Luxembourg or Zurich?

Neither city is for a beach vacation, but Zurich makes far more of its water. Its lake lidos at Utoquai, Mythenquai and Tiefenbrunnen, the historic bathing houses in the old town and the river baths at Letten all sit within the city, and the clean lake warms to about 22°C to 24°C in high summer.

In Luxembourg a swim means a trip out, either to the reservoir of the Upper Sûre about an hour north or to the gravel-pit lakes at Remerschen. It is a hot-day excursion rather than something you slip in after sightseeing.

The two are on a similar level, but they eat differently. Luxembourg leans French in its better restaurants, with Portuguese and Italian neighbourhood places and hearty local dishes like smoked pork collar. Its real pleasure is Moselle Riesling and crémant by the glass.

Zurich is about veal in cream with rösti, fondue in old guild houses and, above all, chocolate and confectionery, including the little macarons named after Luxembourg. Kreis 4 and 5 add more casual international eating, but neither city does much street food.

There is little to choose between them in depth, and each covers comfortably in two or three days. What differs is where the interest lies. In Luxembourg the setting is the sight: the UNESCO-listed fortress remains, the Bock casemates cut into the rock and the view from the Chemin de la Corniche down to the Grund.

Zurich is the better museum city, with the Kunsthaus collection, the Swiss National Museum and the Rietberg. Its old town adds Reformation history at the Grossmünster and Chagall's windows in the Fraumünster.

Zurich is much the livelier choice. Electronic music runs deep there, clubs in Kreis 4 and 5 and Zurich West stay open until morning at weekends, and the August Street Parade takes over the lake shore. In summer, drinking moves out to the bathing houses and the banks of the Limmat.

Luxembourg's going out is concentrated in the Rives de Clausen, the Grund's riverside pubs and a few later venues in Hollerich. Thursday and Friday are the busy nights, because much of the city empties at weekends.

Zurich has the bigger landscape. The lake runs towards the snow-capped Glarus Alps, the Uetliberg ridge is a short train ride away, and Rigi, Pilatus and ski slopes like Flumserberg are within about an hour, so it works in both summer and winter.

Luxembourg has no mountains, but it offers gentler, greener rewards close at hand. Wooded gorges cut through the centre, the mossy rock passages of the Müllerthal are half an hour away, and there are Ardennes walks and Moselle vineyard cycling, all at their best in autumn.

Both are excellent bases, and Zurich has the edge. From its station, Lucerne, Bern, Basel and St Gallen's abbey library are each about an hour or less, and the Rhine Falls, Stein am Rhein and Rapperswil by boat are closer still, all on one dense rail network.

Luxembourg's strength is variety across borders. Roman Trier in Germany and Metz in France are both under an hour away, and Vianden castle, Echternach and the Moselle wine villages fill the days in between.

Zurich is the better place to bring children for more than a few days. The zoo, with its Madagascar hall and elephant park, lidos with shallow water, lake boats, the Technorama in Winterthur and Lucerne's transport museum give it a full programme.

Luxembourg is just as safe and calm, and its casemate tunnels and ramparts feel like an adventure. Beyond those, it has only the small Parc Merveilleux and castle outings, with no zoo or aquarium.

Both are among the easiest cities in Europe to get around without a car. Luxembourg's distinctive advantage is that every tram, bus and second-class train in the country is free, and public lifts and a funicular connect the town's different levels.

Zurich still has the more complete system. Trams, S-Bahn, funiculars, the Uetliberg railway and even the lake boats share one punctual network, and the airport is a short ride from the main station.

Zurich is the stronger shopping city, and the difference is mostly one of depth. Luxembourg's luxury and fashion labels sit along the Grand-Rue and a handful of lanes in the upper town, which is enough for an afternoon, with the chains on Avenue de la Gare. Its strength is the souvenir with a local story: porcelain from the Villeroy & Boch outlet, a bottle of Moselle crémant or local produce from the market on Place Guillaume II.

Bahnhofstrasse alone outweighs all of that. It is a long avenue of fashion houses and old department stores, and Swiss watches, from the famous makers to small dealers in the side streets, are what bring many shoppers there. The Niederdorf adds antiques and small boutiques, and the viaduct arches in Zurich West hold independent design, which Luxembourg largely lacks. Chocolate is the easy thing to take home, but expect high prices in every shop.

Neither is cheap, but Luxembourg is noticeably easier on the wallet. Its transport is free, several museums cost nothing, wine by the glass is reasonable and hotel rates sometimes drop at weekends when the business travellers leave.

Zurich ranks among the most expensive cities anywhere, from simple rooms to a casual lunch. Saving there means supermarket picnics by the lake, the free lidos and a visitor card, and even then the bill stays high.

Zurich offers a much richer stage. The Opernhaus has a full season of opera and ballet, the Tonhalle Orchestra plays in a restored nineteenth-century hall and the Schauspielhaus is a leading German-language theatre, with the Rote Fabrik and summer's Theater Spektakel on the alternative side.

Luxembourg's highlight is the Philharmonie on Kirchberg, which has fine acoustics. The Grand Théâtre, the Rotondes and summer concerts at Neimënster complete the picture, though most of what plays there is touring.

For a proper soak, Luxembourg sends you out of town to the mineral spring baths at Mondorf-les-Bains, half an hour away, which make an easy restorative day trip. In the city itself there is the pool and sauna complex on Kirchberg, and the quiet river walks through the Grund do the rest.

Zurich keeps its bathing within the city, and that gives it the edge. Thermal pools and a rooftop pool fill the vaults of the old Hürlimann brewery, and in winter the wooden bathing houses on the lake turn into saunas, with cold dips between sessions. The hot springs at Baden, used since Roman times, are twenty minutes away by train.