Bari or Siena?

The sea is part of daily life in Bari. There is a sandy city beach and rocky swimming platforms towards Torre Quetta, and the better water is at the cliff coves of Polignano a Mare and the inlets around Monopoli, an easy train ride away. Swimming fits into half-days rather than taking over the trip.

Siena is inland, and the sea plays no part in a stay there. The nearest decent beaches are on the Maremma coast, well over an hour's drive, so for most visitors a swim means the pool at an agriturismo.

Both serve rooted regional cooking with little international choice, but Bari has the edge, mostly because of its street food. You can watch orecchiette being rolled in Bari Vecchia's doorways, eat focaccia barese and fried sgagliozze from kitchen windows, and try raw sea urchins at the fishermen's pier.

Siena's strengths are pici, cinta senese pork, panforte and other baked goods, and its wine. Chianti Classico and Brunello are grown on either side of the town. Meals there tend to be sit-down dinners in family osterie, while in Bari much of the best eating happens standing up by the sea.

Siena has much more to see. The Campo and Palazzo Pubblico, the striped Duomo with its inlaid floor, and the Sienese school of painting in the Pinacoteca and the Museo dell'Opera add up to one of Europe's most complete medieval cities. The seventeen contrade still give each neighbourhood its own church, fountain and flag.

Bari's sights are fewer and quicker to see. They centre on the Romanesque Basilica di San Nicola and the whitewashed lanes of Bari Vecchia, with the castle and the nineteenth-century Murat quarter close by. They are characterful, but a day or two covers them, where Siena repays two or three full days.

Bari is the place for a night out. In summer, students and young locals crowd the steps of Piazza Mercantile and Piazza Ferrarese, the bars of the Umbertino streets stay open past midnight, and in July and August the crowd moves to beach clubs south of the city.

In Siena, an evening means dinner, a glass on the Campo and a walk through the lit streets. The centre is quiet before midnight except on the nights around the Palio.

Bari's surroundings are flatter and gentler. Beyond the olive groves and stone walls of the coastal plain, the nearest open country is the karst plateau of Alta Murgia, about an hour inland, which is good for quiet walks and cycling. The Valle d'Itria is easy riding too, and the coast to the south adds sailing.

Siena has the stronger countryside. The bare clay hills of the Crete Senesi spread out south-east of town, and a longer drive south brings you to the rolling fields and hilltop towns of the Val d'Orcia. The white gravel strade bianche start at the edge of town and draw serious cyclists, while walkers can follow stretches of the Via Francigena or explore the wooded Montagnola. Neither city has high mountains, but Monte Amiata, about an hour and a half from Siena, has beech forest and a little winter skiing.

Both are excellent bases, and Siena has slightly more within reach. Florence, San Gimignano, the Chianti villages, Montalcino, Pienza and abbeys such as Sant'Antimo and San Galgano are all close, so there is a different hill town or winery for every day.

Bari's trips are more varied in landscape. You can see Matera's cave dwellings, the trulli of Alberobello, Ostuni's white streets, Trani's cathedral by the sea and the Baroque city of Lecce. In both regions a car makes the inland towns much easier, though Bari's coastal trains handle the seaside trips well.

Bari works better with children, mainly because of the sandy city beach, the flat traffic-free lanes and the seafront passeggiata full of local families. Easy outings include the Grotte di Castellana and the Fasano safari park.

Siena suits older children, who enjoy climbing the Torre del Mangia and seeing the contrada drummers. Its steep stepped streets are hard going with a pushchair, though, and there are no attractions built for children, so many families stay at a farmhouse with a pool and come into town for half days.

Both centres are easy to explore on foot, but they feel different to walk. Bari's old town, shopping grid and promenade sit side by side on flat ground, and a rail link runs to the airport.

Siena is car-free inside the walls but stands on three ridges, so you climb a lot, and escalators lift you up from the station below. For travel beyond the city, Bari's regional railways cover the coast, while Siena relies on buses for Florence. In both places most visitors hire a car for the countryside.

Bari has a little more range, with Italian chains and a few upmarket boutiques along the pedestrian Via Sparano. The best things to bring home are taralli, dried orecchiette, olive oil and Puglian ceramics.

Siena is smaller and more traditional. Banchi di Sopra has leather and stationery shops, and the local specialities are majolica, contrada scarves, panforte and pecorino, with a large weekly market by the Fortezza. Neither city will satisfy a serious shopper.

Bari is the cheaper stay. Street food and trattoria lunches cost little, local wine is cheap, and the basilica and old town are free, although rooms get tighter in July and August.

Siena is moderately expensive. There are few rooms inside the walls, prices jump around the Palio, and the cathedral complex and civic museums both charge for entry. Simple osteria meals keep food costs down, and staying in an agriturismo outside town often saves money.

Bari offers more of an evening out, thanks to the Teatro Petruzzelli, one of Italy's largest opera houses, with a full season of opera, ballet and symphonic concerts. In summer there are open-air concerts and a jazz festival in the piazzas and the castle.

Siena's musical life is built around its schools. The Accademia Chigiana holds summer concerts in palaces and churches, and Siena Jazz puts on smaller performances. These are rewarding, but for opera you would need to go to Florence.

Bari has nothing to compare with Siena's hot springs. Rest there means the sea, whether that is an afternoon on the rocky platforms towards Torre Quetta or a calm swim in summer, along with the easy pace of the city. That makes for a lazy week by the water, but not a spa break.

Siena has thermal water within reach in several directions. Rapolano's travertine pools are close enough for an afternoon. Further south, steam rises from the medieval bath in the middle of Bagno Vignoni, Bagni San Filippo's white pools sit in the woods, and Petriolo has a hot sulphur river. Combined with a farmhouse stay in the hills, they make a proper wellness trip.