2 days in Switzerland: Berne or Luzerne?

I'm going to be spending a couple days at the end of a longer trip in Switzerland. I'm flying out of Zurich but decided that I don't really want to stay in Zurich because I'm going to have spent a lot of time in bigger cities and would rather hang out for a couple days in a smaller city. I've read that both Berne and Luzerne have direct trains to the Zurich airport so getting there in time for my flight should be a breeze. What I want from you, dear Thorn Tree dwellers, is recommendations as to which of these fine Swiss cities I should spend my two days on. I understand that each has something different to offer and depending on various factors one might enjoy one or the other. What I want to know is: in your experience which one was more fun? Which had the more interesting sights? Which one had the better night-life? Which one had the better hostels, and which hostels might those be? etc....

Thanks a bunch.

Go to Lucerne you have the town, the lake with old steamships and the mountains are closer than from Bern . fun eg nightlife I do not know although living only 35 min. away by car.

1. Every Swiss town except Chur, Sion and Vevey-Monteux has at least one direct train to Zurich airport per hour.
2. Lucerne has a lake with steamboats etc and some cableways and cog railways to very close mountains.
   Berne has better museums and a big medieval town center. The 4 lakes of Thun, Biel, Murten and Neuchatel (with boats too) are all about 30 km away.

In Bern I stayed at the Bern Glocke hostel and I paid 31 CHF per night in dorm room and it is very near the station. The staff were very helpful, gave me a lot of information about the city. their website is www.bernbackpackers.com.

Luzern for sure. We spent one day in Bern and one in Luzern - I want to go back to Luzern, and while Bern was interesting, we pretty much saw what we wanted in a day trip.