Annecy or Lucca?

These are two very different ways to swim. In Annecy the lake is right at the edge of town, and you swim from grassy lawns, shingle strips and jetties in clear, green-blue water. You can bathe straight after lunch, but the season only runs from late June to early September.

Lucca has no water within its walls, but the train reaches Viareggio in under half an hour. From there, long, gently sloping sandy beaches stretch towards Forte dei Marmi, mostly laid out with rows of umbrellas, and the wilder dunes of the Lecciona are close by. The beach is a half-day trip from Lucca, but the sea is warmer and the season is longer.

Lucca has the edge at the table. Spelt soup, tordelli in ragù, chestnut-flour dishes and cecina from the bakery counter are served in reliable family trattorias, along with mild local olive oil and Montecarlo wines. Range is limited in both towns, but Lucca's everyday cooking is more consistent and suits warm weather better.

Annecy's Savoyard food is built around melted cheese. Tartiflette, fondue and raclette can feel heavy in July, and the canal-side terraces vary in quality. Its best moments are the arcaded market mornings, lake char with a glass of Apremont, and the gastronomic tables at Talloires.

Lucca has much more to see and needs about two days instead of one. Its tree-lined walls are complete. Inside them are San Michele's tiers of arcades, San Frediano's golden mosaic, the oval piazza built on the Roman amphitheatre, and the Torre Guinigi with oaks growing on top.

Annecy's heritage is pretty but compact. The Palais de l'Isle in the canal, the château museum above it and a couple of churches fill an unhurried day, and the old town itself is the main attraction.

Neither town offers much after dark, and both are usually quiet by midnight. In Annecy the evening means a canal-side terrace or a glass of wine by the lake, with a couple of small clubs and some student bars. Lucca centres on aperitivo in its piazzas and a stroll along the walls. In Annecy, real clubbing means a trip to Geneva or Lyon, while in Lucca younger visitors head to the beach discos of Versilia in summer.

Annecy is one of the great outdoor towns. You can climb Mont Veyrier from town, spend whole days on the Tournette or the Semnoz, and watch paragliders fill the sky above Talloires. There is a flat cycle path along the shore, paddling on the lake, and the Aravis ski slopes and Mont Blanc are within reach.

Lucca's own outdoors is gentler: a ring of walls for walking and cycling, river paths, and olive-covered hills. For more dramatic scenery you drive about an hour north to the marble peaks of the Apuan Alps or the chestnut woods of the Garfagnana. These are rewarding trips, but they are outings rather than something on your doorstep.

Lucca sits on a rail line that turns all of northern Tuscany into easy day trips. Pisa is half an hour away and Florence a little over an hour, with Pistoia and Montecatini on the same line. The villas of Marlia, Pietrasanta's sculptors' studios and Carrara's marble are all close, and the Cinque Terre or San Gimignano are possible with an early start.

Annecy's trips are good but fewer. Geneva, Chambéry and Aix-les-Bains are easy to reach, and Chamonix under Mont Blanc makes a memorable day. Lyon is a long trip, and several of the best outings work much better by car.

Both towns are easy with children and short of attractions made for them, so the difference lies in what fills the days. In Annecy that means the lake in summer, with pedal boats, beaches, cruises, summer toboggan runs and treetop courses in the hills. In Lucca, children ride the walls on a family quadricycle, visit the Pinocchio Park at Collodi or spend a day at the seaside. The autumn comics festival in Lucca also gives teenagers a reason to go outside summer.

Lucca is easier to get around. Its flat, largely car-free centre is made for walking and cycling, there is bike rental by every gate, and the station just outside the walls has regular trains to Pisa, Florence and the coast. Only the hill villages and villas really call for a car.

Annecy's centre is just as walkable, and the shore cycle path and summer lake boats help. But the mountains are its main draw, and trailheads, passes and Chamonix are much simpler by car, with heavy lakeside traffic in summer.

Neither is a shopping destination, but Lucca has a little more to offer. Via Fillungo's fashion and jewellery shops sit behind old Liberty-style shopfronts, delicatessens sell farro and buccellato, and the monthly antiques market around the cathedral is one of the oldest in Italy. Annecy's best buys are from the market: Savoyard cheese, sausage, génépi and honey, plus kitchenware and outdoor gear around Rue Sainte-Claire. Keen shoppers there end up in Geneva.

Lucca is the cheaper stay. Meals and trains cost what they do in most of central Italy, clearly less than in Florence, and rooms just outside the walls ease the main expense.

Annecy is expensive all year because Geneva is so close, and summer rooms are priced like a resort. What saves the budget there is that the lake, the trails and the cycle path cost nothing, and staying in a self-catering apartment or travelling in spring or autumn makes a real difference.

Lucca has much more for music lovers, and nearly all of it is about Puccini. Recitals of his arias run through most of the year, the nineteenth-century Teatro del Giglio has an opera season, and in summer there is open-air opera by the lake at Torre del Lago, along with large concerts in Piazza Napoleone.

Annecy relies on Bonlieu, its national stage, for contemporary theatre, dance and circus. A summer classical festival and the August fireworks over the lake add to this, but for opera you need Geneva or Lyon.

Both towns relax you through their pace rather than their spas, and neither has public baths of its own. Annecy's calm comes from the water and the views, with lakeside hotel spas near Talloires and thermal baths at Aix-les-Bains or Saint-Gervais. Lucca's comes from quiet streets and evening walks on the walls. Its spa trips feel more historic: the belle époque buildings of Montecatini, a warm cave pool at Monsummano and steam grottoes at Bagni di Lucca.