Lugano or Trieste?

Neither city has a sandy beach, but Trieste has the sea and Lugano only a lake. In Lugano you swim at lidos with lawns, decks and pools, the main one at the mouth of the Cassarate. The season is short, roughly June to early September.

Trieste makes more of its water. There is the long Barcola promenade with its platforms and ladders, old bathing establishments in town, clear Adriatic water, and prettier pebble coves at Sistiana, Duino and Grignano. Piran is under an hour away. Swimming off the rocks is part of everyday summer life there.

Both kitchens lean Italian, but Trieste's is the more distinctive and the more rewarding to explore. Lugano's highlight is the grotto, with polenta, braised meats and Ticino Merlot under chestnut trees. Beyond that the choice is thin and prices are Swiss.

Trieste mixes Italy, Austria and the Slavic world. Its buffets carve boiled pork with horseradish, and menus run from jota and sardoni to presnitz and strudel. It has a coffee culture with its own vocabulary, and osmize on the Karst serve Vitovska and Terrano. Restaurant choice is narrow in both cities.

Trieste has much more to see. The Habsburg seafront around Piazza Unità, the Borgo Teresiano along the Canal Grande, the cathedral and castle on San Giusto, the Roman theatre, Miramare Castle and the Risiera di San Sabba memorial fill several days and carry real historical weight.

Lugano is pleasant but quickly done. The arcaded old town around Piazza della Riforma, San Lorenzo, Luini's Passion fresco and the art collection split between LAC and Palazzo Reali make a good single day.

Neither is a place for a big night out, and in both the evening is aperitivo followed by dinner. Trieste has a little more life: university students keep some wine bars and pubs busy, and in summer the kiosks on the Barcola seafront stay open into warm nights. Lugano is quieter, dearer and more dressed up, mostly lakefront lounges and drinks under the old-town arcades, and its young people go to Milan for a night out.

Both have mountains at the door, but Lugano's setting is the grander one. Steep wooded peaks rise straight out of the lake, with funiculars to Monte Brè and San Salvatore and a rack railway up Monte Generoso. The green water of the Verzasca and Maggia valleys is about an hour away.

Trieste's outdoors is gentler and more varied. There are walks along the Karst edge on the Strada Napoleonica and the Rilke Path, the Val Rosandra gorge and the Grotta Gigante. The gulf is good for sailing, and you can snorkel at Miramare. The Bora can make winter walks hard going.

Both are excellent bases that reach across borders, so the difference is in what lies around them. From Lugano the draw is lakes and big-city art: Como, Lake Maggiore and the Borromean Islands, Bellinzona's castles and Milan's Last Supper. Fast trains do most of the work.

Trieste looks towards older and less visited places. Friuli has Roman Aquileia, Cividale, star-shaped Palmanova and Grado. Slovenia has Piran, Ljubljana and the Postojna cave, and Venice makes a long day out. Some of the trips across the border go more easily by car.

Both are safe and calm, with little built for children and steep streets above the water. Lugano suits younger children slightly better, with lido pools and slides, lake boats, funicular rides and the Swiss miniature park at Melide.

Trieste plays to older children who like caves and castles: the Grotta Gigante, Miramare's gardens, a small aquarium and a hands-on science centre. Its swimming is off rocks and concrete steps, which is harder for small swimmers than Lugano's lidos.

Lugano is the easier of the two to move around. Its small centre is linked by the lakefront promenade, and a funicular takes care of the climb from the station. Lake boats, mountain railways and the Swiss rail network take you almost anywhere without a car.

Trieste's flat core by the sea is easy on foot, and buses and bay boats cover Barcola, Miramare and Muggia. The climb to San Giusto is long flights of steps, though, and the Karst villages and trips across the border go better with a car.

Lugano has the better shopping, though only at the expensive end: Swiss watchmakers, jewellers and Italian fashion houses under the arcades of Via Nassa, plus a designer outlet village towards Mendrisio. Trieste has no luxury scene. Its best browsing is in the old town's antique and second-hand shops, and the things worth taking home are coffee, Karst wine and presnitz.

Trieste is far cheaper. Coffee at the bar and buffet plates cost little, buses are cheap and rooms are reasonable for most of the year. The waterfront, San Giusto and swimming at Barcola are free.

Lugano charges Swiss prices for hotels, meals, wine, boats and mountain railways, and there is no cheap way to stay. Grotti and set lunches help, as does the free regional transport that usually comes with a hotel stay.

Trieste has more to offer for a night at a performance. The Teatro Verdi runs a proper season of opera and ballet, operetta has deep roots in the city, and the Politeama Rossetti and a Slovenian-language theatre add drama.

Lugano's stage life is concentrated at LAC, whose fine concert hall is home to the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana. It suits lovers of classical music more than opera fans, who go to La Scala. Its summer highlight is the free Estival Jazz festival in Piazza della Riforma.

Neither city has thermal baths, so in both, relaxation comes from the pace of life. Lugano's version is by the lake: lidos, the palm-lined shore, long grotto lunches, hotel spas and the large pool and sauna complex near Rivera. Trieste's is more urban and literary, with long sittings in old coffee houses and sunset strolls on the Molo Audace, and only hotel and day spas for treatments.