Cortina d'Ampezzo or Ljubljana?

Neither city is a place to swim, but Ljubljana has more options. Locals swim in the Sava in high summer, Lake Bled warms up nicely about an hour away, and the Adriatic at Piran is an easy day out, though the shore there is concrete and pebble rather than sand.

In Cortina, Lago Ghedina and Pianozes are fed by snowmelt and stay cold. The sea is more than two hours away, so most swimming happens in a hotel pool.

Ljubljana has the more varied table. The Central Market under Plečnik's colonnades, a summer street-food gathering, filling dishes like štruklji and jota at gostilna inns, and orange wines from the west poured by the river give you a week of eating.

Cortina has a narrower range and is pricier, with almost nothing international or cheap. Its best meal is distinctive, though: casunziei or polenta with game on a rifugio terrace high among the peaks.

Ljubljana gives you a whole city to look at. Plečnik's Triple Bridge, embankments and library, the baroque and Secession old town and the castle hill fill two or three days, even though no single museum is of international rank.

Cortina's sights fit into an afternoon: the basilica and bell tower, the 1956 Olympic ice stadium and the Rimoldi art collection. Its most striking history is the First World War front line on Lagazuoi and the Cinque Torri, which takes a day in the mountains to reach.

Evenings in Cortina follow the resort's day. Drinks come as the lifts close, then 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. In summer the town is asleep by late evening.

Once dinner is over, Ljubljana gives you more to do. On warm nights bars and terraces fill both banks of the Ljubljanica, and students keep the city livelier during term. At weekends the small, scruffy clubs of Metelkova, in the old army barracks, stay open late. Even so, it suits a drink by the river better than a big night out.

Cortina sits inside one of the world's great mountain settings. The pale Dolomites ring the town, lifts go straight up to the peaks, and the Alta Via 1, early via ferrata routes and the Fanes-Sennes-Braies park start from the valley. In winter the huge Dolomiti Superski area is on the doorstep.

Ljubljana has more variety but less drama on its doorstep. Tivoli Park and Šmarna Gora are in town, the Julian Alps and the Soča are about an hour away, and the Postojna and Škocjan caves add karst landscape that Cortina does not have.

Ljubljana is the better base for touring. From the middle of Slovenia you can reach Bled, painted Radovljica, Predjama Castle in its cliff, Idrija, Piran and the Brda wine villages, and Trieste and Zagreb are each about two hours away.

From Cortina, most outings go into the mountains. The best towns are in South Tyrol, such as San Candido, Brunico and Bolzano with the Iceman. Venice makes a long day by coach.

Both cities suit families about equally well, in very different ways. Cortina works for children who ski or hike, with ski schools, beginner slopes at Socrepes, skating at the Olympic stadium and meadow walks to the huts, but rainy days drag and costs climb.

Ljubljana is easier day to day: a flat, car-free centre, the castle funicular, the dragons on the Dragon Bridge, a modest zoo and a puppet theatre that small children can follow without the language. Neither city has a theme park or aquarium.

Ljubljana is much easier. The old town, river, market and Tivoli are all a short walk apart, bike-share covers the flat districts, and intercity buses reach the rest of the country.

Cortina's centre is small enough to walk, and ski buses serve the slopes in winter. The railway closed in 1964, though, so you arrive by coach from Venice or by car. Buses to the passes and the Tre Cime are limited, so most visitors end up hiring a car.

Cortina has more to offer anyone who comes to shop. The Corso Italia is lined with luxury fashion, jewellers and high-end mountain wear, and the Cooperativa di Cortina, founded in 1893, sells everything from local food to outdoor gear. It is still only one street.

Ljubljana's shopping is about small, local things: honey, pumpkin-seed oil and sea salt at the market, Idrija lace, and the Sunday antiques market on the embankment. It has no luxury quarter.

This is where the two differ most sharply. Ljubljana is mid-priced for Europe, with cheap set lunches, fairly priced local wine and almost no transport costs. Only summer rooms in the old town are expensive.

Cortina is one of the costliest places to stay in Italy, and lift passes and equipment hire add to the bill. Rifugio meals and the quieter weeks of June and late September soften it a little.

With no theatre season and no regular venue, Cortina relies on its summer chamber and classical festivals. They hold concerts in churches and halls, sometimes out in the mountains, and there is the odd concert around New Year. For the rest of the year there is little to fill an evening.

In Ljubljana you can book an opera or a concert in most weeks of the year. The Slovenian National Opera and Ballet performs in its neo-Renaissance house, the Slovenian Philharmonic goes back to a music society founded in 1701, and Cankarjev dom brings in dance and visiting productions. In summer the Ljubljana Festival fills Plečnik's open-air Križanke courtyard. Most theatre is in Slovene, so visitors do better with music and dance.

Neither city has a bathing tradition of its own, and both are about equally restful. In Cortina, wellness happens inside the hotels, with Alpine spas, hay baths and indoor pools after a day outdoors, and the quiet weeks of June and September in the clear mountain air.

Ljubljana's calm comes from its green, car-free centre and long afternoons in riverside cafés. For proper mineral pools, Slovenia's thermal spa towns are within about an hour's drive.