Lucerne or Rovinj?

Rovinj is the place to swim. Below the old town walls and along the Golden Cape, the Adriatic is clear and warm from June to September, with flat limestone ledges, pebble coves and taxi boats out to St Catherine and Red Island. The shore is rock rather than sand, so pack water shoes.

In Lucerne, swimming means lake bathing: the Lido, the old wooden lake baths and the lawns at Ufschötti. The water is clean and calm but cooler, and it is only inviting in July and August. It makes a pleasant break between excursions, not a reason to go.

Lucerne's food is hearty and Alpine: Chügelipastete, rösti, fondue and lake perch served in wood-panelled guild houses, with lovely terraces on the Reuss. The range is narrow, though, and many places near the Chapel Bridge cook for the coach tours.

Rovinj eats better because it draws on Istria's kitchen: scampi buzara, fuži with truffle, peppery olive oil, Malvazija and Teran, and country konobas for slow-cooked meat. Its harbour menus are also written for visitors, so the best meals are found a short drive inland.

Lucerne has more to see. The Chapel Bridge and Water Tower, the Musegg Wall towers you can climb, the Lion Monument and the Rosengart's Picasso and Klee easily fill two days, with the Bourbaki Panorama and Wagner's villa at Tribschen still in reserve.

Rovinj is one fine sight rather than a list: the Venetian old town on its former island, rising to the bell tower of St Euphemia and its view over the roofs. The Batana House and a small town museum fill the rest of an afternoon.

Both towns go to bed early, so the difference lies in the kind of evening. Lucerne has a few cocktail bars and a small club scene in the Neustadt and near the station, kept going by students at weekends. Once a year, Fasnacht turns the whole Old Town into a costumed party that lasts until dawn.

Rovinj's evenings are seasonal and outdoors: a drink on the rocks as the sun sets over the sea, then waterfront bars on summer nights and a couple of places to dance in high season. Outside summer, almost nothing stays open late.

This is Lucerne's great strength. The mountains rise straight from the lake. You can ride the steepest cogwheel railway up Pilatus, walk Rigi's ridges, take the open-top cable car up the Stanserhorn or visit the glacier on Titlis. Paddle steamers let you combine boat, train and hike in one day, and winter adds skiing.

Rovinj's outdoors is gentler and coastal: pine paths through the Golden Cape, kayaking and diving among the islets, the steep green sides of the Lim Fjord and vineyard trails inland. It is pleasant country, but there are no mountains.

Both make good bases, and Lucerne is the easier one. Zurich, Bern and Basel are each under an hour away by train. The lake steamers reach the Rütli meadow and the William Tell country around Altdorf, and all you need to plan is a timetable.

Rovinj has plenty within reach too: Pula's Roman amphitheatre, the mosaics of the Euphrasian Basilica in Porec and the hill towns of Motovun and Groznjan, with Piran and Trieste across the borders. The catch is that most of it means driving.

Lucerne is the easier place with children. The Swiss Museum of Transport fills a whole day, and the Glacier Garden, the wildlife park at Goldau and the summer toboggan run on Pilatus add more. The flat, very safe centre and the lakeside lawns make simple days easy, although long rainy spells can run short of ideas.

Rovinj offers the relaxed resort life children enjoy, with gelato, boat trips to the islands and campsites with pools. However, the rocky shore means watching small swimmers closely, and the steep, polished cobbles are hard going with a pushchair.

Getting around is a big part of Lucerne's appeal. The station, the boat piers and the Old Town sit together on the lakefront, and one integrated ticket system covers steamers, cogwheel trains and cable cars, so you never need a car.

Inside Rovinj everything is a walk: the old town is car-free, a promenade leads into the Golden Cape, and bikes and taxi boats cover the rest of the shore. Beyond the town there is no railway, only intercity buses, so the hill towns and wineries really call for a car.

Lucerne has more to buy, though the range is narrow: watches and jewellery on Schwanenplatz, army knives and chocolate, a few Old Town boutiques and the Saturday market. Rovinj's shopping is smaller still and mostly local produce, such as truffles, olive oil, Malvazija and lavender, but the artists' studios along Grisia give it a character that Lucerne's souvenir rows lack.

Lucerne is expensive in every way. Central rooms and simple meals cost a lot, and the mountain railways and cable cars that make the stay worthwhile cost most of all. A Swiss travel pass and lakeside picnics help, but there is no budget version of a trip here.

Rovinj is not cheap either, but it is easier on the wallet. High summer by the harbour is pricey, while private apartments, campsites, bakery lunches and a September visit bring the cost down noticeably.

For music, Lucerne is in another league. The Lucerne Festival brings leading orchestras to Jean Nouvel's lakefront hall, famous for its acoustics, which also has a year-round programme with the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra. The city theatre stages opera, drama and dance.

Rovinj has occasional summer concerts in St Euphemia, music on the squares and the bitinada, the local unaccompanied singing linked to the batana boats. Out of season there is little, and the big summer shows take place in Pula's Roman arena.

Lucerne's best soak is high above the lake: Mario Botta's mineral bath on the Rigi, about an hour away by boat and cogwheel train, with the mountains in full view. Down in town, rest comes from slow steamer afternoons and lakeside promenades that empty early in the evening. At midday, though, the tour groups crowd the Old Town.

Rovinj winds you down in a warmer, more outdoor way. The resort hotels along the Golden Cape have spas with pools and saunas, but the real rest is long lunches, evening walks in the pines and a late swim off the rocks in May, June or September. In high summer the harbour fills up, and you have to go further from the centre to find calm.