Chamonix or Cortina d'Ampezzo?

Neither of these is a swimming destination, but Chamonix at least gives you somewhere to bathe in summer. Lac de Passy, lower down the Arve valley, has a sandy strip and warms up enough for a swim in July and August. The clear water of Lake Annecy makes a good day out about an hour away, and the town pool has an outdoor basin in summer.

Cortina's lakes, Ghedina and Pianozes, are fed by snowmelt and stay cold even in August, so they're better for walking round than swimming in. The Adriatic is more than two hours' drive away, so in practice swimming means a hotel pool.

Both towns serve hearty mountain food at a similar standard, and the best meals in each are often on a hut terrace. The difference is in the cooking. Chamonix is all Savoyard cheese: Reblochon in tartiflette, Beaufort in fondue, and diots sausages with Savoie whites. Its international crowd also supports burger and pizza places alongside the bistros.

Cortina cooks Ampezzan food with a Venetian accent, such as beetroot-filled casunziei with poppy seeds, polenta with game, and barley soup. It's served in stube-style dining rooms with Veneto and South Tyrolean wines. Cortina has less variety and fewer cheap options, while Chamonix's menus can feel repetitive and many places close outside the main seasons.

Neither town is a place for sightseeing, and each takes about an afternoon. Chamonix's story is mountaineering. Alpinism began here with the first ascent of Mont Blanc in 1786, and the Musée Alpin, the guides' quarter and the climbers' cemetery all tell that story.

Cortina has a little more art and history. The Rimoldi collection of twentieth-century Italian art and the 1956 Olympic ice stadium are the highlights in town. Its most memorable heritage is up on Lagazuoi and the Cinque Torri, where First World War tunnels and trenches are preserved along the old front line.

Chamonix is clearly the place for going out. Après-ski at the foot of the slopes leads on to a row of pubs in a narrow old-town lane, where guides, seasonal workers and visitors stay late. On busy nights a couple of small clubs keep going into the early hours, though summer is quieter and the shoulder seasons are very quiet.

Cortina's evenings are about being seen rather than staying out late. You'll find drinks after the lifts close, a stroll along the Corso Italia and a long dinner. Only in the peak winter weeks do a few smart bars and a club stay open late for a well-dressed Italian crowd.

This is the one category where both towns are among the best in the world, and the difference is in the landscape itself. Chamonix lies beneath ice and granite. Glaciers hang above the valley, the Aiguille du Midi climbs to 3,842m, and the Mer de Glace and the Vallée Blanche descent are on the doorstep. It's also a historic base for serious mountaineering with a guide.

Cortina is surrounded by the pale, jagged Dolomites: the Tofane, Cristallo and the Cinque Torri, with the Tre Cime and Lago di Misurina within an hour. Its strengths are long hut-to-hut trails such as the Alta Via 1, some of the oldest via ferrata routes in the Alps, and miles of connected pistes in the Dolomiti Superski area.

Chamonix's position near three countries gives it the wider choice. Through the Mont Blanc Tunnel are Courmayeur and the Roman town of Aosta. Annecy's canals and Geneva's lakefront are each about an hour away by car, and the Mont Blanc Express runs over to Martigny in Switzerland.

From Cortina, most outings head deeper into the mountains. The best towns are in South Tyrol, such as San Candido, Brunico, and Bolzano with its Iceman, about two hours away. Venice is possible, but at two and a half hours each way by coach it makes a long day.

Both towns suit outdoor families, but Chamonix has more built for children. There's the Merlet park in Les Houches, where ibex and marmots roam a hillside facing Mont Blanc, as well as a summer luge, treetop courses and the rack railway to the Mer de Glace. Its drawbacks are the highest cable cars, which climb too fast for small children, and steep terrain that suits teenagers better.

Cortina offers ski schools at Socrepes, public skating at the Olympic stadium, gentle trails to huts with meadows, and a rope park in the forest. Beyond that it has no attractions aimed at children, so a rainy day with young ones can drag.

Chamonix is much easier to get to and to get around. Shuttles run from Geneva airport, and buses and the Mont Blanc Express link the valley from Les Houches to Vallorcine. They're free with a guest card, so you can easily manage without a car. Winter ski buses get packed, though.

Cortina's centre is just as walkable, but it has had no railway since 1964. You arrive by coach from Venice or after a long drive, and buses to the passes and the Tre Cime run on a limited service. Most visitors who want to explore the wider Dolomites end up hiring a car.

Cortina offers more for anyone who shops for style. The Corso Italia is a polished strip of luxury fashion, jewellers and furriers, anchored by the multi-storey Cooperativa. There are also wood carving and filigree shops for local crafts.

Chamonix's strength is technical gear. Its climbing and ski shops, some run by the same families for generations, are worth saving a big equipment purchase for. Beyond that you'll find cheeses, génépi and rock crystals, and for fashion you'd go to Geneva or Annecy.

Both towns are expensive, but Chamonix is slightly easier on a budget. Valley transport is free with the guest card, apartments and supermarkets make self-catering easy, and many trails start on the valley floor without a lift ticket.

Cortina charges luxury-resort prices in winter and August, and its restaurants are priced to match. Meals at the rifugi are the best value for money, and late September is cheaper. Even so, many budget travellers stay in a cheaper valley nearby and drive in.

Neither town has a theatre or concert season, so live performance is mostly a summer event in both. Chamonix leans towards jazz, with a long-running festival that puts some sets high in the mountains, and mountain film evenings fill the rest of the year. Cortina hosts chamber and classical festivals in churches and halls, plus a programme of summer talks. For opera or an orchestra, Chamonix at least has Geneva within reach.

Chamonix has the edge, mainly because of public bathing. Its large day spa has hot outdoor pools and saunas facing the glaciers, which is perfect after a day's skiing. Saint-Gervais, down the valley, has warm springs in a wooded gorge with a thermal tradition dating back two centuries.

Cortina has no thermal springs, so relaxing here means hotel spas with hay baths and indoor pools. Its other appeal is calm: an afternoon on a hut terrace in June or September. Both towns feel crowded in their peak weeks.