Cortina d'Ampezzo or Taormina?

These two could hardly be further apart here. Cortina sits in a high valley more than two hours from the Adriatic, and its lakes, Ghedina and Pianozes, are fed by snowmelt. Swimming realistically means a hotel pool.

Taormina has the Ionian Sea directly below the town. The pebble coves at Mazzarò and Isola Bella have glassy water for snorkelling, and Giardini Naxos and Letojanni offer longer sand and shingle. The coves are small and crowded in August, but this is a genuine seaside stay.

Taormina eats better, mostly because it draws on Sicily. Pasta alla Norma, swordfish, raw red prawns, cannoli and granita with brioche at breakfast give it a much wider range than Cortina, and Etna's Nerello Mascalese and Carricante wines are a real draw. Avoid the tourist menus on the Corso and look in the side streets.

Cortina's cooking is narrower but has its own appeal: casunziei with poppy seeds, polenta with game, and barley soup. The best meal of the trip is often lunch at a rifugio terrace high among the peaks rather than anything in the valley.

Taormina has the real centrepiece in its Greek theatre, with Etna framed by the ruined stage. Around it, the Duomo, Palazzo Corvaja and Badia Vecchia show the town's Arab, Norman and Catalan layers, enough for a slow and rewarding day.

Cortina's centre is pretty, with the basilica's bell tower, painted houses and the 1956 Olympic ice stadium, and the Rimoldi art collection is worth a wet afternoon. Its most moving history, the First World War tunnels on Lagazuoi and the Cinque Torri, is up in the mountains and takes a full day's outing.

Neither town is a place for late nights, though Taormina keeps going a little longer. Summer evenings there run from aperitivo in Piazza IX Aprile to piano bars over the sea, with a few beach clubs at Mazzarò. Cortina's evenings are après-ski, a passeggiata on the Corso Italia and long dinners. Its smart bars and a club or two only stay open late in the peak winter weeks, so one town comes alive in summer and the other in winter.

Cortina is ahead, and by a long way for anyone who lives for mountains. The ring of Dolomite peaks, lifts straight from town, the Fanes-Sennes-Braies park, Misurina and the Tre Cime give endless options for skiing, hiking, climbing, mountain biking and paragliding.

Taormina's outdoors still impresses: lava flows and craters on Etna, the basalt Alcantara gorges, paths up to Castelmola and diving in the Isola Bella reserve. It offers sea and volcano rather than a whole mountain range, and summer heat limits the hiking.

Taormina makes a far better base for excursions. Catania is about an hour away, Syracuse with Ortigia and the Neapolis theatre about two, and Noto, the Etna wine villages and the hill towns of Savoca and Forza d'Agrò fill other days.

From Cortina, most outings are into the mountains themselves. South Tyrolean towns such as San Candido and Brunico are pleasant, Bolzano with the Iceman is about two hours away, and Venice is a long day by coach.

Cortina works a little better for families, provided they ski or walk. It has ski schools for all ages, beginner slopes at Socrepes, public skating at the Olympic stadium and gentle trails to huts with meadows. The flat little centre is easy with a pushchair, though rainy days drag.

Taormina is welcoming, and Etna and snorkelling thrill older children. But the steep streets full of steps and the crowded pebble coves are hard work with small ones, and many families stay down in Giardini Naxos instead.

Both centres are small enough to cross on foot, but Taormina is better connected. Its seaside station and regional coaches reach Catania airport, Messina and Syracuse, and a cable car runs down to the beach. Expect plenty of stairs in town, though.

Cortina has had no railway since 1964, so arrival means a coach from Venice or a long drive. The buses to the passes are limited, and most visitors hire a car to explore the Dolomites.

Each town has one main shopping street, so the difference is in what they sell. Cortina's Corso Italia goes for luxury, with furriers, jewellers and upmarket ski wear, anchored by the old Cooperativa store. Taormina's Corso Umberto deals in coral, cameos, lace and Caltagirone ceramics, and the best things to take home are edible: Bronte pistachio cream, almond sweets and Etna wine.

Neither is cheap, but Cortina is the harder one on the wallet. Peak-season hotels charge luxury-resort prices, and lift passes and ski hire add to the bill. Rifugio meals and late September are the main ways to save, and many people on a budget stay in neighbouring valleys instead.

Taormina is expensive for Sicily but easier to manage. Buses, bakery snacks and granita stay cheap, and sleeping in Giardini Naxos or Letojanni and coming up for the evening cuts costs noticeably.

Taormina has the stronger summer programme. Concerts, opera, ballet and touring pop acts fill the Greek theatre, and a long-running film festival adds to the season. In winter, serious performances mean a trip to Catania's Teatro Massimo Bellini.

Cortina has no theatre season at all. It offers summer chamber and classical concerts in churches and occasionally on the mountainsides, plus a few around New Year.

Neither town has public baths, so in both, relaxing mostly means the hotel spa and a slower pace. The style differs: Cortina offers Alpine saunas, steam rooms and hay baths after a day on the slopes, while Taormina has terrace pools above the sea and treatments with volcanic mud, citrus and almond. Both are calmest in June and September and lose much of that calm in August.