Lucerne or Zurich?

Neither city has sand. In both you swim from lawns, piers and wooden bathing houses during a short summer. Zurich offers more of it: lidos on both shores at Utoquai, Mythenquai and Tiefenbrunnen, historic baths right in the old town, and river swimming at Letten, where people let the current carry them downstream. Its lake also runs a degree or two warmer in high summer.

Lucerne's swimming is simpler. There is the Lido, the old lake baths and the grass at Ufschötti, all with mountains behind, plus small bathing spots in the villages on the boat routes. It makes a pleasant dip after a hike rather than a summer pastime in its own right.

Both cities cook in the same Swiss tradition of veal and cream: Chügelipastete in Lucerne, Geschnetzeltes with rösti in Zurich, and fondue and raclette in the guild houses of each. Zurich has more range on top of that, with casual and international cooking around Langstrasse, a solid fine-dining tier, and the old tea rooms on Paradeplatz for chocolate and Luxemburgerli.

Lucerne's choice is narrower, and many tables near the Chapel Bridge serve the coach-tour crowds. Its best meals are lake perch or whitefish and a long sit on a terrace by the Reuss. You will pay heavily in both cities.

The two are evenly matched, but the sightseeing feels different. Lucerne's strength is its townscape and monuments: the Chapel Bridge and Water Tower, the climbable towers of the Musegg Wall, and the Lion Monument carved into its cliff. The Rosengart Collection's Picasso and Klee are the art highlight, and a day or two covers the lot.

Zurich is more of a museum city. The Kunsthaus, the Swiss National Museum and the Museum Rietberg can fill whole mornings, and the Altstadt adds the Grossmünster, where the Swiss Reformation began, and Chagall's windows in the Fraumünster. Allow two or three days.

This is where the two cities differ most. Zurich has a real electronic music scene, with clubs in Kreis 4 and 5 and the old industrial halls of Zurich West running until morning at weekends, and the Street Parade taking over the lake shore every August. In summer the night moves outdoors to bars in the bathing houses and along the Limmat.

Lucerne's evenings are pubs, wine bars and a few cocktail bars near the station, and the lakefront is mostly empty by midnight. The exception is Fasnacht, when the whole town stays out in costume until dawn.

Lucerne sits among the mountains, while Zurich looks at them across its lake. From Lucerne you can ride the world's steepest cogwheel railway up Pilatus to 2,128m, take Europe's oldest mountain railway onto Rigi or the open-top cable car up the Stanserhorn, and steamers link it all into one day.

Zurich's own outdoors is gentler: lakeside promenades, the forest trails of the Uetliberg and the ridge walk along the Albis. Rigi, Pilatus and ski areas such as Flumserberg are about an hour away, which is close, but each trip is a separate outing.

Both sit on the heart of the Swiss rail network, and each makes an easy day out from the other. Zurich reaches further in more directions: the Rhine Falls and painted Stein am Rhein to the north, Konstanz on Lake Constance, St Gallen's abbey library, and Rapperswil and the old spa town of Baden close by.

Lucerne's best outing is its own lake. Boats run past Weggis and Vitznau to the Rütli meadow and Altdorf, the setting of the William Tell story. Bern and Basel are under an hour away, and the scenic line over the Brünig Pass leads to Interlaken.

Zurich is the easier city with children. The zoo, with its indoor Madagascar rainforest and elephant park, gives a reliable full day whatever the weather. The lake lidos have shallow areas and lawns, and the Technorama science centre is twenty minutes away by train.

Lucerne has the Swiss Museum of Transport, which is outstanding but is also an easy outing from Zurich. Beyond it there are the Glacier Garden and the wildlife park at Goldau. Much of the fun is cogwheel trains and steamers, and those depend on clear skies and add up in cost.

Both are among the simplest places in Europe to travel without a car, and both use integrated Swiss tickets. Zurich goes further: its trams reach every neighbourhood, the Uetliberg line and funiculars are on the same ticket, and the airport is a short train ride from the main station.

Lucerne works mostly on foot. The station, the boat piers and the Old Town sit together on the lakefront, and the mountain trips start from there. Combining boat, rail and cable car takes some reading of the connections, but they are dependable.

Watches are the speciality in both, but Zurich has much more beyond them. Bahnhofstrasse runs from the station to the lake past fashion houses and long-established department stores. The Niederdorf adds boutiques and antique shops, and the arches of the old railway viaduct in Zurich West hold design shops and a covered food market.

In Lucerne, shopping means the large watch and jewellery houses on Schwanenplatz, plus army knives, chocolate and cuckoo clocks for the tour groups. There are few fashion labels, and the main streets are soon done.

Both are very expensive, and neither can be made into a budget trip. The difference is where the money goes. In Lucerne the mountain railways and cable cars take a large share of the budget, because they are the reason to come.

In Zurich, hotels, casual meals and drinks are among the costliest anywhere. In both, picnics from the supermarket by the lake and a Swiss travel pass help, and Zurich's free public lidos and drinking fountains save a little more.

The two are close, but the calendar works differently. Lucerne revolves around its festival. In late summer the Lucerne Festival brings the world's leading orchestras to Jean Nouvel's lakefront hall, famous for its sound, and the rest of the year has the steadier programme of a small city.

Zurich plays all year. There is opera and ballet at the Opernhaus, the Tonhalle Orchestra in its restored nineteenth-century hall and the Schauspielhaus for German-language theatre. Jazz, indie and touring bands play at the Rote Fabrik and in Kreis 4 and 5.

Zurich has more real bathing. Its thermal bath fills the stone vaults of an old brewery and has a rooftop pool over the city. In the colder months the wooden bathing houses on the lake and the Limmat open as saunas with cold dips between sessions, and the hot springs of Baden are twenty minutes away.

Lucerne has no baths of its own. The best soak is Mario Botta's mineral bath on the Rigi, about an hour away by boat and cogwheel train. The city's restfulness comes from quiet evenings, lakeside promenades and long, idle steamer rides.