Bari or Positano?

Bari has a sandy beach of its own at Pane e Pomodoro, plus the rocky platforms around Torre Quetta. They are handy for an afternoon with local families, but the good swimming means a train south to Polignano and Monopoli.

In Positano the sea is the whole point. Spiaggia Grande and Fornillo sit right below the town, and boats run to quieter coves and to Capri, all in clear, deep blue water. The trade-off is a coarse, steep shore of grey sand and pebbles, crowded by mid-morning in summer.

Bari is much the better place to eat. It has hand-rolled orecchiette in the lanes of Bari Vecchia, focaccia and sgagliozze from kitchen windows, and raw sea urchins at the fishermen's pier. Meals are generous, rooted in Apulian home cooking and fairly priced.

Positano offers a beautiful setting more than variety. Long terrace lunches of clams, scialatielli and lemon desserts are lovely, but the menus repeat each other, there is almost no street food or market life, and many kitchens shut over winter.

Bari has a proper set of sights. There is the Basilica di San Nicola with the relics of St Nicholas, the cathedral and Norman-Swabian castle close by, the nineteenth-century Murat grid and a respectable gallery of southern Italian painting.

In Positano the town itself is the sight. You see the majolica dome of Santa Maria Assunta, the Roman villa buried beneath it and a few watchtowers, and serious sightseeing means a trip to Naples or along the coast.

For going out, Bari is clearly the better pick. It is a student city that keeps late hours. On summer evenings the squares at the edge of the old town become open-air meeting places, with young locals drinking on steps and terraces. The bars stay busy well past midnight, and in high summer the crowd moves out to the coast south of town. The scene is local and easy-going, more about bars than big clubs, and it thins out on winter weeknights.

Positano's evenings are shorter and quieter. You have a drink while the light fades over the bay, then a dinner that runs for hours. After that there are only a few bars and one club in a cave on the beach, and even those close when the season ends. It suits couples much better than groups who want to party.

Positano has the more dramatic setting by far. Sheer limestone mountains drop into the sea, trails climb through chestnut woods to ridges over 1,000m, and the Path of the Gods runs above terraced lemon groves. By boat you can follow the cliffs to the Li Galli islets.

Bari's surroundings are gentle and flat. You have the seafront promenade, the open karst grassland of Alta Murgia and easy cycling in the Valle d'Itria, but no mountains, and the wilder Gargano is too far for a day.

Both are superb bases, but for different kinds of outing. From Bari the trips are about towns and landscapes inland: Matera's cave dwellings, the trulli of Alberobello, Ostuni and Martina Franca, Castel del Monte, and Trani's cathedral by the sea. The trains are slow, so a car helps.

From Positano you mostly go by sea: ferries to Amalfi, Ravello and Capri, plus Pompeii, Herculaneum and Paestum by train or bus. Most boats stop running outside spring to autumn, and the coast road crawls in summer.

Bari is far easier with children. The centre is flat and small, the old town lanes are free of traffic, the sandy city beach is close, and the Grotte di Castellana and the Fasano safari park make good outings.

Positano is built of stairs, so pushchairs are no use. The pebbly beaches also shelve quickly, which makes it better for older children who love boats and swimming than for toddlers.

The difference comes down to flat ground against endless stairs. Bari Vecchia, the Murat streets and the seafront sit side by side on level ground, a train runs to the airport, and regional lines head out along the coast and inland, though some are slow.

In Positano almost every walk means hundreds of steps. A single road loops through the upper town, coast buses fill up and crawl in summer, and parking is scarce. Ferries and your own legs do most of the work, and the boats mostly run only in season.

Neither is a serious shopping destination, but they offer different things to buy. Bari's shopping is everyday: chain fashion along Via Sparano, plus orecchiette, taralli, olive oil and Puglian ceramics from delis and doorways.

Positano sells one distinctive look: white linen and printed resort wear in the lanes above the beach, sandals cut to fit while you wait, and hand-painted ceramics.

There is a big gap in cost. Bari is among Italy's more affordable cities, with cheap street food and wine and moderate rooms outside July and August, though beach clubs and hire cars add up.

Positano is one of the most expensive places to stay in the country, with steep sea-view rooms, loungers, terraces and boat trips. Staying in Praiano or Sorrento, or coming in May or October, saves a lot.

Bari has the Teatro Petruzzelli, one of Italy's largest opera houses, with a season of opera, ballet and concerts. Summer jazz and open-air concerts use its piazzas and castle. Positano has only occasional church concerts. Its best evening is Ravello's classical festival on a terrace over the sea, and for opera you have to go to Naples.

Neither has a bathing tradition, but Positano is the more restful choice. It has upscale hotel spas, pools cut into the cliff and terraces above the sea, though the stairs and the July and August crowds take away some of the calm. Bari offers a slow southern rhythm and the evening stroll along the seafront. Anyone who wants proper pampering heads out to a restored country estate.