Innsbruck or Siena?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Innsbruck at least has swimming close by. The small Lanser See and Natterer See on the plateaus above the town warm to about 22°C in high summer, which makes an easy afternoon out.

Siena's nearest sea is the Maremma coast around Castiglione della Pescaia, well over an hour's drive away, so a swim takes a full day. In town, swimming means a hotel or agriturismo pool.

Siena eats noticeably better. It has hand-rolled pici, cinta senese pork, panforte and ricciarelli from bakeries that have been going for generations, and Chianti Classico and Brunello grown nearby, so it has a cuisine and a wine country of its own. The best of it is in the family osterie of the contrade.

Innsbruck's cooking is hearty Tyrolean food such as Gröstl, Kaspressknödel and Kaiserschmarrn, and it tastes best at a mountain hut after a walk. In town the choice is narrower, and most of the wine comes from elsewhere in Austria or from South Tyrol. Neither city offers much beyond its own tradition.

Siena is the richer city for sights. Its whole walled centre is a UNESCO-listed medieval town. The frescoes in the Palazzo Pubblico, Duccio's Maestà and the Duomo with its Piccolomini Library are works of European importance, and the seventeen contrade give each neighbourhood its own character.

Innsbruck's Habsburg heritage is smaller but still rewarding. It includes the Golden Roof, the Hofburg, Maximilian's tomb ringed by bronze figures in the Hofkirche, and Ambras Castle with its cabinet of curiosities. Two or three days cover either city, but Siena's sights go deeper.

Innsbruck has the livelier evenings, though neither is a party town. Bars and small clubs fill the brick arches under the railway viaduct and stay open late at weekends, and in winter there is also après-ski in the surrounding resorts.

In Siena an evening means a long dinner, a glass of wine on the Campo and a walk through the lit streets, and there are almost no clubs. The exception is the nights around the Palio, when the contrade hold outdoor dinners that run until late.

Innsbruck is one of the few cities where high Alpine terrain starts at the edge of town. The Nordkette ridge, at about 2,300m, is under half an hour from the old town, with the Karwendel behind it. The Stubai Glacier, the ski areas, the via ferratas and rafting fill both summer and winter.

Siena's countryside is gentler and beautiful in a different way. The clay hills of the Crete Senesi and the Val d'Orcia are crossed by white gravel roads that draw cyclists from far away. The area is good for cycling and for walking the pilgrim route, but there are no high mountains.

Siena has more and better day trips. San Gimignano, Monteriggioni, the Chianti villages, Volterra, Pienza, Montalcino and abbeys such as Sant'Antimo and San Galgano are all close. Florence is about an hour and a quarter away, though many of the hill towns need a car.

Innsbruck's strength is the railway. Hall in Tirol, Rattenberg and Kitzbühel are easy to reach, and Munich, Salzburg and Bolzano across the Brenner give you days out in three countries without driving.

Innsbruck is the easier place with children. The Alpenzoo, with its ibex and bears, is on the funicular route. Summer brings adventure trails and warm plateau lakes, winter brings ski schools on gentle slopes, and the Swarovski Crystal Worlds have a play tower.

Siena is safe and mostly free of cars, and older children enjoy climbing the Torre del Mangia. However, the steep lanes are hard with a pushchair and there are no attractions made for children. A farmhouse with a pool outside town usually works better for families.

Innsbruck is simpler to get around. The centre is flat and compact, trams and buses run out to Igls and the Stubai valley, and a funicular from the old town links to the mountain cable cars. The main station is central, so trips by train are easy.

Siena is a walking town too, but it stands on three ridges, so expect steep climbs and stepped lanes, with escalators up from the station in the valley. Trains are slow and few, and the countryside really needs a hire car.

Shopping is modest in both cities, and the difference is in what you take home. Innsbruck is good for loden jackets, dirndls, woodcarvings and above all outdoor and ski gear, with the chains along Maria-Theresien-Strasse. Siena has majolica ceramics, contrada scarves, leather goods, and panforte and pecorino to take home, as well as a large weekly market by the Fortezza Medicea.

Neither city is cheap, and the costs fall in different places. In Innsbruck the Alpine premium shows in hotel rates during the ski season and the Christmas markets, and in cable car tickets. The guest and city cards bundle lifts and transport, and spring and autumn are cheaper.

In Siena, rooms inside the walls are scarce and cost much more around the Palio and through the summer. Osteria meals with house wine are good value, though, and an agriturismo outside town often costs less.

Innsbruck has the broader programme on stage. The Tiroler Landestheater puts on opera, operetta and dance, the Tyrolean Symphony Orchestra plays regularly, and the summer Festival of Early Music uses historic rooms such as the Spanish Hall at Ambras Castle.

Siena's music is specialised rather than broad. The Accademia Chigiana gives concerts in palaces and churches, and Siena Jazz has concerts by its teachers and students. For opera or a major orchestra you have to go to Florence.

Siena has the stronger case for a restful trip because of the warm springs nearby. Rapolano Terme is about half an hour away. Bagno Vignoni, the free limestone pools of Bagni San Filippo and the sulphur river at Petriolo lie further south and go well with a farmhouse stay.

Innsbruck has no thermal water of its own. Its wellness is the Alpine kind: a hotel sauna in Igls or one of the plateau villages after a day outdoors. The large spa complexes of the Ötztal and Zillertal are about an hour away.