Bergamo or Lecce?

This is the widest gap between the two. Bergamo has no sea, so summer swimming means a lido on Lake Iseo or the Lecco arm of Lake Como, on pebble, grass or concrete, in water of around 23°C.

Lecce's own nearby beaches at San Cataldo are plain, but the Salento coast within an hour is a reason to travel in itself. There is fine sand and shallow water at Porto Cesareo and Punta Prosciutto on the Ionian side, and there are coves and sea stacks at Torre dell'Orso on the Adriatic. You need a car or the summer bus, and expect crowds in August.

Both kitchens are firmly regional, with little beyond Italian food. Bergamo's is Lombard mountain cooking: butter, polenta and casoncelli, a real strength in valley cheeses such as Taleggio and Strachitunt, and Franciacorta from next door. It also has the stronger fine-dining tier.

Lecce comes out ahead for a food-led trip because its everyday eating is so distinctive and runs through the whole day. It starts with a pasticciotto and almond-milk iced coffee at breakfast and ends with ciceri e tria or orecchiette at night, with dark Negroamaro alongside. It costs little in the old-town osterie.

Both are near-complete historic towns, but from different centuries and in different moods. Bergamo's Città Alta is a walled hilltop of Venetian ramparts, Romanesque Santa Maria Maggiore and the Cappella Colleoni. Below it, the Accademia Carrara gives the city a picture gallery of real weight, with Raphael and Bellini.

Lecce has no collection to match. Its pleasure is the streets themselves: honey-coloured Baroque facades crowded with carving around Santa Croce and the Piazza del Duomo, and a Roman amphitheatre half uncovered beside the main square. Pick Bergamo for paintings and Lecce for a whole townscape.

Neither city is a reason to travel for nightlife, but Lecce's evenings run later and feel more sociable. The passeggiata fills the piazzas, the old town's lanes have wine and cocktail bars, and in summer the dancing moves out to the beach clubs around Gallipoli.

Bergamo winds down around midnight after aperitivo and wine bars along Via XX Settembre or in Borgo Santa Caterina. For clubs, most people take the train to Milan.

Bergamo has mountains on its doorstep. Paths climb from the walls through the Colli di Bergamo park, and the Orobie valleys to the north have rifugi, high lakes and serious summer hiking. There are small ski areas in winter, and the lakes offer sailing and cycling.

Lecce's outdoors is the sea and its edge: the cliffs and sea caves from Roca Vecchia to Otranto, birdwatching at Le Cesine and the Alimini lakes, and good snorkelling and diving. Inland it is flat, and the summer heat limits walking.

Bergamo's day trips are quicker, and most of them need only a train ticket. Milan is under an hour away, Lake Iseo and the Lecco shore of Lake Como are closer still, and Brescia, Cremona and Verona all make easy days out. Crespi d'Adda and the Franciacorta vineyards are near enough for an afternoon.

Lecce opens up the Salento, from the cathedral mosaic in Otranto to Gallipoli's island old town, and the trulli of Alberobello further north. The choice is good, but the distances are longer and most of it means driving.

Bergamo has places built for children, while Lecce relies on the beach. Around Bergamo there are the funicular rides, the Leolandia theme park and the Le Cornelle wildlife park, though the cobbled slopes of the upper town are hard going with a buggy.

Lecce has no theme park or zoo of note, but its traffic-free old town, family evenings on the piazzas and the shallow sandy beaches at Porto Cesareo suit small children well, as long as the day is planned around the midsummer heat.

Bergamo is far easier without a car. Funiculars and buses link the lower town, the Città Alta and the airport, a light-rail line runs into Val Seriana, and direct trains reach Milan, Brescia and Lecco. Only the upper valleys really call for driving.

Lecce's centre is flat and easy to walk, but beyond it the Salento railways are slow and the beach buses run only in summer. Most visitors hire a car and park outside the walls.

Bergamo has the arcaded streets and the better food shops. Chains and mid-range fashion line Via XX Settembre and the Sentierone in the lower town, the Città Alta's main lane is full of cheese shops, delicatessens and wine sellers, and Milan is under an hour away for serious fashion.

In Lecce the best buys are crafts: cartapesta saints from the old-town workshops, carved limestone and ceramics from Grottaglie, along with olive oil and taralli. Beyond those, it is pleasant browsing rather than a shopping trip.

Lecce makes a budget go further for most of the year. Pastries, osterie and local wine cost little, and the bed and breakfasts in old palazzi are fairly priced outside August, when rooms, beach loungers and the hire car all add up.

Bergamo is comfortable rather than cheap. Hotels and public transport in the lower town are reasonable, but staying inside the Città Alta costs more, and summer weekends fill up.

Bergamo has the more serious stage. As Donizetti's birthplace it puts opera first, with a season at the Teatro Donizetti and an autumn festival of his works. Bergamo Jazz adds a spring festival, and La Scala is within easy reach for an evening.

Lecce's theatres run a modest season. Its distinctive draw is pizzica, the tambourine dance played at village festivals all summer and at the Notte della Taranta in Melpignano in August. Outside summer there is less to choose from.

Neither city has a bathing tradition of its own, so both rely on spa towns nearby. Bergamo's are the grander: the Belle Époque spa at San Pellegrino Terme up Val Brembana, and the sulphur springs at Trescore Balneario, used since Roman times. The quiet walls of the Città Alta make for slow mornings.

Lecce offers the sulphur grottoes of Santa Cesarea Terme on the sea cliffs and spas in converted masserie, along with a long afternoon rest that slows everyone down.