on the lakefront, and trains, steamers and cable cars run on one integrated ticket system, so a car is never needed.

Pula's compact centre is easy on foot and buses reach Verudela, but beyond the city the trains are slow and regional buses infrequent. Kamenjak, the hill towns and the wider coast really call for a car or scooter.

Lucerne has more to buy, though most of it is Swiss watches, jewellery, army knives and chocolate on Schwanenplatz, with little fashion or design beyond that. Pula has chain stores and souvenirs on its main street, and its real offer is edible: olive oil, truffle products, wine, honey and pršut from the market hall or straight from producers.

This is the widest gap between the two. Lucerne is among the most expensive stops in Europe, and the mountain railways that make it worthwhile add a large share to the bill, so there is no way to do it cheaply.

Pula is mid-priced, with private apartments and simple taverns keeping spring and autumn stays reasonable. Rooms do rise sharply in July and August, and car hire and boat trips add up.

Lucerne is far stronger. The Lucerne Festival brings leading orchestras to a concert hall famous for its acoustics, which keeps a year-round programme alongside the city theatre's opera and dance.

Pula has one great setting: concerts and film screenings in the Roman Arena on summer nights. Outside the season there is mostly Croatian-language drama at the Istrian National Theatre.

Neither has a bathing tradition, but Lucerne offers more ways to unwind. The Botta-designed mineral bath on the Rigi gives a soak with a mountain view, and quiet evenings and slow steamer afternoons make the city restful once the midday tour groups leave.

In Pula, wellness means resort hotel spas on Verudela and in Medulin. Its calm comes instead from coffee on the Forum and walks along pine-shaded paths by the sea outside high summer.