Bergamo or Bled?

Neither has a sea, so swimming means a lake. Bled has the edge because you swim in the lake the village sits on. There are grassy lidos below the castle, shallow water at the western end near Velika Zaka, and the option of swimming out to the island, in water that reaches about 24°C at the height of summer.

From Bergamo, a swim means a trip to Lake Iseo or the Lecco arm of Como, where the lidos and concrete platforms around Sarnico and Lovere await. The water is almost as warm, but it is a day out rather than a short walk from your room.

Bergamo eats far better. Casoncelli with butter and sage, polenta with braised meats and game, and valley cheeses such as Taleggio and Strachitunt make it a real food stop. There is Valcalepio and Franciacorta to drink, and a fine-dining tier above the trattorias.

Bled has kremšnita on a lake terrace and some trout and žlikrofi, but much of the rest is hotel dining and pizza for day visitors. Its better meals are at farm inns out in the valleys, and keen eaters will run out of ideas within a couple of days.

Bergamo has a whole walled hilltop town. Its Venetian ramparts are UNESCO-listed, and inside them are Piazza Vecchia, the Cappella Colleoni and Santa Maria Maggiore, with the Raphaels and Bellinis of the Accademia Carrara below the hill. That makes a solid day or two of real sightseeing.

Bled has a few memorable sights rather than a cultural programme: the clifftop castle and its small museum, the pletna boat ride to the island church with its wishing bell, and the old spa villas along the shore. It is more a view than a place for galleries, and most people have seen it all in a day.

An evening in Bergamo has somewhere to go, while an evening in Bled mostly has a view. In the lower town, a long aperitivo around Borgo Santa Caterina and Via XX Settembre turns into wine bars and a few pubs, with students keeping some of them lively. On summer nights the upper town drinks in its squares and along the walls until about midnight. The few clubs sit on the edge of the city, and Milan is the place for a late one.

Bled offers a drink on a hotel or café terrace after dinner and a walk along the lit shore, and the village is quiet well before midnight. There are no clubs at all, and a proper night out means the trip to Ljubljana.

Both have mountains close by, but Bled sits right in them. The lake circuit, the climbs to Ojstrica and Osojnica, the Vintgar Gorge and Triglav National Park, with Bohinj, Pokljuka and the Soča valley beyond, offer hiking, rafting, canyoning and winter skiing, nearly all within half an hour or so.

Bergamo's Colli park climbs straight up from the upper town, and Val Brembana and Val Seriana lead into the Orobie Alps for serious hut-to-hut walking, with Iseo and Como for sailing and cycling. It is a fine outdoor base, but the best of it lies further from the door than at Bled.

Bergamo is the stronger base. Milan, the shores of Como and Iseo, Brescia, Cremona and Verona are all within reach by train or a short drive, and Crespi d'Adda and Franciacorta are closer still, so a week of day trips need never repeat a theme.

Bled's outings are good but fewer. Ljubljana is within the hour and medieval Radovljica is next door. Further afield are the Postojna cave and Predjama Castle, Piran on the coast and the Wörthersee in Austria through the Karawanks tunnel, though several of these make long days and are easier by car.

Both are small, calm and safe, and the difference is in the kind of fun. In Bergamo, children enjoy the funiculars, the walk along the walls and drives out to the rides at Leolandia and the Le Cornelle wildlife park, though the cobbled upper town is a struggle with a buggy.

Bled is the more active choice: rowing to the island, swimming from shallow lidos, the toboggan run and rope park on Straža and the gorge walkways, with a flat lake path for pushchairs. It has no zoo or indoor attraction, so wet days are harder to fill than around Bergamo.

Bergamo is easier to get around, and easier to leave. Two funiculars and the city buses link the lower town, the Città Alta and San Vigilio. The airport is a short bus ride away, and direct trains run to Milan, Brescia and Lecco.

Bled's lakeside is pleasant on foot, with buses to Ljubljana and Bohinj and trains from Lesce-Bled and Bled Jezero. Beyond those routes the mountains are poorly served, so a car matters more here than in Bergamo, where you only need one for the upper valleys and the lake shores.

Bergamo has ordinary city shopping under the arcades of Via XX Settembre and the Sentierone, and the delicatessens of the Città Alta are good for cheese, salumi and wine to take home. Bled has gift stalls by the lake selling honey, lace and painted beehive panels, and very little else. Neither is a place for fashion, but Milan is under an hour from Bergamo.

Bergamo is a little easier on the budget. Hotels and trattorias in the lower town are fairly priced, and the buses and funicular cost little, though rooms inside the Città Alta are dearer.

Bled charges for its fame. Lakeside rooms and terraces with a view cost more than elsewhere in Slovenia, and July and August are the hardest months to book. Staying in Radovljica, in Bohinj or at the lakeside campsite, and spending your days on the free trails, narrows the gap.

Bergamo has a real stage life, built around Donizetti, who was born here. The Teatro Donizetti runs a season of opera and concerts and an autumn festival of his work, the Teatro Sociale adds smaller productions and Bergamo Jazz comes in spring. La Scala is within reach for an evening.

Bled has no theatre or concert hall, only occasional summer concerts in the castle or churches and folk evenings put on for visitors, so live performance means going to Ljubljana.

The two are closely matched, but they offer different kinds of rest. From Bergamo you go out to the spas, either the Belle Époque thermal baths of San Pellegrino Terme up Val Brembana or the sulphur springs at Trescore Balneario, used since Roman times, with quiet mornings on the walls of the Città Alta in between.

In Bled, the rest comes from the place itself. It was a nineteenth-century health resort, and some lakeside hotel spas still use the lake's mild springs. The day can be built around still water, slow boat rides and evenings watching the mountains darken.