Cortina d'Ampezzo or Zermatt?

Neither place has any beach life, and both are a long way from the sea. Cortina at least has the Adriatic a little over two hours' drive away, and lakes such as Ghedina and Pianozes make pretty walks. Zermatt's tarns are best for photographing the Matterhorn's reflection. In both, a real swim means a hotel pool.

The two eat about equally well for their size, but the food itself is different. Cortina cooks Ampezzan mountain food with a Venetian touch: casunziei with poppy seeds, polenta with game, barley soup. Lunch at a rifugio among the Dolomite peaks is often the best meal of the trip.

Zermatt serves Valais cooking: raclette, fondue, air-dried beef and apricot desserts, with Petite Arvine or Cornalin to drink. Its best meals come in the chalet hamlets of Findeln and Furi, facing the Matterhorn. In both places cheap food is hard to find.

Neither is a place you visit for its sights, and each has enough for half a day. Cortina's interest is in art and war. It has the Rimoldi collection of twentieth-century Italian painting and the Olympic ice stadium in town, plus the preserved First World War tunnels on Lagazuoi, which take a day in the mountains to reach.

Zermatt's heritage is all about climbing. The underground Matterhorn Museum tells the story of the 1865 first ascent, the mountaineers' cemetery holds climbers who died on the surrounding peaks, and the old larch barns of the Hinterdorf show the farming village that came before the hotels.

Zermatt is the livelier of the two after the lifts close. Its slope-side bars fill with ski boots and loud music, and on busy winter weekends a few bars and small clubs on the main street stay open past midnight.

Cortina's evenings are more about the passeggiata along the Corso Italia and long dinners. Only the peak winter weeks keep a handful of smart bars open late. In summer, both villages go quiet early.

Both rank among the finest mountain settings in Europe, but the mountains are different. Cortina sits in a ring of pale, jagged Dolomite peaks. The Tre Cime and Lago di Misurina are close by, and the area has historic via ferrata routes, the Alta Via 1 trail and the huge Dolomiti Superski area.

Zermatt is higher and icier. The Matterhorn rises right above the village, surrounded by four-thousand-metre peaks and the Gorner Glacier. Lifts reach more than 3,800m, some pistes stay open in summer, and guides lead ascents of the big summits.

Cortina has more good places to visit on a day out. San Candido and Brunico in South Tyrol are under an hour away, Bolzano and its Iceman are about two hours, and Lienz in Austria and Venice are both possible on a long day.

From Zermatt, every outing starts with the slow train down the valley. Sion's castle hills and vineyards are the best reward, and Brig's Stockalper Palace makes a shorter trip. Most visitors simply go back up the mountains instead.

Both suit families who ski or hike together, and neither has a zoo or theme park for rainy days. Cortina has more to fill the gaps, with public skating at the Olympic ice stadium and a forest rope park. Zermatt's advantage is its car-free streets, where children can walk safely between hotel and ski school. Small children may struggle with the thin air at its highest viewpoints.

Zermatt is far easier to get to and get around. Trains run in from the Swiss network, the village is walkable, and the cog railway, the funicular and the gondolas all start within a short walk of the centre.

Cortina has had no railway since 1964, so you arrive by coach or car. Its centre is easy on foot, but buses up to the passes and the Tre Cime are infrequent. Many visitors hire a car, and the mountain roads can be crowded in August.

Cortina has more to offer shoppers. The Corso Italia combines luxury fashion, furriers and jewellers with local wood carving and filigree. The Cooperativa, open since 1893, sells everything from local food to mountain gear across several floors.

Zermatt's single main street mostly sells Swiss watches and souvenirs. Its strong point is serious mountaineering equipment.

Both are among the most expensive places in the Alps, but Zermatt is harder on the wallet. Swiss prices apply to everything: rooms, terrace drinks and the cog railways you will use every day.

In Cortina, rifugi lunches and the shoulder months bring some relief, and staying in a cheaper valley nearby is common. In Zermatt, the biggest savings come from self-catering and staying down the valley in Täsch.

Neither has a theatre or a regular concert hall, but Zermatt's calendar has a little more going on. Zermatt Unplugged brings well-known acoustic performers to mountain stages in spring, and a chamber music festival fills the church in late summer. Cortina's live music is mostly summer classical concerts in churches and halls, with an occasional concert around New Year.

Cortina's hotel spas lean on Alpine tradition, with hay baths alongside the saunas and pools. The valley is at its most restful in June and September, when a long afternoon on a rifugio terrace does as much good as any treatment. In the peak weeks, traffic on the valley roads breaks the calm.

Zermatt has more fine spas in one small village, and a few sell day access to non-residents, which helps if your own hotel lacks one. Because there are no cars, evenings after skiing are quiet. Neither town has thermal springs, but from Zermatt you can reach proper thermal baths in the Valais spa towns down the valley.