Como or Innsbruck?

Como gives you a proper swimming culture, at least for one season. The lido beside Villa Olmo has decks and lawns, and ferries take you to small pebble strands and jetties further up the lake, where the water is cleaner than at the city end.

In Innsbruck a swim means a trip up to the Lanser See or the Natterer See, two shallow plateau ponds that warm up in midsummer, while the beautiful Achensee is too cold for most people. Neither has sand to speak of, but Como's lakeshore is the more natural place to spend a hot afternoon.

The two are much alike: both serve filling regional mountain food and neither is a big dining city. The difference lies in the ingredients. Como cooks from the lake, with perch risotto, missoltini and polenta, and the evening aperitivo with small plates is a strong point Innsbruck lacks.

Innsbruck's best meals are Gröstl, dumplings and Kaiserschmarrn at mountain huts reached by cable car, and coffee houses with strudel stand in for the aperitivo. Its student quarter adds a little more cheap international food than Como has.

Innsbruck has a little more to see and more reason to stay a second day. Its Habsburg past fills the arcaded old town with the Golden Roof, the Hofburg and the Hofkirche, where Maximilian I's tomb is ringed by giant bronze figures, and Ambras Castle on the outskirts adds a Renaissance cabinet of curiosities.

Como is smaller and mostly a day's sightseeing, but its highlights are first-rate: the marble cathedral, Romanesque San Fedele and Sant'Abbondio, and Terragni's Casa del Fascio, which draws architects in particular. The Volta museum and the silk museum tie the town to its own history.

Innsbruck has the better nights out, mostly because it has a university. The bars and small clubs in the brick arches under the railway viaduct stay open late at weekends, and in winter après-ski in the nearby resorts adds to the choice.

Como's evenings are an aperitivo, a long dinner, a few wine bars around Piazza Duomo and a walk along the lake. There is no club scene, and the locals take the train to Milan when they want a late night.

Both are outstanding, but Innsbruck is in another class for mountains. From the Nordkette you look out over the Karwendel nature park and across the valley to the Stubai glaciers, and the same slopes give you hut-to-hut hiking, paragliding, rafting and skiing almost all year round.

Como's scenery is softer: a deep glacial lake under wooded slopes, with ridge walks from Brunate, the Greenway between the villages and the road climb up to the Madonna del Ghisallo. Its strengths are on the water, with kayaking, sailing and seaplanes, which Innsbruck cannot match.

Como is the stronger base for excursions, because so much is close and the routes are lovely in themselves. A ferry ride brings you to Bellagio, Varenna and the gardens of Villa Carlotta and Balbianello. Milan's Last Supper is about forty minutes away by train, and Lugano, Bergamo and Lake Maggiore are all easy days out.

Innsbruck covers three countries, but the bigger names take longer to reach. Munich and Salzburg are each just under two hours by rail, and Neuschwanstein needs a car. Hall in Tirol, Rattenberg and Bolzano across the Brenner give it a good list nonetheless.

For children, the mountains do better than the lake. Como suits calmer families who are happy with ferry rides, the Brunate funicular, a summer lido and a stroll in the gardens of Villa Olmo. Beyond those, most of its sights are villas and churches that appeal more to parents than to children.

Around Innsbruck there is simply more to keep children busy. The Alpenzoo with its wolves and lynx is on the funicular line, the mountain huts have playgrounds, the plateau lakes are shallow enough for small swimmers, and in winter there are ski schools on gentle slopes nearby.

Innsbruck is the easier place to get around without a car. Trams run to Igls and the Stubai valley, ski buses run out to the slopes, and the mountain lifts start right in town.

Como's centre is just as walkable, and its rail links to Milan and Lugano are excellent. The lake is the slow part: ferries are lovely but unhurried, and summer traffic on the narrow shore roads makes driving to the villages a chore.

Neither city is a shopping destination, but each has one thing worth buying. In Como that is silk, scarves and ties sold in old-town shops and at mill outlets on the edge of the city, plus a short street of Italian shoe and clothing boutiques.

Innsbruck's speciality is practical: excellent outdoor and ski shops, loden jackets, dirndls, woodcarving and Speck. In both cities, keen fashion shoppers end up heading to a bigger city.

Innsbruck is the somewhat cheaper stay, though neither is a bargain. Its hotel prices peak in the ski season, guest cards that bundle lifts and transport soften the bill, and student cafés help on a tight budget, although cable car tickets add up fast.

Como's lakeside hotels and villa rentals cater to a luxury crowd, especially in July and August. Staying back from the water, eating in old-town trattorias and using the cheap trains and ferries makes a real difference there.

Evenings of music and theatre come round more often in Innsbruck. Como relies on the Teatro Sociale and its open-air Arena in summer, plus chamber concerts in Romanesque churches and lakeside villas, where the setting does much of the work. For anything bigger, La Scala in Milan is a train ride away.

Innsbruck's Landestheater stages opera, operetta and dance through the season, the Tyrolean Symphony Orchestra gives regular concerts, and the summer Festival of Early Music fills historic rooms such as the Spanish Hall at Ambras Castle. Folk evenings with yodelling and brass, and student bands, add some variety.

Here the two are level. Neither has thermal springs, and in both the spas are mostly in hotels. What differs is how you unwind. In Como you relax by the water, with garden terraces, slow ferry rides and quiet villages at dusk.

Innsbruck offers mountain air: a sauna with a view in Igls after a day on the trails, and the big thermal complexes of the Ötztal and the Zillertal about an hour away.