Cortina d'Ampezzo or Lucca?

Cortina has no beach at all. The Adriatic is over two hours away, and its pretty lakes such as Ghedina are for walking round, not swimming, so a hotel pool is the realistic option.

Lucca, though inland, has the Versilia coast a short train ride away. Long, gently shelving sands run from Viareggio to Forte dei Marmi, with tidy rows of beach-club umbrellas, while the pine-backed dunes of the Lecciona are wilder. It makes a natural afternoon after a morning in town.

Lucca eats better day to day. Spelt soup from the Garfagnana, tordelli in ragù, cecina from bakery counters and buccellato come from family trattorias at prices that feel fair for Tuscany, with Montecarlo wines and local olive oil alongside.

Cortina's cooking has its own Ampezzan character, with beetroot casunziei and polenta with game, and its best meals are on rifugio terraces among the peaks. In the valley the choice is small and almost nothing is cheap. Neither town has much international cooking.

Here Lucca is far ahead. Its complete Renaissance walls enclose a medieval town of towers and Romanesque façades, from the carved arcades of San Michele in Foro to San Frediano's golden mosaic, plus the oval Piazza dell'Anfiteatro and the oak-crowned Torre Guinigi.

Cortina's centre is pleasant, with its basilica bell tower, painted houses and the 1956 Olympic ice stadium, and the Rimoldi art collection will fill a rainy afternoon. Its most moving history is the First World War front on Lagazuoi and the Cinque Torri, which is a mountain outing rather than a sight in town.

Neither town is built for late nights, but the evenings feel different. Cortina's are about après-ski and a stroll on the Corso Italia, with a few smart bars and a club staying open late only in the peak winter weeks.

Lucca's evenings are an aperitivo in Piazza San Michele, dinner and a walk on the walls, with some student pubs. In summer, dancing means a late trip to the Versilia beach discos.

Cortina's setting is among the finest anywhere. The pale Dolomites ring the valley, the Fanes-Sennes-Braies park begins at its edge, and lifts lead straight to ski runs, via ferrata and the Alta Via 1. Nothing near Lucca matches it.

Lucca's outdoors is gentler: the tree-lined walls, Serchio cycle paths and olive-clad hills. For real mountains, the marble-scarred Apuan Alps are about an hour north, and Lake Massaciuccoli adds birdwatching.

Lucca is a superb base. Pisa is half an hour by train and Florence little more than an hour, with Pistoia and Montecatini on the same line. The Marlia and Torrigiani villas, Collodi, Pietrasanta and Carrara are close, and the Cinque Terre is possible with an early start.

Cortina's outings are mostly mountain days. South Tyrol's San Candido, Brunico and Bolzano with its Iceman are pleasant, but Venice is a long coach ride each way.

Lucca is slightly easier with children. Riding a family quadricycle round the walls, climbing to the trees on the Torre Guinigi, Pinocchio Park at Collodi and the nearby beaches make the days easy to fill.

Cortina suits families who ski or hike, with ski schools at Socrepes, public skating and gentle trails to huts. A wet day with little ones is harder there, and the bills grow quickly.

Lucca is far easier to reach and to get around than Cortina, and the gap shows from the day you arrive. Cortina has had no railway since 1964, so the journey in is by coach or by road. Its small centre takes minutes to cross on foot, but buses up to Misurina and the Tre Cime are too infrequent to plan a day around, and for the wider Dolomites a car is close to essential.

In Lucca the train pulls in just below the southern walls, with frequent links to Pisa, Florence and Viareggio for day trips. Inside the walls, the flat, largely car-free streets are covered on foot or by bike. Only the villas and the Garfagnana make a car worth having.

The two are evenly matched but cater to different shoppers. Cortina's Corso Italia sells luxury fashion, furs and upmarket ski wear, anchored by the old Cooperativa department store.

Lucca's Via Fillungo is plainer, with Liberty-era shopfronts and delicatessens selling farro and buccellato. Its real draw is the monthly antiques market around the cathedral.

Lucca is much kinder to the wallet. Trattoria meals and regional trains are fairly priced, the walls and many churches are free, and staying just outside the walls keeps rooms reasonable.

Cortina is among Italy's most expensive resorts, with costly hotels and restaurants in the peak seasons and lift passes and hire on top. Rifugio meals and the quieter June and late-September weeks soften the cost a little, and many budget travellers sleep in cheaper valleys nearby.

Lucca has a real musical life, built around Puccini. Church recitals of his arias run through most of the year, the Teatro del Giglio holds an opera and theatre season, and summer brings the Lucca Summer Festival and open-air opera by the lake at Torre del Lago.

Cortina has no theatre or regular venue. Its summer chamber concerts, some held in mountain settings, are pleasant but occasional.

Neither town has spa baths of its own, so the difference is in style. Cortina's wellness is inside its hotels, with Alpine saunas, hay baths and indoor pools after a day outdoors, though the peak weeks bring traffic and crowds.

Lucca relaxes through its traffic-free streets and evening walks on the walls. For a proper soak there are Montecatini Terme, the cave pools at Monsummano and the steam grottoes of Bagni di Lucca, all an easy trip away.