Bologna or Innsbruck?

Neither city is a place to swim. Bologna has the more practical option, though: Rimini is about an hour away by train, and the Adriatic there is warm and shallow in August, even if the shore is a long line of rented sunbeds and organised lidos.

Innsbruck has lakes, not a coast. The small Lanser See and Natterer See on the plateaus warm up enough for a summer afternoon, and the Achensee is beautiful but too cold for most people. The season is short.

Bologna is one of Italy's great places to eat, and it leaves Innsbruck far behind. The menu is tagliatelle al ragù, tortellini in brodo and lasagne verdi in family trattorias, fresh pasta rolled in shop windows, and the Quadrilatero's delicatessens and the Mercato delle Erbe for browsing. Parma ham and Parmigiano come from towns less than an hour away. Its one weakness is a lack of variety beyond Emilian cooking.

Innsbruck offers filling Tyrolean food such as Gröstl, Kaspressknödel and Kaiserschmarrn, and these taste best at a mountain hut after a hike. The town has coffee houses and a few fine-dining places, but there is no market culture or street food, and the restaurants by the Golden Roof mostly serve tour groups.

Bologna has more to see, and most of it is the city itself: a large red-brick medieval centre, nearly 40km of porticoes, the Two Towers, San Petronio and the seven churches of Santo Stefano. Europe's oldest university adds the Archiginnasio and its wooden anatomical theatre, and the Pinacoteca covers Bolognese painting.

Innsbruck's Habsburg heritage is more compact. The Golden Roof, the Hofburg and the Hofkirche, with Maximilian's ring of bronze figures, all stand within a few streets, and Ambras Castle's cabinet of curiosities justifies the trip to the edge of town. It makes a rewarding two days, but there is less of it.

Bologna's student population gives it the busier nights. Crowds stand outside cheap bars around Piazza Verdi and Via Petroni, the taverns along Via del Pratello stay open late, and the Quadrilatero runs from aperitivo to wine bars. The one exception is August, when the students leave and the city goes quiet.

Innsbruck's scene is small and friendly. It centres on the bars and little clubs in the brick arches under the railway viaduct, which are busiest at weekends. In winter much of the partying moves out to après-ski in the resorts.

Innsbruck is one of the few cities with high Alpine terrain right on its doorstep. The Nordkette cable cars start near the old town, the Karwendel nature park lies behind the ridge, and the Patscherkofel and the Stubai and Wipp valleys add glaciers and summits across the valley. You can ski for most of the year on the Stubai Glacier, and summer brings hut-to-hut hiking, via ferratas, mountain biking and rafting.

Bologna's countryside is gentler. There is the arcaded climb to San Luca, the Colli Bolognesi, the gypsum caves of the Parco dei Gessi and the Via degli Dei trail to Florence, with modest skiing at Corno alle Scale about an hour and a half away.

Both cities are well placed for day trips, but Bologna's rail junction is hard to beat. Florence is barely half an hour away, Ferrara, Ravenna, Modena and Parma are all close, and Venice, Verona and Padua take about an hour and a half. That is a run of famous Italian cities you can see without changing hotels.

Innsbruck's trips cover more countries. Hall in Tirol and Rattenberg are in the valley, Munich and Salzburg are just under two hours away, and Bolzano and Merano lie over the Brenner. With a car you can also reach Neuschwanstein.

Innsbruck works better with children because the outdoors is so easy to reach. The Alpenzoo, with its ibex, bears and wolves, is on the funicular line, and the mountains add adventure trails, playgrounds by the huts, plateau lakes for swimming and ski schools in winter. Rainy days still need some planning.

Bologna is pleasant for families in a quieter way. The centre is flat, largely car-free and shaded by porticoes, and pasta and gelato make meals easy. The sights are mostly aimed at adults, though, so families tend to head out to Mirabilandia or the beach at Rimini, and the summer heat can wear small children out.

Both cities are easy without a car, but in different ways. In Bologna you walk nearly everywhere. The flat medieval centre is mostly closed to traffic, the porticoes keep you out of sun and rain, and buses fill the gaps since there is no metro. Its real advantage is the station on the edge of the old town.

Innsbruck has trams as well as buses, and they reach Igls and the Stubai valley. Its standout is the funicular from the old town, which links to the Nordkette cable cars, with ski buses taking over in winter. A car only helps for the remoter valleys and lakes.

Bologna offers more, though most of what people buy is food. Mortadella, aged Parmigiano and balsamic vinegar from the Quadrilatero fill suitcases, Via Farini and the Galleria Cavour have a small cluster of luxury fashion, and the university quarter has bookshops and vintage stores.

Innsbruck is narrower but has its own specialities: loden jackets, dirndls, woodcarving, Speck and schnapps, and some excellent outdoor and ski shops. There is no fashion district.

Bologna is the easier of the two on the budget, mostly because eating out is good value. Trattorias, aperitivo with food included and local wine by the glass all cost less than you would expect, and most churches and squares are free. Hotel rooms are the expensive part, especially during the big trade fairs.

Innsbruck adds an Alpine resort premium on top of normal Western European prices, especially in ski season and at Christmas. The inns are not cheap, and cable car tickets soon add up on an active trip, though city cards that bundle lifts and transport help.

Bologna has the deeper musical tradition. The historic Teatro Comunale stages opera, ballet and concerts, the city is a UNESCO City of Music, basement jazz clubs play most nights, and in summer there are concerts and films in Piazza Maggiore.

Innsbruck's programme is solid for a regional city. The Landestheater and the Tyrolean Symphony Orchestra provide the season, and its standout is the summer Festival of Early Music in settings like Ambras Castle's Spanish Hall. Folk evenings with yodelling and brass give it a local flavour.

Neither city is a spa destination, and they relax you in different ways. Near Bologna there are real thermal springs at Castel San Pietro Terme and in the green valley at Porretta Terme. In town, though, rest mostly means a long lunch, and the university quarter and the summer heat work against it.

Innsbruck is calmer. Its wellness is Alpine: hotel saunas with mountain views in Igls and the plateau villages, quiet walks, and the large thermal complexes of the Ötztal and Zillertal about an hour away.