Cortina d'Ampezzo or Split?

There is no real contest here. In Cortina, swimming means a hotel pool or a brave plunge into snowmelt lakes such as Ghedina, and the Adriatic is more than two hours' drive away.

Split sits on that sea. Bačvice's shallow sandy bay is a short walk from the palace, and there are quieter pine-shaded coves around Marjan. Most of the shore is pebble or concrete and the beaches are full in high summer, but Brač and Hvar are a ferry ride away for longer beaches.

Split eats better and more widely. It has Dalmatian grilled fish, black risotto and peka from family konobas in Varoš, fish and green markets, and Plavac Mali or Pošip in the glass. Cortina's Ampezzan cooking, such as casunziei with poppy seeds or polenta with game, is satisfying mountain food, and lunch on a rifugio terrace is memorable in its own right.

The real difference is range and price. Cortina has a few costly restaurants in the valley and almost no street food. In Split, burek bakeries and the markets make cheap eating easy, even if the menus inside the palace walls lean towards visitors.

Split's centre is its main sight. Diocletian's Palace is a Roman complex that people still live in, with a cathedral inside the emperor's mausoleum and vaulted halls underneath, and the Meštrović Gallery is a short walk away on Marjan. Two days covers it, but those days are full.

Cortina's sights fill an afternoon: the basilica and its bell tower, the painted houses, the 1956 Olympic ice stadium and the Rimoldi art collection. Its most moving history is up on the mountains, in the First World War tunnels on Lagazuoi and the Cinque Torri.

Cortina's evenings usually end with dinner, while Split's summer nights carry on into the early hours. In Cortina the evening means après-ski when the lifts close, a stroll along the Corso Italia and a long meal. A few smart bars stay open late only in the peak winter weeks, and in most of summer the town is quiet by late evening.

In Split you can start with a drink on the Riva, move on to bars spilling into the palace alleys and finish at the clubs around Bačvice. From October to May that shrinks to a handful of bars and a glass of wine with locals.

Both have serious landscapes, but Cortina's is among the finest anywhere. Lifts rise from the town into the Dolomites, and the Tre Cime and Lago di Misurina are under an hour away. The same valley serves skiers in winter and climbers and long-distance hikers in summer.

Split's outdoors is gentler and more mixed. You can walk into Marjan's pine woods from the old town, hike the ridges of Mosor, raft the Cetina canyon at Omiš, see the waterfalls at Krka or kayak and sail among the islands. Its summer heat pushes the hiking into spring and autumn.

Split is much the better base. Trogir is half an hour away and Šibenik about an hour, Salona and Klis Fortress are closer still, and ferries put Hvar and Brač within easy reach.

From Cortina the best outings are into the mountains. The towns within range, such as San Candido, Brunico or Bolzano with its Iceman, are pleasant rather than essential. Venice is a long day by coach.

Both work for families in a similar outdoor way, and neither has a zoo or theme park. What differs is the activity. In Cortina that means ski schools at Socrepes, skating at the ice stadium and easy summer walks to huts with meadows. In Split it means paddling at Bačvice, shade on Marjan and a ferry ride to the islands.

Each has its weak spot. In Cortina, rainy days drag and costs add up fast. In Split, July and August bring heat and crowds.

Split is much easier both to reach and to travel out from. Cortina has no station, so getting there takes a long coach journey from Venice or a drive up into the mountains. Once you arrive, you can cross the small centre on foot in minutes, and in winter ski buses and lifts take you to the slopes. Roaming further is harder: buses to the passes, Misurina and the Tre Cime run on a thin timetable, so most people who want to see the wider Dolomites hire a car.

In Split, trains, intercity buses and island ferries all stop at the same harbour beside the old town. The palace, Varoš, the markets and Bačvice are all within a short walk of each other, so a car is only worth having for inland trips and trailheads. In summer, driving means slow traffic on the coast road and very little parking, and the steep, polished stone steps inside the palace are hard work with a pushchair.

Cortina is the better place to spend money, though the choice is narrow. The Corso Italia has luxury fashion, jewellers and upmarket ski wear, and the Cooperativa, founded in 1893, sells everything from local foods to outdoor gear.

Split's palace shops lean towards souvenirs, lavender and ties, with the mainstream chains on Marmontova. Its best browsing is at the Pazar market, where you can buy figs, honey, olive oil and local brandy to take home.

Cortina costs far more than Split at almost any time of year. Its hotels and restaurants charge luxury-resort prices in winter and August, lift passes and equipment hire add more, and budget visitors often sleep in cheaper valleys and drive in. Rifugio lunches and early-summer rates help only a little.

Split is expensive only in July and August, when rooms near the old town cost about what a large Western European city does. Bakeries, the market, buses and konobas away from the Riva stay fairly priced, and in spring, autumn and winter it is a modestly priced city.

Split has a real stage. The Croatian National Theatre puts on opera and ballet through its season, the Summer Festival stages open-air opera in the Peristyle, and klapa singers fill the domed vestibule of the palace with their harmonies.

Cortina has no theatre and no regular venue. It has only summer chamber and classical festivals in churches, halls and sometimes on the mountains, plus the odd concert around New Year. Outside summer both calendars thin out, and Cortina's has almost nothing left.

Neither has thermal baths, so pampering means a hotel spa in both. Cortina's are Alpine in style, with saunas, hay baths and indoor pools after a day on the slopes. Its other comfort is clear mountain air and an unhurried afternoon on a hut terrace in June or September.

Split offers fjaka instead, the local habit of long coffees on the Riva and empty streets in the afternoon heat. The calmest places are Marjan's pine woods or the islands. Both lose their calm in the peak weeks, Cortina to traffic and Split to loud summer nights.