Austrian Alps or Lake Como?

Neither has a sea, so this is lake swimming against lake swimming, and the Austrian Alps come out a little ahead. Carinthia's Wörthersee, Millstätter See and Faaker See get warmer than Lake Como, and towns such as Velden and Pörtschach spend their summers around grassy lidos with piers and diving boards.

On Lake Como a swim fits between other things: a jetty or pebble strip at Lenno or Menaggio between ferry rides, in water that cools quickly below the surface. The upper lake around Domaso has the most open shore, while the southern basin near Como town is best avoided.

The two are evenly matched at the table and both offer a narrow range, so the choice comes down to style. Austria serves hearty mountain dishes such as Kaiserschmarrn, Käsespätzle and Speck on hut terraces, with cake cafés in Salzburg and fine dining in the Arlberg and Kitzbühel.

Lake Como's cooking is Italian and built on the lake: perch in butter and sage on risotto, salted missoltini, Valtellina cheeses and Nebbiolo. Its best meals are in hill-village trattorias and crotti rather than on the lakefront.

The Austrian Alps have more to see, and weightier sights: Salzburg's baroque old town under its fortress, Innsbruck's Hofburg and Hofkirche, and the salt-mining heritage of Hallstatt, with abbeys and spa towns in between. The catch is that these places are spread across several valleys.

Lake Como's heritage is narrower but compact and graceful: aristocratic villas and gardens, most reached by boat, plus Como's marble cathedral and its 1930s rationalist buildings. With no major museums, it suits garden lovers better than history buffs.

Austria wins easily for a night out, but mainly in winter. Ischgl, St Anton, Saalbach and Mayrhofen run après-ski from the huts on the slopes into late village clubs from December to April, and Innsbruck's students keep bars going all year.

Lake Como's evenings are a dinner and a drink by the water, and Bellagio and Varenna go quiet after the last ferry. Como town has a few wine and cocktail bars, and anyone wanting more takes the train to Milan.

Both are superb mountain landscapes, but the Austrian Alps are on a far larger scale. They have glaciers and the Grossglockner in the Hohe Tauern, high Tyrolean valleys and some of Europe's most extensive skiing, and in summer the same lifts serve staffed huts, via ferratas and bike trails.

Lake Como is built around one great view, mountains rising straight out of a deep lake. You walk it on the Sentiero del Viandante or the Greenway del Lago, and on the upper lake the afternoon breva wind makes for serious windsurfing and kitesurfing.

Both make excellent bases for outings, but what lies beyond them differs. From Salzburg you can reach the Salzkammergut lakes, Berchtesgaden and Munich. From Innsbruck there are small historic towns such as Hall and Rattenberg, with Bolzano and the royal castles at Füssen over the passes.

Lake Como's day trips lean towards cities: Milan for the Last Supper and La Scala, Bergamo's walled upper town and Lugano, each about an hour away. Closer to base, a ferry hop around the central villages fills a day with no planning.

Families are much better looked after in Austria. Resorts such as Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis and the Zillertal provide nursery slopes, ski schools, childcare and hotels with kids' clubs, and in summer there are toboggan runs and play trails on the mountain. On rest days there are Innsbruck's Alpine Zoo and the trick fountains at Hellbrunn.

Lake Como is safe and welcoming, but little there is made for children. Steep stepped lanes, narrow roads without pavements and hotels geared to couples make it harder work. The flatter upper lake near Domaso and Colico is the most practical base with children.

Austria's main valleys are linked by trains through Innsbruck, Salzburg and over the Arlberg, with Postbus lines climbing into the side valleys. Guest cards cover local buses, so a stay in one valley works well without a car, although moving between valleys is slow.

On Lake Como the ferry is the transport. It is quick across the central basin but slow for the length of the lake. Driving is harder than in Austria, with narrow shore roads, summer jams and little parking, so a car-free stay near Bellagio or Varenna makes most sense.

Austria has more to take home. Salzburg's Getreidegasse and Innsbruck's old town sell dirndls, loden coats and felt hats, the valleys offer Tyrolean woodcarving, Wattens near Innsbruck has crystal, and there are Christmas markets in December, plus a few luxury boutiques in Kitzbühel and Lech.

Lake Como's one real speciality is silk, sold in Como town and at mill outlets on its outskirts, with pricey boutiques along Bellagio's lanes. For anything more ambitious, shoppers head to Milan.

Neither is cheap, but the Austrian Alps leave more room to save. Ski passes and the famous resorts are costly, but farm stays, guesthouses in quieter valleys, half-board and summer stays in Carinthia bring costs down noticeably.

On Lake Como, the central lake around Bellagio, Tremezzo and Cernobbio is expensive in summer, with restaurants charging for the view and boat taxis adding up. Savings come from staying in Como town or Lecco, camping on the upper lake or travelling in spring or autumn.

The gap here is wide. The Salzburg Festival and the opera on Bregenz's floating stage make the Austrian summer one of the great classical-music seasons, and the Schubertiade, Erl and Salzburg's Mozart Week spread music through the rest of the year.

Lake Como has Como's Teatro Sociale and summer concerts in villas and churches, which are pleasant but not a reason to travel. For a serious night of opera, visitors go to Milan.

For rest, Austria is the stronger choice. It has thermal towns such as Bad Gastein and Bad Hofgastein, outdoor pools at the Aqua Dome facing the Ötztal peaks, and a sauna tradition taken seriously in hotels in nearly every valley.

Lake Como relaxes you through its pace: garden strolls, ferry rides and quiet evenings, with serious spas in the grand villa hotels near Cernobbio and Tremezzo. It has no thermal baths or public bathing culture of its own.