Assisi or Rome?

Neither city is a beach destination, but only Rome gives you the sea at all. Ostia's dark volcanic sand is half an hour away by suburban train, and Fregene is a quieter choice to the north. In midsummer the water is warm, if rarely clear.

From Assisi either coast is about two hours away. The nearest swimming is the shallow, slightly murky lake water at Trasimeno's small lidos, so a hotel pool is more realistic there.

Assisi feeds you well within a narrow range: truffled strangozzi, Castelluccio lentils, torta al testo, Subasio olive oil and Sagrantino from Montefalco. The better meals are in side-lane trattorias and country agriturismi, away from the set menus near the basilica.

Rome is in another league for eating. It has its own repertoire of carbonara, cacio e pepe and Jewish-style artichokes, real street food, neighbourhood markets and artisan gelato. It also has far more places to choose from, as long as you head for Testaccio, Monti or Trastevere rather than the streets around the big sights.

Assisi has one world-class monument, the double Basilica of San Francesco with its Giotto and Cimabue frescoes. Around it are Santa Chiara, the Temple of Minerva and the Rocca, and two unhurried days see it all.

Rome is on a different scale. The Colosseum, Forum and Pantheon are only the start, before the Vatican Museums, the Borghese and Caravaggios in ordinary churches. A week there still means leaving things out.

Assisi's evenings are a dinner, a glass of Sagrantino and a walk through empty floodlit lanes, and many visitors come for exactly that. Rome offers a proper night out. Aperitivo leads into crowded wine bars in Trastevere, cocktails in Monti and student drinking in San Lorenzo, though even Rome favours drinks outdoors over clubbing.

The two are broadly level for the outdoors, but the experience is different. In Assisi the landscape starts at the town walls. Monte Subasio's woods and summit meadows are a walk from your door, and the valley below is gentle cycling country between Spello and Montefalco.

Rome's green spaces are man-made and historic: the villa parks and the ancient Appian Way, which makes a fine bike ride. Lakes, chestnut woods and mountain hiking start in the Alban Hills and the Apennines, which you reach by transport.

Both are excellent bases, and Rome has the edge. Assisi sits in the middle of Umbria. Spello, Perugia and Spoleto are short train rides along the valley line, while Gubbio, Todi and the wine villages of Montefalco and Bevagna are much easier with a car.

Rome offers a wider spread of trips. Ostia Antica, Tivoli's villas and the Etruscan tombs at Tarquinia and Cerveteri are close by, and fast trains reach Florence and Naples. Orvieto works from either city, and Assisi itself makes a day out from Rome.

Neither is built for children, but Rome copes better. It has gladiators, catacombs and the Bioparco and rowing boats in Villa Borghese to break up the sightseeing, plus a children's museum near Piazza del Popolo.

Assisi is safe and calm, but its sights are silent frescoed churches and its streets are steep steps. Families do best staying at a valley agriturismo with a pool and making short trips up into town.

Both are cities for walking, with different problems. Assisi's centre takes twenty minutes end to end but climbs steeply, and the station is 4km below in the valley. Beyond the rail line you need a car for touring Umbria.

Rome's sights are spread across a larger, flatter centre, where cobbles, scooters and heat wear you out. The metro barely reaches the historic core, and a car is more trouble than it is worth.

Assisi's shops are mostly rosaries and Franciscan souvenirs. Among them you can find hand-embroidered linen, Deruta ceramics, olive oil and truffle products. Rome is a real shopping city, with the fashion houses around the Spanish Steps, young designers and vintage in Monti, antique dealers on Via dei Coronari and the huge Porta Portese flea market on Sundays.

Assisi is the cheaper stay. Its great churches cost nothing to enter, and convent guesthouses and valley farm stays keep rooms affordable outside the big feast days.

In Rome the main cost is a room in the centre, which is expensive, small and hard to find in spring and autumn, and the major museums charge substantial fees. Everyday eating is fair value in both cities as long as you avoid the tables nearest the sights.

In Assisi the music is mostly sacred, with organ and choral concerts in the basilicas, plus the costumed Calendimaggio festival in spring. Rome has the Teatro dell'Opera, summer opera among the ruins of Caracalla, the Santa Cecilia orchestra and a long-running jazz club scene, so music lovers have something to hear on most nights.

Neither city has a bathing culture, and spa options are thin in both. The calm comes from different places. Assisi offers stillness itself: convent retreats, silent walks to the Eremo delle Carceri and empty lanes at dawn.

Rome is noisy, but it does have real thermal water nearby. The Acque Albule pools are at Bagni di Tivoli, and there are open-air hot springs around Viterbo. In the city, the villa gardens and the Aventine are the places to find some quiet.