Cortina d'Ampezzo or Nice?

There is no real contest. Cortina sits in a high valley over two hours from the Adriatic, and its alpine lakes such as Ghedina stay cold all summer, so swimming mostly means a hotel pool.

Nice has a 7km pebble shore right below the Promenade des Anglais, with clear water warm enough from June into October. Loungers or water shoes help on the stones, and for sand you can take a short train to Villefranche or Antibes.

Nice eats better and more cheaply. Its own Niçois cooking, from socca baked in wood ovens to pissaladière and stuffed vegetables, runs from the Cours Saleya market to modest family places in Vieux Nice, with the Bellet vineyards above the city.

Cortina's Ampezzan food, such as beetroot casunziei and polenta with game, is good and at its best on a rifugio terrace among the peaks. But the choice in the valley is narrow, with almost no street food and little that is cheap.

Nice offers far more to see. Its Italianate old town, the Belle Époque villas of Cimiez, the Russian Orthodox Cathedral and an art line-up of Matisse, Chagall and Yves Klein can fill two or three days.

Cortina's centre, with its basilica bell tower, painted houses and 1956 Olympic ice stadium, plus the Rimoldi art collection, is enough for a rainy afternoon. Its most memorable history, the First World War tunnels on Lagazuoi, needs a full mountain day to reach.

Neither is a party town, but Nice has a proper evening scene. The lanes of Vieux Nice fill with wine bars, pubs and cocktail bars, and in summer the beach clubs keep the promenade busy late. Cortina's evenings mean après-ski, a stroll along the Corso Italia and a long dinner, with a few smart late bars only in the peak winter weeks.

Both have serious outdoors, but Cortina is in another league. The Tofane, Cristallo and Cinque Torri ring the town, the Tre Cime and Lago di Misurina are under an hour away, and summer and winter alike revolve around the peaks, from hut-to-hut hiking to skiing the Sella Ronda.

Nice's strength is variety rather than drama: coastal paths on Cap Ferrat, cycling on the corniches, sailing and diving, the Esterel's red rocks, and the Mercantour about two hours inland. You can ski and see the sea on the same day, but the mountains are an outing, not the view from your window.

Nice is one of the best bases for day trips anywhere on this coast. Monaco, Menton, Èze, Antibes, Cannes and Saint-Paul-de-Vence are mostly under an hour by train or bus, and the Italian Riviera at Sanremo is easy too.

From Cortina, most outings head into the mountains. South Tyrol towns such as San Candido and Brunico are pleasant, Bolzano and its Iceman are about two hours by road, and Venice is a long day by coach.

Nice has a slight edge, mainly because it offers more beyond one activity. The Promenade du Paillon's playgrounds and water jets, Parc Phoenix and Monaco's Oceanographic Museum keep children busy, though the pebbles and the summer heat are drawbacks.

Cortina works well for families who ski or hike, with ski schools, the beginner slopes at Socrepes, public skating and gentle walks to huts. Rainy days are harder to fill, and costs climb quickly.

Nice is much easier without a car. The centre is a flat half-hour walk end to end, a tram runs from the airport to the port, and regional trains cover the coast.

Cortina's centre is tiny and walkable, and ski buses serve the slopes in winter. But there has been no railway since 1964, arrival means a coach from Venice or a long drive, and buses to the passes are limited, so many visitors hire a car.

Nice gives you more range: chain stores on Avenue Jean Médecin, luxury labels around rue Paradis, Provençal soaps and olive oil in Vieux Nice, and the Monday antiques market on the Cours Saleya. Cortina packs luxury fashion, furriers and ski wear into the one short Corso Italia, anchored by the Cooperativa di Cortina, polished but quickly done.

Neither is cheap, but Nice is the more manageable of the two. Cheap trams and trains make day trips affordable, municipal museums cost little, and socca and market picnics keep meals down, especially in spring and late autumn.

Cortina is among the most expensive places to stay in Italy, with lift passes and equipment hire added to luxury-resort hotel prices. Rifugio meals and early summer rates help, but budget travellers often sleep in cheaper valleys and drive in.

Nice has an actual season. The nineteenth-century Opéra de Nice stages opera, ballet and orchestral concerts, the Théâtre National puts on drama, and July brings the long-running jazz festival, with Carnival in February. Cortina has no theatre or regular venue, only summer chamber music festivals and the odd concert at New Year.

The two are about level, but they relax you in different ways. In Cortina it happens in the hotel spas, with saunas, hay baths and indoor pools after a day outdoors, and in the clear-air calm of June and September.

Nice offers thalassotherapy along the coast and a slow Riviera routine of an early swim, a long lunch and an evening walk by the bay. Both lose that calm in their peak weeks.