Bergamo or Genoa?

Bergamo is inland, so swimming means a trip to Lake Iseo or the Lecco arm of Lake Como. There you swim from lidos with grass, pebble or concrete platforms in water that warms up by July. It is a nice escape on a hot day, not a reason to come.

Genoa has the sea inside the city. There is the small cove at Boccadasse, bathing establishments along Corso Italia and rock platforms below Nervi's promenade. The Riviera towns are a short train ride away. The shores are pebble or coarse sand and lined with rented loungers, but you can swim most afternoons all summer.

Bergamo cooks mountain food: casoncelli in butter and sage, polenta with braised meats and game, and outstanding valley cheeses such as Taleggio and Strachitunt. It also has a stronger fine-dining tier than Genoa.

Genoa still eats better day to day, because its cooking is so local and so easy to find. You can have pesto with trofie, focaccia at breakfast, and farinata or panissa by the slice from old-town shops. The Mercato Orientale shows off Ligurian produce, and the harbour trattorias serve fish with Vermentino.

Bergamo's strength is concentration. The walled Città Alta, Piazza Vecchia, the Cappella Colleoni and Santa Maria Maggiore are all within a few minutes' walk, and the Accademia Carrara below adds Raphael and Bellini. You can do it well in a day or two.

Genoa has much more depth. Its medieval quarter is one of Europe's largest, and the Rolli palaces on Via Garibaldi hold Van Dyck, Rubens and Paganini's violin. Add the cathedral, the Lanterna and the marble sculpture of Staglieno cemetery, and there are several days of sightseeing that many visitors don't expect.

Neither is a clubbing city, and both centre their evenings on aperitivo. In Bergamo the night stays small: wine bars around Via XX Settembre and Borgo Santa Caterina, drinks on the walls in summer, and an early end. People who want more go to Milan.

Genoa goes on later. On weekends, students fill the old-town squares near Piazza delle Erbe, the Porto Antico adds waterfront bars, and in summer the evening moves to the beach clubs along the coast.

Both have outdoor country right on the doorstep, but of different kinds. From Bergamo you walk up the Colli to San Vigilio or head into the Orobie Alps for rifugi, high lakes and serious hiking. Small ski areas such as Foppolo open in winter, but most of the mountains are much easier with a car.

Genoa has the sea as well as the hills, and much of it can be reached by train. There are fortress trails above Righi, cliff paths across the Portofino promontory to San Fruttuoso and the Cinque Terre terraces. You can also take a boat out to watch whales in the Pelagos Sanctuary.

Both make excellent bases, so the choice is about what you want to see. From Bergamo the trips are to art cities and lakes: Milan in under an hour, Lake Iseo's Monte Isola, Lake Como, Crespi d'Adda, Brescia, and Verona or Cremona for a longer day.

From Genoa almost everything is along the coast. Camogli, Portofino, Sestri Levante and the Cinque Terre are strung along one railway, with quieter Noli and Finale Ligure to the west. Milan is a longer ride from here than from Bergamo.

Bergamo's funiculars and a gelato on the walls make easy afternoons with children. The bigger draws are outside town, though: Leolandia theme park and the Le Cornelle wildlife park both work best with a car.

Genoa puts its main attraction right in the centre. The aquarium, the Galata museum's submarine and the science centre at the Porto Antico can fill a whole day. Both cities have steep lanes that are hard with a buggy, and Genoa has less green space, but the coves nearby make up for it.

The two are about equally easy to get around, and both rely on climbing machines. Bergamo has a funicular linking its flat lower town to the Città Alta, a short bus ride from the airport and direct trains to Milan and Lecco. The upper valleys and the lakeshores are where a car saves time.

Genoa uses lifts, funiculars, a rack railway and a single short metro line to deal with its hills. Buses are slow, but the coastal railway does most of the work and takes you to Nervi and the Riviera without a car. Driving in the centre is best avoided.

Neither city is worth a trip for shopping alone, and in both the best things to take home are mostly edible. In Bergamo they are the valley cheeses and a bottle of Valcalepio from the counters up in the Città Alta. The lower town's arcades have much the same chains and mid-range fashion as any Italian city of its size, and with Milan so close, Bergamo hardly tries to compete for clothes.

Genoa gives a browser a little more because its old town still has craft shops as well as food shops. Silver filigree and coral made in small workshops in the caruggi are souvenirs that will last longer than a wedge of Taleggio. Via Roma and the Galleria Mazzini also have a smarter range of Italian labels than Bergamo's main streets, though Genoa has no real luxury or design scene either.

Both cost about the same, comfortable rather than cheap for northern Italy. What drives the bill is different. In Bergamo, staying in the lower town keeps costs down, while rooms and tables inside the Città Alta cost more.

In Genoa, eating focaccia and farinata in the city keeps things cheap. Costs go up when you spend days in the Riviera resorts and pay for loungers on the beach.

Bergamo's stage life is built around Donizetti. The theatre named after him hosts the autumn festival of his operas, and Bergamo Jazz comes each spring. Outside those dates the programme is provincial, and La Scala in Milan is the usual evening out.

Genoa offers more on an ordinary week. The Teatro Carlo Felice has opera, ballet and symphonic concerts, and the Teatro Nazionale is an established drama company. There are Paganini concerts, and small clubs keep the city's singer-songwriter tradition going.

Bergamo is the more restful choice. San Pellegrino's grand thermal spa is about forty minutes up Val Brembana, and Trescore's sulphur springs have been used since Roman times. The Città Alta is quiet at the start and end of the day.

Genoa's busy port centre is lively rather than calming. The nearest thermal waters are at Acqui Terme, over an hour inland, so relaxing here mostly means Nervi's villa gardens or a long lunch in a Riviera village.