Innsbruck or San Marino?

Neither city is on the water, but San Marino is much closer to a real beach. The Adriatic is visible from its walls, and the long sandy shore at Rimini and Riccione is about half an hour away. It has shallow water, rows of umbrellas and warm summer swimming. It is a day out rather than a beach stay, but it is a proper one.

Innsbruck has to make do with mountain lakes. The Lanser See and Natterer See warm up nicely in July and August, and the Achensee is beautiful but cold. Treat these as a pleasant summer afternoon, not a reason to choose the city.

The two are broadly level, and neither is a reason to come. The difference is in the cooking. Innsbruck serves Tyrolean mountain food: Gröstl, Kaspressknödel and Kaiserschmarrn, best eaten at a hut after a walk, with Viennese-style coffee houses in town for cake. Its student districts add some variety.

San Marino eats like the Romagna hills around it, with hand-rolled pasta, passatelli, piadina and its own small-production Sangiovese. In both places the restaurants near the main sight cater to day visitors. The better meals are in Borgo Maggiore, the lower villages and across the Italian border.

Innsbruck has more to see. The Hofkirche, with Maximilian I's tomb and its ring of bronze figures, the Hofburg, the Golden Roof and Ambras Castle with its cabinet of curiosities make up two or three days of Habsburg heritage.

San Marino's appeal is the setting and the story of an ancient republic: the towers on the cliff edge, the Palazzo Pubblico and the walk between Guaita and Cesta. It makes a strong impression, but half a day covers it.

Innsbruck has a small but real night out, thanks to its university. Bars and small clubs fill the arches under the railway viaduct, and in winter there is après-ski in the resorts around the city.

San Marino has almost nothing. After the coaches leave, the summit offers a quiet glass of wine above the lights of the coast. Anyone who wants to stay out late has to drive down to the Riviera clubs at Rimini and Riccione.

This is the biggest gap between the two. From Innsbruck you can be on a ridge at about 2,300m within half an hour of leaving the old town. The Karwendel lies behind it, and the Stubai valley and its glacier are across the valley. Skiing, paragliding, mountain biking and rafting are all close at hand.

Monte Titano is a fine limestone ridge with wide views to the Adriatic. The Montefeltro hills beyond are good for gentle cycling. It suits a morning walk or a scenic drive, but it has no high peaks, long trails or adventure sports.

Both make excellent bases. Innsbruck has the advantage of rail lines into three countries: Hall in Tirol, Salzburg and Munich, and over the Brenner Pass to Bolzano and Ötzi. A train ticket is enough for most of these.

San Marino's surroundings are richer in art: Ravenna's mosaics, Renaissance Urbino, the fortress at San Leo and Roman Rimini. Apart from the bus to Rimini, though, you need a car to reach them.

Innsbruck is the easier choice with children. The Alpenzoo is on the funicular line, the mountains have adventure trails and playgrounds by the huts, the lakes are good for a family swim, and in winter there are ski schools. Rainy days take some planning.

On San Marino's summit, children love the battlements and the cable car, but the steps make pushchairs hard work. Most of what is built for families is down on the coast, at Italia in Miniatura, Fiabilandia and the waterparks. That works well for a family with a car.

Innsbruck is much easier without a car. The centre is flat and compact, trams reach Igls and the Stubai valley, regional trains run along the valley, and the funicular to the mountains starts at the edge of the old town.

San Marino's core is car-free and small, but nearly every street is a climb or a flight of steps. The cable car helps, but beyond the bus to Rimini, public transport is thin. In practice the hill towns around it need a car.

Neither is a shopping destination, but Innsbruck has more worth buying. Loden jackets, dirndls, woodcarvings and Speck sit alongside excellent specialist outdoor and ski shops, which matter if you are heading into the mountains.

San Marino's streets are mostly souvenirs, with tax-advantaged perfume, watches and spirits that attract Italian day-trippers, plus an outlet centre in the valley. Collectors of its stamps and coins are the exception.

San Marino is the gentler place to spend money. Its prices follow provincial central Italy, with moderate hotels outside August and fair trattorias in the lower villages. Only the summit terraces charge for the view.

Innsbruck adds an Alpine resort premium to Western European prices, and it peaks in ski season and around the Christmas markets. City cards that bundle in the lifts take some of the sting out of cable car fares. Spring and autumn are noticeably cheaper.

Innsbruck has a proper programme. The Tiroler Landestheater stages opera, drama and dance, and the symphony orchestra gives concerts. In summer, the Festival of Early Music uses historic settings such as the Spanish Hall at Ambras.

San Marino's formal calendar is very thin. The memorable event is the Medieval Days festival, with crossbow contests and flag-throwers, which is more spectacle than concert. For opera, you would go to Pesaro or Bologna.

Neither has thermal baths of its own. Innsbruck makes up for it with Alpine hotel spas in Igls and on the plateaus, often with mountain views. The large spa complexes of the Ötztal and Zillertal are about an hour away.

San Marino has a few hotel spas and the calm of the summit after the day visitors leave, which is pleasant for an evening walk on the walls. Its summer afternoons are crowded, so it is less restful than Innsbruck.