Chamonix or Como?

Neither place is a swimming destination, but Como makes it easier to get in the water. In summer you can swim at lidos with lawns and pontoons, such as the one beside Villa Olmo, or take the ferry to the pebbly jetties at Moltrasio and the Tremezzina, where the lake is cleaner than at the city end.

In Chamonix the nearest bathing spot is Lac de Passy, down the valley, or a drive of over an hour to Lake Annecy. In town there is only the outdoor municipal pool, so a swim is a planned outing rather than something you do on the spur of the moment.

The food is about equally good in both, but the cooking is different. Chamonix serves Savoyard cheese dishes such as fondue, raclette and tartiflette, best eaten on a refuge terrace facing the glaciers, and its cheese shops and bakeries make a good picnic for the trail.

Como's table is Lombard lake food: risotto with perch, sun-dried shad and polenta from the valleys, with small plates at aperitivo time in the squares by the cathedral. Each place has its weak spot. In Chamonix the resort menus tend to look alike and many kitchens close out of season. In Como the lakefront terraces charge for the view, and the best meals are usually up the lake.

Chamonix's sights all deal with one subject, the birth of alpinism, from the first ascent of Mont Blanc in 1786 to the first Winter Olympics in 1924. The Musée Alpin in its former palace hotel, the statues of the pioneers, the old guides' quarter and the climbers' cemetery tell that story well. You can see them all in a morning, though, and after that the mountains themselves are the sight.

Como has much more to see, and better. The marble cathedral, Gothic and Renaissance with a Baroque dome on top, stands at the heart of the walled old town near the Romanesque San Fedele, and Sant'Abbondio is a second fine example of the Lombard masons' work. Directly behind the cathedral is Terragni's Casa del Fascio, which architects travel to study. Add the Tempio Voltiano on the lakefront and the silk museum, which tells how the city grew rich, and you have a full day of good sightseeing.

Chamonix has more going on after dark. In winter, après-ski at the foot of the slopes turns into a loud evening in the pubs along a narrow old-town lane, and a couple of small clubs stay open into the early hours. The crowd is mostly young and English-speaking, and summer and the shoulder seasons are much quieter.

Como's evenings are calmer and more grown-up: dinner, a glass in a wine bar near Piazza San Fedele, then a walk along the lakefront. Little stays open late, and locals who want a big night take the train to Milan.

Both places have beautiful surroundings, but Chamonix is on another scale. The Mont Blanc massif rises almost 4km above the valley floor, and the Aiguille du Midi cable car takes you up to 3,842m, among hanging glaciers and granite spires. In winter there is steep skiing and ski touring, and in summer there is guided mountaineering, via ferrata and paragliding.

Como's landscape is lake and wooded ridge. You take the funicular to Brunate and walk to the Volta lighthouse, follow the Greenway between villages, paddle or sail on the lake, or cycle up to the Madonna del Ghisallo chapel. It suits walkers and cyclists rather than climbers and skiers.

Como is the better base for excursions. Ferries and hydrofoils go to Bellagio, Varenna and the gardens of Villa Carlotta and Villa del Balbianello. By train, Milan is about forty minutes away and Lugano about half an hour, and Bergamo's upper town and the Borromean Islands are within a day.

From Chamonix, the excursions cross borders: Courmayeur and Roman Aosta through the tunnel, Annecy and Geneva by road, and Martigny by the Mont Blanc Express. Once you have done those, most places in reach are other ski resorts, and the mountain roads make journeys long.

Chamonix has more for children to do, as long as the family likes being outdoors. There are ski schools and sledging in winter, and in summer the luge, treetop courses, the marmots and ibex of the Merlet park, and the rack railway to the Mer de Glace. The highest cable cars are not suitable for toddlers, though, and wet days are hard to fill.

Como is calm and pushchair-friendly, with boat rides, the funicular and a paddle at a lido. Beyond that, the villas and churches are aimed at adults, so it suits an unhurried stay with older or easy-going children.

Both have small, flat centres you can walk. Chamonix's guest card gives free travel on the valley buses and the Mont Blanc Express, but in winter the ski buses are packed and evening services are thin.

Como's strength is its rail links, with two stations for Milan and a line north to Lugano. Getting up the lake is the slow part, because the ferries take their time and the narrow shore roads clog in summer.

Como has more to buy, and silk is its speciality: scarves, ties and fabric from old-town specialists and mill outlets on the edge of the city, with a short run of Italian boutiques on Via Vittorio Emanuele II.

Chamonix's shops are mainly for technical gear. Its long-established climbing and ski shops are worth visiting if you need serious equipment, and the food shops sell génépi and Savoyard cheeses. For fashion, people from either place head to a bigger city, Geneva from Chamonix and Milan from Como.

Both are expensive, but Chamonix costs more. Lift passes, the big cable cars, guides and paragliding flights add up quickly on top of resort-priced rooms, especially in the school-vacation weeks. Free valley transport, self-catering and trails that start without a lift help to bring the cost down.

In Como, you pay most for a lakeside hotel in July or August. Staying in the old town or back from the water costs less, the trattorias in the hills are fairly priced, and trains and ferries are cheap enough to make excursions affordable.

Como has a proper stage, Chamonix does not. The Teatro Sociale, an early nineteenth-century opera house with tiers of boxes, runs a season of opera, ballet, concerts and theatre, which moves to the open-air Arena in summer. There are also summer chamber concerts in churches and lakeside villas, and La Scala is a short train ride away.

Chamonix's best offer is its summer jazz festival, with some sets played high in the mountains. For the rest of the year there are church concerts and mountain film evenings, and for opera you have to go to Geneva.

Chamonix has slightly more for relaxing after exertion. Its large day spa has hot outdoor pools looking up at the glaciers, and Saint-Gervais, down the valley, has thermal springs in a wooded gorge with a long history. The town itself is busy, though, with early starts and climbers everywhere.

Como has no thermal tradition, and its spas are mostly in the grand villa hotels. What it offers instead is calm: still water, gardens running down to the shore and slow ferry rides, best enjoyed in spring or autumn.