Bergamo or Cesky Krumlov?

Neither town is on the coast, so either way a swim means a summer trip to a lake. Bergamo gives you more choice: there are lidos on Lake Iseo around Sarnico and Lovere, and the Lecco arm of Lake Como is within easy reach. The water is also a few degrees warmer by July.

From Cesky Krumlov the only real option is the Lipno reservoir, half an hour's drive away. Its shores do have some sand, while the Italian lakes are mostly pebble, grass and concrete. The Vltava in town is for floating downstream, not for swimming.

In Bergamo, food is a reason to go in itself. Casoncelli with butter and sage, polenta with braised game, and valley cheeses such as Taleggio, Branzi and Strachitunt give the cooking real depth. Valcalepio and Franciacorta wines and a fine-dining tier in the province add to it.

Cesky Krumlov serves solid South Bohemian roast pork, duck with dumplings and river trout in vaulted cellars, and its local beer is excellent. But the range is narrow and many menus are written for day-trippers, so meals are pleasant rather than memorable.

Both are old towns you can take in over a day or two, but in different ways. In Bergamo, UNESCO lists the Venetian walls of the 1500s that ring the Città Alta. Inside them are the Cappella Colleoni and Santa Maria Maggiore around Piazza Vecchia, and down the hill the Accademia Carrara adds a gallery of real weight, with Raphael, Bellini and Mantegna.

In Cesky Krumlov the whole historic centre is listed, and the town itself is the sight: painted houses packed into a bend of the river below a huge castle, with the Cloak Bridge and a Baroque theatre that still has its original stage machinery. The museums are small, so the pleasure lies in the views and in walking the lanes at quiet hours.

Bergamo at least gives you an evening out. There is aperitivo along Via XX Settembre and in Borgo Santa Caterina, plus wine bars, a few pubs and summer drinks on the Venetian walls, and things usually wind down around midnight.

Cesky Krumlov stops at a beer by the river or in a cellar bar. It has no clubs, and outside summer the lanes empty early. Neither is a party town, but from Bergamo, Milan is close enough for a proper night out.

Both towns have good countryside close by, but Bergamo's is bigger and higher. The Colli di Bergamo park climbs straight up from the upper town, and Val Brembana and Val Seriana lead into the Orobie Alps, with rifugi, high lakes and serious hiking. On top of that there is sailing on the lakes and cycling in the foothills.

Cesky Krumlov's outdoors is softer. The best of it is a day canoeing or rafting down the wooded meanders of the Vltava. The spruce woods and bogs of the Bohemian Forest add long, quiet walks, and cross-country skiing in winter.

Day trips are one of Bergamo's great strengths. Milan is under an hour by train, Lake Como and Lake Iseo are closer still, and Brescia, Cremona and Verona all make easy rail outings, so you can fill a week without driving. Crespi d'Adda and the Franciacorta vineyards are within an afternoon as well.

Cesky Krumlov has a pleasant round of South Bohemian sights: the arcaded square in České Budějovice, the white castle at Hluboká, the Baroque farmhouses of Holašovice and the fish ponds around Třeboň. They are smaller in scale and most need a car, and Prague is too far for a comfortable day trip.

Bergamo gives children more to do. The funiculars up to the Città Alta and San Vigilio are a treat in themselves, the Leolandia theme park and the Le Cornelle wildlife park are both close by, and the lakes can fill extra days.

Cesky Krumlov has the bears in the castle moat and a gentle raft trip on the river, which most children love, plus the treetop walk at Lipno. Beyond those, the castle interior tours suit adults better. In both towns, steep cobbles make a pushchair hard work.

In Bergamo, funiculars and city buses link the two levels of the town, and a light-rail line runs up into Val Seriana. Direct trains to Milan, Brescia and Lecco let you explore without a car.

Cesky Krumlov's old town is so small that you can walk across it in a quarter of an hour. The difficulty is getting out of town: regional connections are thin, so most visitors hire a car or join tours.

Bergamo has normal city shopping along Via XX Settembre and the Sentierone, the delicatessens and cheese shops of the Città Alta, and Milan's fashion streets under an hour away. Cesky Krumlov sells mostly souvenirs and crafts, such as Bohemian glass, garnet jewellery, marionettes and the green moldavite stone, and has no fashion streets at all. Shop there for a gift, and in Bergamo for anything else.

Cesky Krumlov is the cheaper of the two. Family guesthouses in old houses, Czech meals and local beer keep daily costs moderate, though rooms with views and the separately priced castle tours add up.

Bergamo is comfortable rather than cheap. Hotels and trattorias in the lower town are fairly priced for northern Italy, but rooms and restaurants inside the Città Alta cost more, and summer weekends fill up.

Bergamo has a stage life all year, built around Donizetti. The Teatro Donizetti runs a season of opera and concerts and an autumn festival of his works, Bergamo Jazz is a long-running spring festival, and La Scala is within reach for an evening.

Cesky Krumlov's performances mostly happen in summer, at the revolving open-air theatre in the castle garden and during a classical music festival. For the rest of the year there is little to attend, and most people see the Baroque castle theatre only on a tour.

Bergamo comes out ahead because of its spa towns: the grand thermal baths of San Pellegrino Terme are about forty minutes up the valley, and the sulphur springs at Trescore Balneario have been used since Roman times. Cesky Krumlov has only hotel wellness rooms and beer baths, and the nearest proper treatments are the peat baths in Třeboň. Both towns turn restful once the day visitors leave, Bergamo's upper town in the early morning and Cesky Krumlov on a quiet evening by the river.