Bari or Pisa?

Bari has the edge for swimming. Its sandy city beach, Pane e Pomodoro, is a walk from the centre. The real draw is half an hour south, where Polignano's cliff-walled cove and the clear rocky inlets around Monopoli offer the kind of water Puglia is known for.

Pisa's coast at Tirrenia and Calambrone has long, wide sand backed by pines and shallow water that suits paddlers. The water near the Arno mouth is rarely clear, though, and much of the shore is given over to rented loungers. Clear water is the main difference between the two.

Food is one of the main reasons to choose Bari over Pisa. Bari's cooking is distinctive and everywhere: hand-rolled orecchiette, tiella of rice, potatoes and mussels, burrata, and raw urchins at the old pier, washed down with Primitivo or Negroamaro.

Pisa eats well but plainly. Expect ribollita, game and hot cecina from wood ovens, and look for the trattorias around Piazza delle Vettovaglie rather than the tired menus near the tower. Neither city does much fine dining, but Bari's everyday food is more memorable.

Pisa offers more to see. The marble cathedral, the baptistery, the Leaning Tower and the frescoed Camposanto stand together on one lawn. Beyond them you have Piazza dei Cavalieri, Santa Maria della Spina on the river and the medieval painting of San Matteo, which together fill two full days.

Bari's old town is atmospheric, with whitewashed lanes and shrines, and the Basilica di San Nicola is a fine piece of Apulian Romanesque that still draws Orthodox pilgrims. Beyond that, the castle, the cathedral and the Murat palazzi make a pleasant but shorter round.

Bari is the livelier place after dark. Students and young locals pack Piazza Ferrarese and the old-town steps, the Umbertino bars stay open past midnight, and in summer the crowd heads to open-air clubs along the coast.

Pisa's evenings are a glass of wine in the market squares during term and an aperitivo on Borgo Stretto. The tower district is empty at night, and the city goes quiet early outside term time.

Pisa has much more open country close by. The San Rossore park starts at the edge of the city, with pinewoods, wetland, wild dunes and fallow deer to explore by bike or on horseback. The olive-terrace paths of the Monte Pisano and the marble peaks of the Apuan Alps add proper hiking.

Bari sits on a flat plain of olive groves. The nearest wild country is the open karst of the Alta Murgia, about an hour away, which suits quiet walks and cycling but has no mountains.

Both are excellent bases, and the difference lies in where they lead. From Bari you head into the rural south: the cave city of Matera, the trulli of Alberobello, the white towns of the Valle d'Itria, Baroque Lecce and Castel del Monte. A car makes many of these easier.

From Pisa the trips are Tuscany's best-known names: Florence and Lucca by fast train, the Cinque Terre a little over an hour north, and San Gimignano, Volterra and Siena by road. Pisa's trips are easier to do by rail.

The two are equally manageable with children, and neither has much built specifically for them. In Bari, the draws are the sandy city beach, the traffic-free lanes and the evening passeggiata, plus outings to the Grotte di Castellana or the Fasano safari park.

Pisa offers the tower lawn and the classic photo, a climb for older children only, and shallow beaches or bike rides in San Rossore. In both, the midday summer heat shapes the day.

Pisa is the easier city to get around. You can walk from the station to the cathedral square in about half an hour, and a shuttle train reaches the airport in minutes. Its rail hub sends trains across western Tuscany, so a car is rarely needed.

Bari's centre is also flat and walkable, and a rail link serves the airport. Its regional lines are slower and less frequent, though, and the buses are confusing for visitors, so many people hire a car for the Valle d'Itria and Castel del Monte.

Neither city is a shopping destination, but Bari has slightly more to offer. Via Sparano has chains and a few upmarket boutiques, and you can take home dried orecchiette, taralli, olive oil and Puglian ceramics.

Pisa's Corso Italia and the arcaded Borgo Stretto cover everyday fashion and old pastry shops, and the monthly riverside antiques market is worth catching. Serious shoppers usually go on to Florence or Lucca.

Costs are broadly similar, and both give fair value for well-known Italian cities. Bari's savings come from cheap street food, local wine and free sights, offset by tight summer rooms and car hire for day trips.

In Pisa, the student trattorias and the walkable centre keep everyday spending low. The main extra costs are the tower climb, the cafés beside the monuments and seaside rates at the beach establishments.

Bari has the stronger stage. The Teatro Petruzzelli is one of Italy's largest opera houses and runs a full season of opera, ballet and symphony. In summer, jazz and open-air concerts fill the piazzas and the castle.

Pisa's Teatro Verdi is a charming horseshoe house with a modest autumn-to-spring season, and university chamber concerts add a little more. For anything bigger, people go to Florence.

Pisa is the better choice for relaxation. The thermal springs of San Giuliano Terme, in use since Roman times, sit just outside the city in an 18th-century bath palace, and Casciana Terme has a large public pool. The small, quiet city adds to the calm.

Bari has no bathing tradition. Its relaxation is the long lunch, the afternoon break and the evening walk along the promenade, and anyone wanting real pampering books a country estate outside the city.