Bari or Milan?

Bari has the sea on its doorstep and Milan does not. Bari's sandy city beach and the lidos around Torre Quetta are fine for a quick dip. The real reward is the coast to the south, where Polignano and Monopoli have clear water in pebble coves and rocky inlets, close enough for half-days throughout the summer.

Milan is landlocked, so swimming means the Idroscalo basin, a public pool or a train to the lidos of Lake Como or Maggiore. Lake water is a touch cooler than the Adriatic in August, and the beaches are pebbly platforms rather than sand.

Milan is the stronger food city overall, mainly because of its range. It has rich northern classics such as saffron risotto and ossobuco, a serious fine-dining tier, and some of the best food from other Italian regions you can find anywhere in the country. Add the aperitivo ritual in Brera and along the Navigli and the evenings take care of themselves.

Bari wins on character and price rather than breadth. Its street food, from focaccia barese to sgagliozze, raw sea urchins by the fishermen's pier and handmade orecchiette, is cooked with olive oil rather than butter and served with Primitivo. Expect simple, generous meals, but few smart restaurants and little from outside Puglia.

Milan's sights are of a different order. Leonardo's Last Supper, the marble Duomo with its walkable roof, the Brera gallery and Michelangelo's Rondanini Pietà at the Castello could fill several days, though they come in clusters across a mostly modern city.

Bari offers one appealing old town rather than a list of masterpieces. The Basilica di San Nicola, the cathedral and the castle sit within a few minutes of each other in Bari Vecchia, and the Murat quarter adds nineteenth-century streets and a long seafront. A day or two covers it well.

Milan has more to offer after dark. Its nights run from aperitivo on the Navigli towpaths to dressy clubs around Corso Como and warehouse parties on the outskirts, with a gay scene centred on Porta Venezia. Dress well and expect a stylish crowd rather than a rowdy one.

Bari's evenings are simpler and largely outdoors. Students gather on the steps of Piazza Mercantile and Piazza Ferrarese, bars stay open late in the Umbertino streets, and in high summer the action moves to beach clubs south of town. One quirk: Milan empties in August, exactly when Bari is at its liveliest.

Milan has the better scenery within reach, though neither city is green in itself. An hour north, Lake Como and Lake Maggiore sit among steep wooded slopes, the Grigne ridges offer real hiking and via ferrata, and ski resorts are reachable in winter for a long day out.

Around Bari the land is flat olive country with no mountains. The Alta Murgia plateau suits quiet walks and cycling, the Grotte di Castellana are underground, and the Valle d'Itria makes gentle bike country. It is pleasant rather than dramatic.

Both cities make excellent bases, but for different kinds of day out. Bari's trips lead into rural Puglia and Basilicata: the cave town of Matera, the trulli of Alberobello, hilltop Ostuni, seaside Trani and Baroque Lecce. Because the regional trains can be slow, a car helps for the inland towns.

From Milan, high-speed trains bring major art cities within about an hour, including Verona, Turin and Bologna, with Bergamo, Lake Como and even Lugano just as close. You can manage it all without a car, and the destinations are bigger and grander, while Bari's are smaller, whiter and closer to the land.

Neither city is built around children, and both work well enough. Bari's assets are simple: a sandy beach, gelato, car-free lanes and a seafront where families stroll every evening, with the caves and the Fasano safari park as outings.

Milan has more for rainy days and older children. The science and technology museum has a submarine and hands-on labs, and the Leolandia and Gardaland theme parks are within reach. The metro makes moving around with a pushchair easier than Bari's slow buses.

In Bari you walk, and you hire a car for the countryside. In Milan trains, the metro and the trams do everything. Bari's flat centre puts the old town, the Murat streets and the seafront side by side, and a rail link serves the airport. Beyond that, the city buses are slow and confusing, and the regional lines run so rarely that many visitors drive to the Valle d'Itria and Castel del Monte.

Milan's five colour-coded metro lines take a contactless card at the gates, and trams, including the old orange cars, fill the gaps. Direct trains from Centrale, Garibaldi and Cadorna reach the lakes and the nearby towns, so you never need a car. The main drawback is the long transfer from Malpensa airport.

This is where the two cities differ most. Milan is a world fashion capital, where the great Italian houses keep their flagships in the Quadrilatero, La Rinascente stands beside the Duomo, and design showrooms, Brera boutiques and vintage shops in Porta Ticinese fill out the picture.

Bari's shopping is everyday chains along Via Sparano. The things worth bringing home are olive oil, taralli, dried orecchiette, local wine and Puglian ceramics.

Bari is much kinder to your wallet. Street food, trattoria lunches and local wine are cheap, the main sights are free, and rooms stay moderate except in July and August, although beach clubs and hire cars do add up.

Milan is Italy's most expensive city. Hotels are dear and almost impossible during trade fairs and fashion weeks, and central restaurants and bars charge accordingly. Aperitivo snacks, office-lunch set menus and a room near a metro stop outside the centre will soften the bill.

Both cities have a major opera house, but Milan's is La Scala, one of the most famous in the world, and around it sit the Piccolo Teatro, a fine symphony orchestra, musicals at the Arcimboldi, jazz rooms and big stadium concerts at San Siro. A visitor can find something worth seeing on most nights outside summer.

Bari's Teatro Petruzzelli makes for a memorable evening of opera or ballet, and in summer there are open-air concerts and a jazz festival in the piazzas and the castle. Otherwise the stage is mostly Italian-language theatre.

Neither is a spa destination, but Milan has more on offer. A thermal complex with outdoor pools and saunas sits in the southern part of the centre, the 1930s Bagni Misteriosi open-air pools make a good summer afternoon, and the quiet lakeside villas are an hour away.

Bari has no bathing tradition and little beyond hotel spas. Its form of rest is the long lunch, the afternoon break and the evening walk on the seafront. For real pampering, visitors book a restored country estate outside the city.