Chamonix or Pisa?

In Chamonix, swimming means a mountain lake or the town pool. Lac de Passy, lower down the valley, is warm enough in July and August, and Lake Annecy makes a summer day out.

Pisa has the open sea about 12km from the centre. There are long sandy beaches backed by pine woods at Tirrenia and Calambrone, and the shallow water reaches about 24°C in high summer. Neither is a beach destination, but from Pisa an afternoon on the sand is an easy add-on, while from Chamonix a swim is a small expedition.

Chamonix feeds you well after a day on the hills. Fondue, raclette and tartiflette made with Alpine cheeses are served on terraces facing the glaciers. But the menus repeat from one place to the next, and many restaurants close between seasons.

Pisa's cooking is plain Tuscan food with more variety: cecina hot from wood ovens, ribollita, game and salt cod. The best of it is in the trattorias and wine bars around Piazza delle Vettovaglie, where students keep the cooking honest. Neither town is a place for serious dining, but Pisa is the easier one to eat well in every night for a week.

Chamonix's heritage is the story of alpinism. The Musée Alpin, the statues of the first Mont Blanc climbers and the climbers' cemetery tell it, and half a day covers the lot.

Pisa has one of Italy's great monumental ensembles in the cathedral, baptistery, Leaning Tower and Camposanto standing together on their lawn. Beyond it, Piazza dei Cavalieri, Santa Maria della Spina on the river and the Museo Nazionale di San Matteo reward a second day. For anyone who travels to look at buildings and art, Pisa offers far more.

The two are about level, but the nights are very different. Chamonix's is a ski-resort scene: après-ski from late afternoon, then a lane of pubs and two or three small clubs, loud and mostly English-speaking. Pisa's evenings belong to students drinking outside small bars in the squares by the old market, with aperitivo along Borgo Stretto and beach bars in summer. If you want to dance, go to Chamonix in winter. If you want a late glass of wine in a piazza, go to Pisa during term.

Chamonix sits under the highest mountain in Western Europe, with glaciers and granite needles almost 4km above the valley floor. Lifts take you straight into high-mountain terrain, and in summer there is serious climbing, hiking and paragliding, with steep skiing in winter.

Pisa's outdoors is lowland and coastal. The San Rossore park has pine forest, wetland and dunes to explore by bike or on horseback, and the Monte Pisano has olive-terrace walks. The Apuan Alps and the Cinque Terre paths are within reach, but for scale and drama nothing in Tuscany comes close to Chamonix.

Chamonix's outings come from its position near three borders. Courmayeur and Roman Aosta are through the tunnel, while Annecy and Geneva are each a little over an hour away. After those, mountain roads slow you down and most other destinations are more resorts.

Pisa is one of the best touring bases in Italy. Florence is an hour away by train, Lucca under half an hour, and the Cinque Terre a little over an hour. Volterra, San Gimignano and Siena are within driving range, so you could fill a week of day trips without repeating yourself.

Chamonix suits outdoor families a little better. It has nursery slopes and sledging in winter, and in summer the Merlet animal park, a summer luge, treetop courses and the little red train to the Mer de Glace. The catch is altitude, since the highest cable cars are no place for toddlers, and on wet days there is little to fall back on.

Pisa is easy to manage with children but offers less that is made for them. They get the tower photo, the lawn to run on, and shallow sandy beaches at Tirrenia. Younger children cannot climb the tower, and midsummer heat needs planning around.

Both centres are small and flat enough to walk. Chamonix has free valley buses and the Mont Blanc Express with the guest card, but winter means crowded ski buses, and most visitors arrive by shuttle from Geneva.

Pisa has the edge. Its airport is linked to the station by a short shuttle train, and that station is a rail hub for western Tuscany, so day trips need no car.

Pisa has more ordinary shopping, with chains along Corso Italia, smarter shoes and clothes under the arcades of Borgo Stretto, and a monthly antiques market by the river. Chamonix wins for one thing only: technical climbing and ski gear from long-established specialist shops, which serious mountain people save their big purchases for. For fashion, both send you elsewhere, to Florence and Lucca or to Geneva and Annecy.

Chamonix is much the dearer of the two. Rooms and chalets are expensive all year and most of all at Christmas, in February and in July and August. Meals are priced like a famous resort. The biggest costs come from going up the mountain: lift passes, the big cable cars, a guide for a glacier day and a paragliding flight. Late spring and autumn take the edge off, although some lifts and businesses shut then, and a walk that starts from the valley floor costs nothing.

In Pisa the daily costs are lower all round. A central room is mid-range, a trattoria dinner is ordinary money, and you walk everywhere. Most of what you spend goes on a few things: the ticket to climb the Leaning Tower, a drink at the cafés facing the cathedral lawn, and a lounger and umbrella at Tirrenia in July and August. A week here costs far less than a week under Mont Blanc.

Chamonix has no theatre or concert season. Its live culture is a summer jazz festival with some sets played high in the mountains, plus mountain film evenings. Pisa has the Teatro Verdi, a 19th-century horseshoe opera house with opera, ballet and symphonic concerts from autumn to spring, plus chamber music from the university. It is modest, but it is a real season, which Chamonix lacks.

Chamonix does recovery better. A large spa with hot outdoor pools faces the glaciers, many chalets have their own saunas, and the warm springs of Saint-Gervais are down the valley. The town itself is busy and starts early.

Pisa's calm comes from its small scale and long lunches. The old thermal baths of San Giuliano Terme and Casciana Terme are nearby, but there is less to soak in after a day out.