Bergamo or Piran?

Only Piran has the sea, and that settles it. You swim in clear Adriatic water from the platforms and ladders below the walls and around the Punta, with the pebble cove at Fiesa and the sand of Portoroz or Strunjan close by.

Bergamo's swimming means a day out at the lakes, at the grassy lidos of Sarnico and Lovere on Lake Iseo or along the Lecco shore of Lake Como. Neither place has long sandy beaches, but in Piran the water is part of every day.

Bergamo's food comes from the mountains: casoncelli with butter and sage, polenta with braised meat and game, and valley cheeses such as Taleggio and Strachitunt, with a fine-dining tier in the province as well. Piran's comes from the sea: grilled fish and scampi buzara in konobas on the Punta, with Malvazija and Refosk from the hills.

The real gap is depth. Bergamo rewards a trip planned around food, from the cheese counters of the Città Alta to Franciacorta sparkling wine just over the border. In Piran the harbour menus repeat one another, and more ambitious cooking means a drive inland.

Venice shaped both old towns, but Bergamo has far more inside its walls. The Città Alta pairs UNESCO-listed Venetian fortifications with Piazza Vecchia, Santa Maria Maggiore and the Cappella Colleoni. Below the hill, the Accademia Carrara holds Raphael, Mantegna and Lotto, and the GAMeC adds modern art.

Piran is one beautiful scene: Venetian Gothic houses around Tartini Square, the campanile of St George and the view of red roofs from the walls. Its indoor sights are modest beside Bergamo's: a maritime museum in a seafront palazzo, the quiet cloister of the Minorite monastery, a small aquarium and a few galleries. Each town is quick to see, but a day in Bergamo holds much more.

Neither town is a place for clubbing, and both send people elsewhere for a real night out, Bergamo to Milan and Piran to the summer clubs of Portoroz. Bergamo still has more going on, with long aperitivo hours, wine bars around Via XX Settembre and Borgo Santa Caterina, and students keeping a few bars busy until around midnight. In Piran the evening is a glass of wine on Tartini Square or at the Punta at sunset, and the town goes quiet soon after.

Bergamo has mountains on its doorstep. The Colli park climbs straight up from the upper town, and Val Brembana and Val Seriana lead into the Orobie Alps, with rifugi, high lakes, serious summer hiking and small ski areas in winter. Lake Iseo and Lake Como add sailing and lakeside cycling.

Piran's outdoors is gentler and coastal: the flysch cliffs at Strunjan, the wading birds of the Secovlje salt pans, kayaking below the cliffs and the Parenzana cycle route into Istria. It suits easy walking and paddling rather than days in the mountains.

Both towns are strong bases, but Bergamo's outings are easier to reach. Direct trains run to Milan, Brescia and Lecco, Lake Iseo and Lake Como are within an hour, and Verona, Cremona and Mantua all make realistic days out.

Piran's draw is having three countries within reach: Trieste, Rovinj and the Istrian hill towns, Predjama Castle and Ljubljana, plus summer boats to Venice. With no railway, though, most of this needs a car.

Both are calm, safe places to bring children, and the difference lies in how the days are filled. Bergamo has funicular rides, gelato on the walls and, a short drive away, Leolandia and the Le Cornelle wildlife park. Piran has a warm, calm sea, a car-free old town and a small aquarium, with the shallow sand of Portoroz nearby.

Bergamo suits families who want outings, and Piran those who want a few lazy days by the water. In both, the steep lanes are hard work with a buggy.

Both centres are easy to walk once you are there, and the difference shows when you leave. Bergamo links its two levels by funicular, runs buses to the airport and has direct trains to Milan, Brescia and Lecco, although the upper valleys are easier by car. Piran is car-free and takes a quarter of an hour to cross, but it has no railway and the regional buses are slow, so exploring Istria or the Karst usually means hiring a car.

Neither is a shopping destination, but Bergamo has the ordinary high street that Piran lacks: the arcades of Via XX Settembre and the Sentierone, with Italian chains and mid-range fashion, and Milan under an hour away. Piran has a few craft shops and galleries and souvenir stalls along the harbour. In both, the best buys are things to eat and drink: Taleggio, salumi and Valcalepio from Bergamo's upper town, and sea salt, salt flower and Istrian olive oil from Piran.

Bergamo is the easier of the two on a budget. Its lower-town hotels and trattorias are fairly priced and its buses and funiculars cost little, while only the Città Alta and summer weekends cost more. Piran gets much dearer in July and August, when old-town rooms are scarce and waterfront tables charge for the view, although staying in Portoroz, eating in konobas and swimming for free all bring costs down.

Bergamo has a real stage life for its size, built around Donizetti. The Teatro Donizetti runs a season of opera, concerts and theatre and an autumn festival of his works, the Teatro Sociale and the long-running Bergamo Jazz add to it, and La Scala is within reach for an evening.

Piran's music is mostly a summer affair, with Tartini concerts in churches, in the monastery cloister and on the main square. Out of season, little is on.

Piran's wellness comes from the sea and the salt. There are brine baths and salt-pan mud treatments in Portoroz, an open-air thalasso spa among the Secovlje lagoons and a seawater resort at Strunjan, all close to a car-free town made for slowing down.

In Bergamo, a spa visit means a trip out of town, to the Belle Époque baths of San Pellegrino Terme or the ancient sulphur springs of Trescore Balneario. Within the city, its calmest hours are the quiet early mornings on the Città Alta walls.