Innsbruck or La Spezia?

This is where the two differ most. Innsbruck has no coast at all, and swimming there means the shallow Lanser See or Natterer See on a hot afternoon in July or August, or a bracing dip in the beautiful but cold Achensee.

La Spezia has no beach in town either, but the gulf makes up for it. There are sandy, sheltered strips at San Terenzo and Lerici, small coves at Fiascherino and Tellaro, clear water off Palmaria and Monterosso's long beach up the line. Most of it is small and pebbly and much of it is paid bathing, but you can swim in warm sea for a third of the year.

La Spezia eats better. Farinata from wood ovens, mesciua soup, pesto on trofie and testaroli and the rope-grown mussels of Portovenere give it a distinct local table, the covered market on Piazza Cavour sells the fish and produce, and Cinque Terre and Colli di Luni whites are poured alongside.

Innsbruck's cooking is heartier and narrower: Gröstl, Kaspressknödel, Speck and Kaiserschmarrn, at their best in a mountain hut after a climb, plus strudel in the old town coffee houses. There is no market culture to speak of, and the inns around the Golden Roof lean towards tour groups.

Innsbruck has the deeper heritage, thanks to its years as a Habsburg seat. The Hofkirche, with Maximilian I's tomb ringed by its bronze giants, the Hofburg, the Golden Roof and Ambras Castle's cabinet of curiosities fill two or three good days within a compact arcaded old town.

La Spezia is a nineteenth-century naval town of straight avenues and Liberty facades, with no medieval core. Its strengths are particular ones: the early Italian paintings of the Museo Amedeo Lia, the naval museum and the odd Lunigiana stele statues in Castello San Giorgio. That makes a day or two, and the region's real history lies out along the coast.

Neither is a place for big nights, but Innsbruck's students give it the edge. The bars and small clubs in the brick arches under the railway viaduct stay open late at weekends, and in winter there is après-ski in the resorts nearby. La Spezia's evenings are about the aperitivo on Via del Prione or the waterfront at Lerici, and the town is mostly quiet soon after dinner, with hikers turning in early.

Both are outdoor destinations, but Innsbruck is in a class of its own. The Nordkette ridge is under half an hour from the old town, the Karwendel nature park starts just behind it, and the surrounding valleys add glaciers, via ferratas, paragliding, rafting and skiing.

La Spezia's landscape is the sea version: terraced cliffs of vines and olives along the Cinque Terre paths, the Palmaria loop past forts and sea caves, and kayaking and diving in the gulf. The marble peaks of the Apuan Alps an hour inland offer serious hiking, but summer heat and crowds make the coastal trails a spring and autumn pleasure.

La Spezia is the stronger base. The Cinque Terre villages are minutes away by train, Portovenere is a short boat ride, and Sarzana, Luni and the Carrara quarries are close inland. Pisa and Lucca are about an hour away, and the Riviera towards Portofino and Genoa is an easy day out.

Innsbruck's trips reach further and cross borders: Hall in Tirol and Rattenberg along the valley, Munich and Salzburg by train, Bolzano and Merano over the Brenner, and Neuschwanstein by car. The choice is a cluster of seaside villages close together against a spread of Alpine towns and cities in three countries.

Innsbruck is the easier place with children. The Alpenzoo's ibex and bears are on the same funicular as the Nordkette, and the mountains add adventure trails, hut playgrounds, plateau lakes and ski schools, though rainy days take some planning.

La Spezia's flat centre and seafront gardens are fine with a pushchair, and boat trips and the shallow beaches at San Terenzo work well. Beyond that there is little built for children, and the steep villages and packed trains are hard going with toddlers.

Both have flat, walkable centres, and neither needs a car. Innsbruck pulls ahead because the mountains are part of the transport network: the funicular starts at the edge of the old town, trams run to Igls and the Stubai valley, and ski buses fan out in winter.

La Spezia works as a rail and ferry hub, with coastal trains through the Cinque Terre, buses round the gulf and boats from spring to autumn. Its weak point is summer, when the trains and village platforms get crowded and driving into the villages is no help.

Neither is a shopping destination, and each fills an afternoon at most. The difference is what you carry home. In Innsbruck it is loden jackets, dirndls, woodcarvings and Speck from the old town arcades, plus first-rate ski and outdoor gear. In La Spezia it is mostly edible, with pesto, olive oil, Sciacchetrà and anchovies, and Carrara marble from the towns nearby.

La Spezia is the gentler on the budget. Farinata, focaccia and simple trattorias keep meals fair, local trains are cheap, and rooms in town cost well under those in the Cinque Terre villages, although trail passes, boat trips and bathing establishments add up in summer.

Innsbruck carries an Alpine resort premium on top of Western European prices, especially in ski season and around the Christmas markets, and cable car tickets mount quickly on an active trip. The guest and city cards soften this, and spring and autumn are cheaper in both places.

Innsbruck has the fuller calendar. The Tiroler Landestheater stages opera, operetta and dance through the season, the Tyrolean Symphony Orchestra plays regularly, and the summer Festival of Early Music fills settings such as the Spanish Hall at Ambras Castle.

La Spezia's Teatro Civico offers drama and touring shows, and summer brings a long-established jazz festival and concerts in piazzas and castle courtyards around the gulf. Outside the warm months there is little on, and for opera you have to go to Genoa or Pisa.

Neither has thermal baths in town, but Innsbruck does relaxation better. Hotels in Igls and the plateau villages have good spas with mountain views, the large thermal complexes of the Ötztal and Zillertal are about an hour away, and a sauna after a day on the slopes is part of local life. La Spezia offers the small baths at Equi Terme inland and a slower pace in quiet corners like Palmaria or Tellaro, best enjoyed outside the summer rush.