Bergamo or Bologna?

Neither city has a coast, so in both a swim means a day out, but the water you reach is quite different. From Bergamo you swim in the lakes: Iseo at Sarnico or Lovere, or the Lecco arm of Como. The shores are grass, pebble or concrete platforms, and the water is around 23°C in midsummer.

From Bologna you go to the Adriatic at Rimini or Cervia, about an hour by train. The sea there is warmer and shallow, and the long sandy shore is lined with rented umbrellas in organised lidos. Choose Bergamo for the mountain scenery around the water and Bologna if you want proper sand.

Food is where Bologna pulls clearly ahead. This is the home of tagliatelle al ragù, tortellini in brodo and mortadella. Pasta is still rolled by hand in shop windows, and Parmigiano, Parma ham and balsamic vinegar come from towns nearby. The Quadrilatero market lanes make eating a reason to come in their own right.

Bergamo eats well too, but more narrowly: casoncelli with butter and sage, polenta with braised meats and game, and an outstanding choice of valley cheeses such as Taleggio and Strachitunt. It is satisfying mountain cooking rather than a food destination, and neither city offers much beyond its own region's kitchen.

Bologna has more to see, and most of it is the city itself. It has kilometres of UNESCO-listed porticoes, Piazza Maggiore with San Petronio, the Two Towers, Santo Stefano and the Archiginnasio of Europe's oldest university. Seeing it properly takes two or three days.

Bergamo's Città Alta is a tighter, more complete picture: a hilltop town inside its Venetian walls, with the Cappella Colleoni and Santa Maria Maggiore at its heart. The Accademia Carrara below adds Raphael, Bellini and Mantegna. It all fits into a day or two, while Bologna rewards a longer stay.

Bologna goes out far more. Its large student population fills Piazza Verdi and Via Petroni with crowds standing outside cheap bars, and the taverns along Via del Pratello stay open late. The exception is August, when the students leave and the city goes quiet.

An evening in Bergamo is an unhurried aperitivo, then a wine bar in Borgo Santa Caterina or a drink on the walls of the Città Alta, and it is mostly over by midnight. In both cities the clubs are out on the edge of town, and anyone in Bergamo after a big night heads to Milan.

Bergamo is the stronger choice for time outdoors. The Colli di Bergamo park rises straight from the upper town. Val Brembana and Val Seriana lead into the Orobie Alps for serious hiking, and Lake Iseo and Lake Como offer sailing and lakeside walks.

Bologna's countryside is gentler. There are easy walks up to San Luca and through the Colli Bolognesi, gypsum caves in the Parco dei Gessi, and the Via degli Dei to Florence if you have several days. The higher Apennines are further off, and the plain to the north is flat farmland.

Both make excellent bases, but Bologna has the edge thanks to its rail junction. Florence is barely half an hour away and Ravenna's mosaics about an hour. Ferrara, Modena and Parma are short rides along the Via Emilia, with Venice, Padua and Verona further out.

Bergamo's strengths are Lombardy and the lakes. Milan is under an hour by train, and Lake Iseo with Monte Isola, Lecco, Crespi d'Adda and Brescia are all close. Verona and Mantua can be reached from either city, so the real choice is the lakes and Milan against Tuscany and Emilia.

Neither city is built around children, and they are about even here, but the help comes in different forms. Bergamo has the funicular rides, the walk along the walls and two proper outings nearby: Leolandia, about twenty minutes by car, and the Le Cornelle wildlife park. The cobbled lanes of the upper town are hard work with a buggy, though.

Bologna is easier to get around, flat and largely car-free, with shady porticoes, and climbing the Asinelli tower suits older children. Its big theme park, Mirabilandia near Ravenna, is further away, and the summer heat in the city is harder on small children.

Bologna is the simpler city to move around. The centre is flat, compact and largely closed to cars, and the porticoes keep you in shade or out of the rain as you walk. The station at the edge of the old town connects to the whole of the north.

Bergamo is built on two levels, joined by funiculars, with buses up the hill and a short ride to the airport. Each level is easy to walk, but the slope between them is steep. For the valleys and lake shores a car saves a good deal of time, whereas in Bologna a car is mostly a burden.

Bologna offers more to browse. Beyond the Quadrilatero delicatessens there are high-street chains on Via dell'Indipendenza and a small luxury cluster around Via Farini and the Galleria Cavour. The Montagnola market and the vintage and book shops of the university quarter add more.

Bergamo has mid-range chains along the Sentierone and Via XX Settembre, and its real pleasure is the cheese shops, bakeries and wine sellers of the Città Alta. In both cities the best things to take home are edible, and serious fashion shopping from Bergamo means a trip to Milan.

Overall costs are much the same, comfortable rather than cheap, but the money goes in different places. In Bergamo the lower-town hotels are fair value, which is why many travellers use it as a base. Rooms inside the Città Alta and summer weekends cost more.

In Bologna, eating out is the bargain, with honest trattorias and aperitivo that comes with food, and the free churches and walkable centre keep other spending low. Hotels are priced like the rest of prosperous northern Italy, and rooms become scarce during the big trade fairs.

Bologna has the richer stage life. The Teatro Comunale is one of Italy's historic opera houses, and the city is a UNESCO City of Music. Small jazz clubs play most nights, student venues host a steady run of indie and rock gigs, and in summer there are concerts in Piazza Maggiore.

Bergamo's programme centres on Donizetti, the composer born there: opera at the Teatro Donizetti, an autumn festival of his works, and the long-running Bergamo Jazz festival in spring. Beyond these it is quieter, but La Scala in Milan is close enough for an evening.

Bergamo is the better place to slow down. San Pellegrino Terme, a Belle Époque resort about forty minutes up Val Brembana, has a grand historic thermal spa, and the old sulphur springs of Trescore Balneario are close by. The walls and squares of the Città Alta are quiet early and late in the day.

From Bologna you can reach the spa pools at Castel San Pietro Terme and the old valley spa town of Porretta Terme, and both make a pleasant half day. The city itself is noisier around the university and heavy in the summer heat, so relaxing there mostly means a long lunch under the porticoes.