Annecy or Innsbruck?

Annecy has something close to a real beach vacation in summer. Lake Annecy is clear, clean and warm enough by July for long swims, with lawns, shingle strips and jetties in town and small beaches at Sevrier, Talloires and Doussard.

Innsbruck offers much less. The Lanser See and Natterer See on the plateaus are pleasant for a hot afternoon, but they are small, and the beautiful Achensee is too cold for most people. In both, the swimming season only lasts through high summer.

Annecy eats better, mainly thanks to its markets and the lake. The arcaded old town fills with Reblochon, Tomme, charcuterie and produce stalls, féra and Arctic char come out of the lake, and some fine gastronomic tables wait in Talloires and Veyrier, with Savoie whites to drink.

Innsbruck's cooking is just as hearty, Gröstl, Kaspressknödel and Kaiserschmarrn, and at its best in a mountain hut after a hike. In town, though, it has no market culture, and the inns around the Golden Roof mostly feed tour groups. It does have Viennese-style coffee houses, which Annecy cannot match.

Innsbruck has more to see. Its time as a Habsburg seat left the Hofburg, the Golden Roof and the Hofkirche, where Maximilian I's tomb is ringed by bronze giants, plus the Ferdinandeum, the folk art museum and Ambras Castle with its cabinet of curiosities. That fills two or three days.

Annecy's appeal is the old town itself: canals, pastel houses, the island Palais de l'Isle and the château museum above. It is charming and very photogenic, but an unhurried day covers it.

Neither town is a destination for nights out, but Innsbruck's large university gives it more after dark. Bars and small clubs fill the brick arches under the railway viaduct and stay open late at weekends, and in winter there is après-ski in the resorts nearby. Annecy's evenings are a glass of wine on a canal terrace or by the lake, lively in summer and quiet by midnight for the rest of the year.

Both sit among some of the finest scenery in the Alps, and the difference is in character. Annecy's landscape is a lake ringed by mountains: hikes up Mont Veyrier or the Tournette, paragliding from the Col de la Forclaz, and paddleboarding, rowing and sailing on the water.

Innsbruck is higher and more alpine. The Nordkette ridge is cable-car close, the vast Karwendel park starts just behind it, and the Stubai Glacier, via ferratas, hut-to-hut routes and rafting on the Inn give it more serious mountain terrain, especially for skiing.

Both are good bases, Annecy for French and Swiss outings and Innsbruck for three countries by rail. From Annecy, Geneva, Chambéry, Aix-les-Bains, Chamonix and the Lake Geneva villages of Yvoire and Évian are all within reach, with Lyon a longer day.

Innsbruck has the stronger train links, with Munich and Salzburg each a little under two hours and Bolzano and Merano over the Brenner. Closer in, there are small medieval towns such as Hall and Rattenberg, and by car the Bavarian castles near Füssen.

Both are safe, small and easy with children, and neither has a theme park. Annecy's family appeal is the lake in summer: beaches, pedal boats, cruises and the flat shoreline cycle path, though children lose interest once the water cools.

Innsbruck has the Alpenzoo with its ibex, bears and wolves, reached by funicular, plus hut playgrounds in summer and ski schools in winter, so it holds up better across the seasons. Rainy days take planning in both.

Innsbruck is easier to get around, especially beyond the centre. Trams and buses reach Igls and the Stubai valley, regional trains run along the valley, and the funicular from the old town links to the Nordkette, so most visitors never need a car.

In Annecy, the old town, station and lakefront are a short walk apart, and bikes and summer lake boats work well along the shore. For trailheads, mountain passes or Chamonix, though, a hire car makes life much simpler, and summer traffic round the lake can be slow.

Annecy's best buys are edible. On market days the old-town stalls sell Savoyard cheeses, sausage, génépi and local honey, and the streets around Rue Sainte-Claire add cutlery and kitchenware shops among the souvenirs.

Innsbruck leans towards Tyrolean crafts and mountain gear. Under the old-town arcades you'll find loden jackets, dirndls, woodcarvings and crystal, and its outdoor and ski shops are excellent, with the chains along Maria-Theresien-Strasse. In either town an afternoon covers it, and from Annecy anyone after luxury fashion goes to Geneva.

Both are expensive. Annecy's prices rise in summer and stay high all year because Geneva is so close, while Innsbruck charges most in ski season and around the Christmas markets. Annecy's lake beaches, parks and trails cost nothing, whereas an active trip in Innsbruck builds up cable car costs, partly offset by city cards that bundle transport and lifts.

Innsbruck has more for the evening. The Tiroler Landestheater stages opera, operetta and dance, the Tyrolean Symphony Orchestra has a regular season, and the summer Festival of Early Music fills historic rooms such as the Spanish Hall at Ambras.

Annecy's lakeside Bonlieu stage offers contemporary theatre, dance and circus, and summer adds classical concerts and the Fête du Lac fireworks. For opera or a major orchestra, though, you go to Geneva or Lyon.

Neither has thermal springs in town, so rest comes from setting and pace. Annecy's calm is lakeside: slow lunches in the villages, hotel spas at Talloires and Veyrier, and the historic baths of Aix-les-Bains a short trip south. Innsbruck's is Alpine, with saunas and spas in Igls and the plateau villages and large thermal complexes in the Ötztal and Zillertal about an hour away.