Amalfi or San Marino?

In Amalfi you swim straight from town, either off the pebbles of Marina Grande or in coves like Santa Croce, which you reach by stairs or shuttle boat. A hired boat gets you to rocks and grottoes the road never touches. Space is tight, though, and in summer loungers cover the whole front.

San Marino has no shore of its own. The sandy beaches at Rimini and Riccione are about half an hour away. They are shallow and well run, with rows of umbrellas, and children like them, but every swim is a trip down the mountain.

Amalfi's cooking comes from the sea and its lemon terraces: scialatielli with clams, anchovies with colatura from Cetara, and sfusato lemons in everything from cakes to limoncello. The town is small and the tables on the piazza are hit and miss, but the more careful trattorias in the alleys give it the edge.

San Marino serves the food of the Romagna hills: piadina, passatelli in broth, grilled meats and the Tre Monti wafer cake. It is honest cooking, just less distinctive. On the summit the terraces sell the view more than the meal, so the better places to eat are down in Borgo Maggiore.

San Marino has the stronger story to tell. It is one of the world's oldest surviving republics, walled along the crest of Monte Titano. A cliff path links the Guaita and Cesta towers, and the Captains Regent are installed in the Palazzo Pubblico. Here the whole town is the sight.

Amalfi's heritage centres on one outstanding group of buildings: the Arab-Norman Duomo with its bronze doors from Constantinople, and the Chiostro del Paradiso beside it. The Arsenale and the paper museum complete the list. Each town takes about half a day, but San Marino's sense of place stays with you longer.

Neither town is the place for a night out. In Amalfi the evening is a long dinner, then a drink on Piazza Duomo or by the harbour, and real nightlife means a trip to Salerno or Naples. San Marino's summit goes quiet once the coaches leave. Its advantage is that the summer clubs and seafront bars of Rimini and Riccione are a short drive down the mountain.

This is where Amalfi is strongest. The Lattari mountains drop straight into the sea in lemon terraces and ravines, and the Valle delle Ferriere begins at the back of town. The Path of the Gods from Agerola is one of the finest coastal walks in Europe, and kayaks can reach the Emerald Grotto.

San Marino's limestone ridge has wide views to the Adriatic and the Apennines, and there are good short walks between the towers and down to Borgo Maggiore. Beyond that lies the gentle farmland of the Montefeltro, which is lovely for a drive or a bike ride but has no long trails.

Both towns make good bases, but Amalfi reaches further and is easier without a car. Ravello is a bus ride away, Positano a ferry ride, Capri is reachable in season, and Paestum, Pompeii and Herculaneum each fit into a full day. The drawbacks are that most ferries only run from spring to autumn and the coast road is jammed in summer.

From San Marino the day trips are about the Renaissance and Byzantium: the fortress of San Leo, the court city of Urbino and the mosaics of Ravenna, with Gradara and Bologna also in reach. You'll need a car for the hill towns, as the only regular bus goes down to Rimini.

San Marino is the easier choice for a family. The battlements, the towers on the cliff edge and the cable car keep children interested. On the coast below there are Italia in Miniatura, Fiabilandia and waterparks, and with a car it is easy to combine the two.

Amalfi is harder work for parents, with stairs everywhere, a crowded pebble beach and cliff-road buses that can make children sick. It suits older children who swim confidently and are ready for boat trips and sea caves.

Both centres are explored on foot and up and down steps, and both are hard for anyone with limited mobility. Amalfi is better connected, with buses from the harbour to Ravello, Positano and Salerno and ferries from spring to autumn, though summer queues and the single cliff road can be a trial. San Marino has a cable car down to Borgo Maggiore and a bus to the trains at Rimini, but you need a car for its villages and the hill towns around.

Neither suits serious shoppers, but they sell different things. Amalfi's crafts are more its own, above all the handmade cotton paper from the valley mills, along with majolica, linen and sandals made to measure. San Marino's shops rely on lower taxes, selling perfume, watches and leather goods, along with stamps and coins for collectors and an outlet centre on the valley floor.

San Marino is much the cheaper place to stay. Hotels are moderately priced outside August, the trattorias in the lower villages are fair and the sights cost little. Only the terraces and hotels on the summit cost more.

Amalfi is among the most expensive places to stay in Italy, and sea-view rooms, seafront meals, loungers and boat hire all add up. Staying in the hill villages and coming in spring or autumn help, and the local buses are the one real bargain.

Amalfi's advantage lies up the hill in Ravello. Every summer the Ravello Festival holds orchestral and chamber concerts on a terrace in the gardens of Villa Rufolo, high above the sea. San Marino's highlight is more pageant than concert: the summer Medieval Days, with costumed musicians, crossbow contests and flag-throwers. For opera or a proper concert season you would go to Bologna or Pesaro.

Neither town has a bathing tradition, and in both a spa means a hotel spa. Amalfi has the edge because the sea is part of the rest: long shaded lunches and swims off the rocks, best in May and October or up in the hill hamlets. In San Marino the calm comes in the evening, when the day crowds have gone and you can walk the walls above the plain.