Bergamo or Milan?

Neither city has a coast, and swimming means lakes in both, with pebble, grass or concrete platforms and water around 23°C at the height of summer. Bergamo has the edge because Lake Iseo is close, with lidos at Sarnico and Lovere, and the Lecco arm of Lake Como is easy to reach too.

From Milan the lakes are about an hour by train, so a swim takes most of a day. Inside the city, the Idroscalo basin near Linate and the open-air pools are what locals use.

Milan eats better and more widely. Beyond saffron risotto, ossobuco and cotoletta, it draws cooks from all over Italy, so Neapolitan pizza, Sicilian pastry and serious fine dining sit side by side, and aperitivo in the Navigli, Brera and Isola is a meal in its own right.

Bergamo's table is narrower but more rooted: casoncelli with butter and sage, polenta with game and mushrooms, and valley cheeses such as Taleggio, Branzi and Strachitunt. Its cheese counters in the Città Alta beat anything you will casually find in Milan, but look elsewhere for variety beyond Italian food.

Milan carries more weight in individual masterpieces: the Duomo with its rooftop among the spires, Leonardo's Last Supper, the Brera's paintings and Michelangelo's Rondanini Pietà in the Castello Sforzesco. Its heritage is scattered in pockets through a largely modern city, and the big sights need booking and time.

Bergamo offers something Milan lacks, an almost complete walled town on a hill, ringed by UNESCO-listed Venetian fortifications, with Piazza Vecchia, Santa Maria Maggiore and the Cappella Colleoni close together. The Accademia Carrara adds Raphael and Bellini below the hill, and the whole lot fits comfortably into a day or two.

Milan is the place for a real night out. The Navigli canals fill with drinkers on summer evenings, Porta Venezia anchors the gay scene, and clubs range from the dressy Corso Como venues, where appearance counts at the door, to warehouse nights on the edges. It quietens in August, when much of the city leaves.

Bergamo keeps things modest: a long aperitivo, wine bars around Via XX Settembre and Borgo Santa Caterina, and summer drinks on the walls of the Città Alta. Clubs are few and far out, and Bergamo's own night owls take the train to Milan.

Bergamo is closer to the outdoors. Paths climb from the upper town through the Colli di Bergamo to San Vigilio, and Val Brembana and Val Seriana lead into the Orobie Alps, with rifugi, high lakes and serious summer hiking, though a car helps for the upper valleys.

Milan sits on the flat, hazy Po plain, with Parco Sempione and the canal towpaths as its green space. Its strength is the train to Lake Como, Lake Maggiore and the Grigne ridges near Lecco, which suits walkers happy to travel to the trailhead.

Both make excellent bases, and each is a classic day trip from the other. Milan's position on the high-speed lines gives it the wider reach, with Turin, Verona and Bologna in around an hour, plus the Certosa di Pavia, Vigevano and the Borromean Islands on Lake Maggiore.

Bergamo's strength is what lies close: Lake Iseo and car-free Monte Isola, the factory village of Crespi d'Adda, the Franciacorta wine country and Brescia, with Milan's own sights under an hour away.

The two are equally manageable with children, in different ways. Bergamo is calm and small, with funicular rides, gelato on the walls and Leolandia about twenty minutes by car, though the steep cobbles are hard with a buggy.

Milan has the better rainy-day option in the science and technology museum with its submarine, a flat centre for pushchairs and trams that children enjoy, but summer humidity is heavy and most of its famous sights appeal to adults.

Milan is easier to move around without thinking. A flat, compact centre, five simple metro lines and a dense tram network mean no car is ever needed, though the long transfer from Malpensa is a drawback.

Bergamo is walkable on each of its two levels, with funiculars linking the lower town, the Città Alta and San Vigilio, and its airport is only a short bus ride from the centre. Beyond the city, the valleys and lake shores are much easier by car.

Milan is one of the world's fashion capitals and shopping can be the whole point of a visit. The Quadrilatero around Via Montenapoleone, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II and La Rinascente beside the Duomo handle the top end, Corso Buenos Aires the everyday, and design showrooms and Navigli antique markets add more.

Bergamo offers mid-range chains under the Sentierone arcades and, in the upper town, delicatessens and cheese shops that make for the best edible souvenirs. For anything stylish, Bergamo's shoppers go to Milan.

Bergamo is clearly the cheaper stay. Lower-town hotels and trattorias are fairly priced, which is why many travellers sleep there and visit Milan by train, though rooms inside the Città Alta cost more.

Milan is Italy's most expensive city, and trade fairs and fashion weeks push hotel rates higher still. Aperitivo snacks, office-worker lunch menus and a room near an outer metro stop soften the bill.

Milan is in a different league here. La Scala's season of opera, ballet and concerts is the draw, backed by the Piccolo Teatro, a symphony orchestra at the Auditorium, musicals at the Arcimboldi and big summer concerts at San Siro.

Bergamo, Donizetti's birthplace, has a respectable opera life of its own at the Teatro Donizetti, with an autumn festival devoted to the composer and Bergamo Jazz in spring. Between those, its programme is provincial, and La Scala is an easy evening trip away.

Bergamo is the more restful of the two. San Pellegrino Terme, a Belle Époque spa town, is about forty minutes up Val Brembana, Trescore Balneario has sulphur springs used since Roman times, and the Città Alta is quiet in the early morning and evening.

Milan is a work-driven city, though its thermal spa complex south of the centre and the 1930s Bagni Misteriosi pools in summer give an afternoon's respite. For real rest, Milanese head to the lakes.