Lucerne or Turin?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Lucerne at least lets you swim in town. In July and August locals bathe from the Lido, the old wooden lake baths and the lawns at Ufschötti, in clean, calm water with mountains behind. It is lawn and jetty rather than sand, and the season is short.

Turin has nothing like that on its doorstep. Swimming means a trip out to small lakes such as Avigliana or Viverone, or a long day to the Ligurian coast near Savona, so a swim needs planning rather than a free hour.

Turin is one of Italy's serious food cities, and Lucerne cannot match it. Piedmont supplies vitello tonnato, agnolotti del plin, bollito misto and autumn truffles from the Langhe, the wine lists run to Barolo and Barbaresco, and the city invented vermouth, the aperitivo and gianduja.

Lucerne eats well enough but narrowly: Chügelipastete, fondue, rösti and lake perch in Old Town guild houses, at high prices, and with many places near the Chapel Bridge aimed at tour groups. Food is a reason to go to Turin. In Lucerne it is something you fit around the scenery.

Turin has much more to see. The Museo Egizio alone justifies a visit, and around it stand the Royal Palace, Palazzo Madama, the Shroud's cathedral, the UNESCO-listed Savoy residences and the cinema museum in the Mole. Contemporary art at Rivoli and the Fiat story at the Lingotto fill several more days.

Lucerne's sights are fewer but iconic: the Chapel Bridge and Water Tower, the towers of the Musegg Wall and the carved Lion Monument, plus Picasso and Klee at the Rosengart. A day or two covers it, where Turin rewards a week.

Turin gives you a real night out. The evening begins with aperitivo and moves on to wine bars in the Quadrilatero Romano, pavement crowds in San Salvario, Vanchiglia's looser bars and, in summer, the Murazzi along the Po, with clubs in old industrial buildings for those who want them.

Lucerne is about a drink by the water and an early night. A few cocktail bars and a small club scene near the station keep weekends going, but only Fasnacht keeps the whole town out until dawn.

Both cities have the Alps in view, but in Lucerne they start at the lakeshore. Pilatus, Rigi and the Stanserhorn are reached by cogwheel railway, cable car or steamer straight from town, Titlis has glacier snow all year, and you can combine boat, rail and hike in a single day.

Turin's mountains are just as grand, with ibex in the Gran Paradiso, the Via Lattea ski slopes and Monviso, but they lie an hour or more away and are easiest with a car. Closer in, the Superga hills, the Mandria forest and the Po riverside in Valentino park make good gentler outings.

Both make good bases, and Turin's choice is a little wider and more varied. The Langhe wine villages, Alba's truffles and Bra are about an hour south, Milan is an hour by fast train, and the Sacra di San Michele, Aosta and Genoa add abbey, Roman ruins and a port.

Lucerne's strength is Swiss towns and the lake itself. Bern, Basel and Zurich are each under an hour by train, and the steamers to the Rütli meadow and Altdorf trace the William Tell story. The Brünig line to Interlaken is a scenic ride in its own right.

Lucerne is the easier choice with children. The Swiss Museum of Transport fills a whole day, the Glacier Garden's mirror maze sits beside the Lion Monument, and the steamers, cogwheel trains and summer toboggan run on Pilatus count as attractions in themselves. Rainy days can run short of ideas, though, and the costs add up.

Turin's flat, arcaded centre is kind to pushchairs, and the glass lift in the Mole and the Egizio's mummies please older children. The big animal day out, Zoom Torino, needs a car, and summer heat is harder on small children than Lucerne's milder weather.

Lucerne is unusually simple to get around. Station, boat piers and Old Town sit together on the lakefront, most sights are a short flat walk, and steamers, trains and cable cars all run on the same integrated tickets, so even the mountain trips need no car.

Turin's grid centre is just as walkable, from Porta Nuova through Piazza San Carlo to the Mole. Beyond it you rely on a single metro line and trams and buses that take some working out, and a car helps for the wine hills and the Alps.

Turin is the better place to shop. Via Roma's arcades carry the big fashion labels, Via Garibaldi has the high-street names, and the real finds are edible: chocolate makers, pastry shops and truffle and wine delis, plus antiques on Via Maria Vittoria and the Balon flea market on Saturdays.

Lucerne shopping is mostly about watches. Big watch and jewellery houses line Schwanenplatz alongside army knives and cuckoo clocks for the tour groups, and there is little in the way of fashion or design beyond them.

This is the widest gap between the two. Lucerne is very expensive at every turn, from central rooms to simple meals to the mountain railways that make the stay worthwhile, and even with a travel pass and lakeside picnics it never becomes a budget trip.

Turin is moderately priced for a big Western European city. A generous aperitivo can replace dinner, trattorie and Porta Palazzo market are good value, and transport is cheap. Costs only climb with fine dining, truffle season and trade-fair weeks.

The two are broadly level, but the offer is different. Lucerne's draw is the Lucerne Festival, which brings the world's leading orchestras to Jean Nouvel's acoustically famous lakefront hall, mainly in late summer. Outside those weeks it is a small city's programme with little live music most nights.

Turin is steadier through the year. Opera and ballet fill the Teatro Regio, the RAI National Symphony Orchestra has its own auditorium, and jazz clubs and small venues dot the centre. Theatre is almost entirely in Italian, and no single event pulls in visitors from abroad.

Neither city has a bathing tradition, and spa time in both means hotel spas. Lucerne has the slight edge: Mario Botta's mineral bath high on the Rigi lets you soak with a mountain view, and a steamer afternoon or a summer dip at the wooden lake baths is restful, if you can avoid the Old Town at midday.

Turin's calm is urban: long coffees in historic cafés, walks under the arcades and quiet hours in Valentino park. Real thermal waters, at Acqui Terme or in the Aosta valley, are close to two hours away.