Annecy or Chamonix?

Annecy has something close to a beach vacation in summer. The lake is clear and green-blue, and by July it is warm enough for a proper swim. You can bathe from grassy lawns and jetties in town or from small beaches at Sevrier, Talloires and Doussard.

Chamonix has nothing like it. Swimming means the municipal pool or a drive down to little Lac de Passy. Many visitors simply make the trip to Lake Annecy for the day.

Both towns cook the same cheese-rich Savoyard dishes, but Annecy has more to offer around them. Its arcaded market mornings are a highlight, féra and Arctic char come straight from the lake, and the gastronomic tables at Talloires and Veyrier lift it above standard terrace menus.

Chamonix's best meals often come with a view, on refuge and mountain restaurant terraces facing the glaciers. In town the choice leans towards resort bistros, burgers and pizza. Many kitchens also close between the winter and summer seasons.

Annecy's old town is a sight in itself. Pastel houses line the canals, the twelfth-century Palais de l'Isle sits mid-river, and the Château above holds collections on Alpine life and the lake. Allow an unhurried day.

Chamonix's heritage is narrower and is all about climbing. The Musée Alpin tells the story of the first ascent of Mont Blanc and the 1924 Winter Olympics, and the climbers' cemetery and the guides' quarter fill in the rest. It takes a morning, and then you look at the mountains instead.

Chamonix has the livelier evenings. Après-ski starts at the foot of the slopes in late afternoon and then moves to a lane of pubs in the old town, where guides, seasonal workers and visitors stay out late. A couple of small clubs carry on after that. The crowd is young and largely English-speaking.

Annecy's evenings are slower. You'll find wine on a canal terrace or by the lake and a handful of bars kept going by students. Outside summer the town is quiet by midnight.

Both are outstanding, but Chamonix puts you in true high mountains. Cable cars climb to 3,842m on the Aiguille du Midi, a rack railway reaches the Mer de Glace, and the Tour du Mont Blanc and Lac Blanc trails start in town. Mountaineering, glacier skiing and ski touring are all on the doorstep.

Annecy's landscape is gentler, mixing water and rock. You can hike up the Semnoz or the Tournette, launch a paraglider from the Col de la Forclaz, paddle or sail on the lake and ride the flat shoreline cycle path. You get all that without the altitude.

Annecy has more choice for days out. Geneva is under an hour away, Chambéry and Aix-les-Bains are short train rides, and Yvoire and Évian lie on Lake Geneva. Lyon, Chamonix and the lake villages round out the list.

Chamonix's strength is the border. The Mont Blanc Tunnel leads to Courmayeur and the Roman remains of Aosta, and the Mont Blanc Express runs to Martigny in Switzerland. Beyond those, most places within reach are other resorts along slow mountain roads.

Both work for families, but for different ages. Annecy suits younger children, with pushchair-friendly streets, pedal boats, lake beaches and parks such as Le Pâquier. It has no zoo or theme park, though, and the fun fades once summer ends.

Chamonix rewards active older children and teenagers. Ski schools, the Merlet animal park with its ibex and marmots, and the little red train to the Mer de Glace are highlights. The highest cable cars are unsuitable for small children, and rainy days offer little to do.

Chamonix is the easier place to go without a car. The guest card gives free rides on the valley buses and the Mont Blanc Express from Les Houches to Vallorcine, and the main cable car stations are in town. The catch is crowded ski buses in winter.

In Annecy the old town, the lakefront and the station are all within walking distance, and bikes and summer lake boats help too. Trailheads, mountain passes and outings further afield are much simpler with a hire car, and summer traffic around the shore can be slow.

Neither town is a shopping destination, and serious shoppers in both head to Geneva. What each does well is different. In Annecy it is market-day cheeses, honey and génépi, plus independent and kitchenware shops on Rue Sainte-Claire.

Chamonix is all about technical gear. Long-established climbing and ski shops draw mountaineers who save their big purchases for a visit, and rock crystals from the massif make an unusual souvenir.

Neither is cheap, but Annecy is the easier on your budget. Its main pleasures cost nothing: the lake beaches, the parks, the shoreline path and trails that start at the edge of town.

Chamonix adds costs on top of resort-level rooms and meals. Lift passes and the big cable cars add up quickly, and guides and paragliding flights are serious expenses. Free valley transport, picnics and the shoulder seasons soften the bill, although some lifts close then.

Annecy has an actual arts calendar. Bonlieu, the national stage by the lake, runs theatre, dance, circus and concerts through the season, and summer adds a classical festival and the August fireworks over the water.

Chamonix's moment is its summer jazz festival, with some sets played high in the mountains. For the rest of the year there are only church concerts and mountain film nights.

The two are about level here, but they help you relax in opposite ways. Annecy is calm because of the place itself. The day can drift from a swim to a long lunch in a lakeside village and an evening stroll by the water. What it lacks is a spa of its own. For pampering you book a hotel spa by the lake, and for real thermal water you make the short trip to Aix-les-Bains. The summer crowds take some of the peace away.

Chamonix is the reverse. The town is busy, with climbers and guides out at dawn and the streets full in the peak weeks. Its facilities are better, though. A large thermal-style day spa has hot outdoor pools that look up at the glaciers, many chalets have saunas, and the old springs at Saint-Gervais are under half an hour away. It is better for soaking tired legs after skiing or hiking than for a slow, quiet week.