Florence or Innsbruck?

Neither city is a place to swim, and Innsbruck has only a slight edge because its water is closer. The small lakes on the plateaus above town, such as the Lanser See, make a warm afternoon swim possible in high summer, while the clear Achensee is beautiful but cold.

From Florence the nearest water is the sea itself, on the sandy Versilia coast near Viareggio. That means a full day out by train, so on most days a hotel pool is the realistic way to cool down.

Florence eats much better. Bistecca, ribollita and lampredotto from street carts, the Mercato Centrale and Sant'Ambrogio markets, Chianti reds poured by the glass and serious gelato give every day several good meals. The best of them are in the trattorie of the Oltrarno.

Innsbruck's cooking is hearty and satisfying after a day outdoors, with Gröstl, Kaspressknödel and Kaiserschmarrn, and a meal at a mountain hut can be the high point of the trip. But the range is narrow, there are no food markets or street food to explore, and most of the wine comes from elsewhere.

This is where Florence leaves Innsbruck far behind. Brunelleschi's dome, Botticelli at the Uffizi, Michelangelo's David and the Fra Angelico frescoes at San Marco are among the most important works in European art, and the city can fill a full week with museums and churches.

Innsbruck's heritage is imperial rather than artistic: the Golden Roof, the Hofburg, Maximilian's bronze-ringed tomb in the Hofkirche and the cabinet of curiosities at Ambras Castle. All of it is worth seeing, and all of it fits comfortably into two or three days.

Florence's evenings run on aperitivo and a late glass of wine. On warm nights drinkers spill across Piazza Santo Spirito in the Oltrarno, Sant'Ambrogio draws more of a local crowd, and in summer outdoor bars open along the Arno and in the parks.

Innsbruck saves its later nights for the old brick arches under the railway viaduct, where bars and small clubs stay open late at weekends. In winter much of the partying moves out to après-ski in the surrounding resorts. The settings differ, but the two are about level. Both are small scenes that wind down early, and neither suits a trip built around clubbing.

Innsbruck is a mountain city in the full sense. The Nordkette ridge at around 2,300m is half an hour from the old town, the Karwendel nature park lies behind it, and glaciers, hiking trails, ski slopes and rafting rivers surround the valley in every direction.

Florence's countryside is lovely but tame. You can walk the olive terraces at Fiesole or cycle the Chianti lanes, and the Casentino forests are worth a longer day, but this is farmed land rather than alpine wilderness, and the summer heat cuts walks short.

Florence has the stronger set of excursions. Siena, Pisa, Lucca, San Gimignano and the Chianti villages are all close, and Bologna is a short high-speed ride away, so you could spend a week making day trips and still see first-rank towns.

Innsbruck's advantage is reach across borders. Munich and Salzburg are under two hours by rail, Bolzano and Merano lie over the Brenner, and Hall in Tirol and Rattenberg are close by. It is a good base, though fewer of its destinations are as famous as Tuscany's.

Innsbruck is easier with children. It is small, safe and clean, the Alpenzoo with its ibex, bears and wolves is on the funicular line, and summer brings adventure trails, playgrounds by the huts and lake swimming, with ski schools in winter.

Florence can still work with older children who like climbing the dome, the secret passages of Palazzo Vecchio and the Boboli Gardens. But the main sights are made for adults, the pavements are narrow and the summers are hot, and the Pinocchio park at Collodi is the only real family outing nearby.

Both centres are best on foot and neither city needs a car, so getting around is equally easy in each. Florence relies almost entirely on walking, with trams mainly for the airport and Santa Maria Novella as the station for day trips.

Innsbruck's centre is flat and short distances apart, and its transport reaches upward: the Hungerburg funicular leaves from the edge of the old town, and ski buses and trams run out to Igls and the Stubai valley.

Florence is much the better shopping city, built around old crafts: leather workshops, marbled paper, goldsmiths on the Ponte Vecchio and gilders in the Oltrarno. Via de' Tornabuoni adds the big Italian fashion houses, and there are antiques on Via Maggio.

Innsbruck fills an afternoon on Maria-Theresien-Strasse and in the old town arcades. Its best buys are practical or local, such as loden jackets, Speck, schnapps and excellent mountain gear.

In Florence the money goes on a central hotel and on tickets for the Uffizi, the Accademia and the Duomo climb. Daily spending stays reasonable with lampredotto from a cart, market lunches and house wine, and walking everywhere costs nothing. Staying across the river or near the station saves the most.

Innsbruck's costs come from the mountains: cable car tickets on an active trip, filling but not cheap meals at the inns, and hotel rates that peak in ski season and around the Christmas markets. The city cards that bundle transport with lifts take some of the edge off. Over a whole trip the two cost about the same, and both are noticeably cheaper outside their busy seasons.

Florence has the deeper tradition. This is where opera began, and the Maggio Musicale festival and the Teatro del Maggio's own orchestra give it a serious season, although many visitors only see the church concerts staged for tourists.

Innsbruck's Landestheater and symphony orchestra provide a solid provincial programme. Its standout is the summer Festival of Early Music in settings such as the Spanish Hall at Ambras, with yodelling and brass folk evenings as a local alternative.

Rest near Florence means Tuscan spa towns and countryside. The grand drinking halls of Montecatini Terme are under an hour by train, the open-air sulphur pools of Bagno Vignoni and Saturnia make a longer outing, and a few slow nights on a hill farm are the classic way to unwind. In the city itself, the calm moments are early mornings and the Boboli and Bardini gardens.

Innsbruck offers the Alpine kind instead: a hotel sauna with a mountain view up in Igls or on the plateaus, clean air, an evening at a mountain hut and a town that never feels hurried. The big thermal complexes of the Ötztal and Zillertal are about an hour away. For unwinding the two are about level. The choice is between warm sulphur water and a sauna after a day on the trails.