Amalfi or Bari?

Neither town is a long-beach destination, and both send their best swimmers a short trip away. The difference is the surface and the setting. Amalfi's Marina Grande is pebble, lined with club loungers under the Duomo, and the better swims come from boats, rocks and coves like Santa Croce reached by stairs.

Bari has sand on its doorstep at Pane e Pomodoro, busy with local families, then a short train ride to Polignano's cliff-walled cove and the inlets around Monopoli. Choose Amalfi for swimming from boats and rocks below the cliffs, Bari for sand and easy half-days on the coast.

Bari is the far stronger place to eat. Its food comes from Apulian homes and streets: hand-rolled orecchiette, focaccia barese, fried sgagliozze, tiella and burrata, with Primitivo to drink, and none of it costs much.

Amalfi has fine ingredients in its sfusato lemons, colatura and scialatielli with seafood, but the town is small and much of the cooking around the piazza is aimed at day visitors. Good meals there take some hunting in the back alleys, while in Bari they are hard to avoid.

Bari gives a sightseer more to do. Bari Vecchia's whitewashed lanes, the Romanesque Basilica di San Nicola, the cathedral and the Norman-Swabian castle fill a day, and the Murat quarter and the Pinacoteca can fill a second.

Amalfi's heritage is fine but compact: the striped Duomo with its Constantinople bronze doors, the Chiostro del Paradiso, the Arsenale and the paper museum. Half a day covers it, and the rest of the trip goes to the coast.

This is one of the widest gaps between the two. Bari goes out late and outdoors, with students filling Piazza Ferrarese, bars along the Umbertino streets and the seafront open past midnight, and beach clubs south of the city in summer.

In Amalfi the night ends with a drink by the harbour once the last ferries leave. Anyone after more than that would have to head to Salerno or Naples.

Amalfi's landscape is the reason most people go. Lemon terraces and ravines climb the Lattari mountains straight from the sea, and the Valle delle Ferriere and the Path of the Gods above Positano are walks of real stature, with grottoes to explore by kayak below.

Bari's surroundings are gentler and flatter: olive groves, a long seafront promenade, the open karst of the Alta Murgia about an hour away and the Grotte di Castellana. They are good for quiet walks and cycling, but there is nothing to compare with Amalfi's cliffs.

Both are excellent bases, so the choice comes down to which region you want to see. From Amalfi it is Ravello's villas, Positano by ferry, Capri, Paestum and, with effort, Pompeii and Herculaneum, though summer roads are slow and ferries are seasonal.

From Bari it is Matera's cave dwellings, the trulli of Alberobello, Ostuni and the Valle d'Itria, Trani's sea cathedral and Baroque Lecce. Trains run all year, but a hire car helps inland.

Bari is much easier with children. Its centre is flat, the old town lanes are free of traffic and there is a sandy city beach, with the safari park at Fasano and the Castellana caves as outings.

Amalfi's stairways defeat pushchairs, the beach is crowded pebble and the winding buses can upset small stomachs. It works best for older children who swim confidently and enjoy boats.

Both centres are walkable, but Bari's is flat and Amalfi's is a climb of steps from the seafront. Bari also has a rail link to the airport and regional lines fanning out along the coast and inland, slow in places but usable all year.

Amalfi depends on one cliff road and seasonal ferries. In summer its buses fill and pass waiting queues, and parking is so scarce that a car is a burden.

Bari offers somewhat more range. Via Sparano has Italian chains and a few boutiques, and the delicatessens sell orecchiette, taralli and olive oil worth packing.

Amalfi's single main street repeats limoncello and ceramics from shop to shop. Its distinctive buy is the handmade cotton paper from the valley mills, along with made-to-measure sandals.

The cost gap is large. Amalfi's sea-view rooms are priced like the dearest European capitals, and loungers, boat hire and piazza meals add up fast. The local buses are about the only bargain.

Bari stays moderately priced for most of the year. Street food, trattoria lunches and local wine cost little and the main sights are free, though rooms tighten in July and August.

Bari has a proper stage in the Teatro Petruzzelli, one of Italy's largest opera houses, with opera, ballet and symphonic seasons, plus summer jazz in the piazzas and the castle.

Amalfi has no theatre of its own. Its one standout is the summer Ravello Festival up the hill, where concerts on the Villa Rufolo terrace above the sea are worth planning an evening around.

Neither has thermal baths, and in both the spas belong to hotels, so rest comes from the pace of the day. Amalfi's version is quiet mornings, swims from the rocks and retreating to the hill hamlets when summer crowds arrive. Bari's is the afternoon break and the evening stroll along the seafront, with countryside estates for anyone who wants real pampering.