Bergamo or Positano?

Positano is a real seaside resort and Bergamo is not. In Bergamo, swimming means a day out to Lake Iseo or the Lecco arm of Lake Como. You lie on grass, pebbles or concrete platforms, and the water reaches about 23°C by July.

In Positano the sea is at the door. Spiaggia Grande and Fornillo lie beneath the town, Arienzo and Laurito are down long stairways, and boats run to coves further along. The shore is coarse grey sand and pebble that drops away steeply, and in high summer it fills up early. Still, the clear water is in another league from a lake lido.

Bergamo has the wider and deeper food scene. Its mountain cooking includes casoncelli with butter and sage, polenta with braised meats and game, and cheeses such as Taleggio and Strachitunt. The lower town adds everyday trattorias and aperitivo bars, and the province has a fine-dining tier.

In Positano, eating is mostly about the setting: clams, grilled fish and lemon desserts on a terrace above the sea. The menus repeat one another, there is little market or street food, and many kitchens close for the winter.

The gap here is wide. Bergamo's Città Alta is an almost complete walled town inside UNESCO-listed Venetian fortifications, with Piazza Vecchia, Santa Maria Maggiore and the marble front of the Cappella Colleoni. Below the hill, the Accademia Carrara has paintings by Raphael, Bellini and Mantegna.

In Positano, the main sight is the town itself, stacked up its ravine. The majolica dome of Santa Maria Assunta and the painted Roman villa beneath it fill a couple of hours, and for serious sightseeing you have to go to Naples or along the coast.

Neither town is the place for a big night, but Bergamo has more going on, and all year round. It has long aperitivo hours, wine bars and pubs around Via XX Settembre and Borgo Santa Caterina, students keeping a few bars busy, and Milan close by for clubs. In Positano, the evening is a drink with a view and a long dinner, with one cave club on Spiaggia Grande, and even that fades once the season ends.

Both have mountains on the doorstep, but Positano's are more spectacular. The Lattari range drops straight into the sea, the Path of the Gods runs high above the lemon terraces to Nocelle, and kayaks follow the cliffs to grottoes and the Li Galli islets.

Bergamo has more space and variety inland. The Colli di Bergamo park climbs from the walls to San Vigilio, the deep Orobie valleys have rifugi and high lakes, the foothills are good for cycling, and there are small ski areas in winter. For most of this you will want a car.

Both are excellent bases, so the real question is which region you want to see. From Bergamo, trains run in any season to Milan, Brescia and Verona, and Lake Como, Lake Iseo and Crespi d'Adda are all close.

From Positano, ferries link Amalfi, Ravello and Capri, and Pompeii, Herculaneum and Paestum are further off. These trips are about boats and ancient ruins rather than cities and lakes, and outside the ferry season they become slow bus journeys.

Bergamo is much the easier choice with children. The funiculars, the walls and the city playgrounds keep younger children happy, and Leolandia and the Le Cornelle wildlife park are short drives away. The cobbled upper town is hard going with a buggy, though.

Positano is built of stairs, so pushchairs are useless, and apart from the sea there is nothing aimed at children. Older children who like swimming and boats will enjoy it, but it is no place for toddlers.

Bergamo is easy to get around. Two funiculars link the lower town, the Città Alta and San Vigilio, buses run to the station and the airport, and direct trains go to Milan, Brescia and Lecco.

In Positano you get around on foot and by boat. Almost every walk means hundreds of steps, coast buses crawl in summer traffic, parking is scarce, and the ferries mostly run only in season.

Neither town is a shopping destination in its own right, so the difference lies in what you buy. Bergamo's shopping is practical and edible. The arcaded streets of the lower town carry Italian chains and mid-range clothes, while the lane through the Città Alta is where to stock up on Taleggio, salumi and bottles of Valcalepio. Luxury labels and design shops are largely missing, but Milan's are an easy train ride away.

Positano sells one style, and wandering down towards the sea through its boutiques is part of the pleasure. The shops specialise in white linen and bright resort prints, sandals are made to measure on the spot, and painted ceramics and lemon goods fill the remaining windows. It is the place to dress for a summer by the sea, but anyone hoping for high-street variety, markets or department stores will look in vain.

Bergamo is comfortable rather than cheap, but next to Positano it is a bargain. Lower-town hotels and trattorias are fairly priced and the funiculars and buses cost little, which is why so many travellers use it as a base.

Positano is one of the most expensive places to stay in Italy, and you pay for the sea view in rooms, loungers and terrace tables alike. Staying in Praiano or Sorrento, or visiting in May or October, softens the cost.

Bergamo has a real stage life for a provincial city, built around Donizetti. The Teatro Donizetti has a season of opera and concerts and an autumn festival of his works, the Teatro Sociale in the upper town stages smaller productions, Bergamo Jazz runs each spring, and La Scala is within reach.

Positano itself has only occasional summer concerts in churches and squares. The coast's highlight is Ravello's summer music festival, an evening trip away, and for opera you go to Naples.

Bergamo has the edge because of its spa towns. San Pellegrino Terme up Val Brembana and the sulphur springs of Trescore Balneario offer proper thermal bathing, and the Città Alta is quiet early in the morning and in the evening.

Positano has no bathing tradition, so relaxation comes from hotel spas, cliff-side pools and long afternoons on a terrace. That works well in May, June or late September, but the crowds of July and August and the endless stairs make high summer less restful.