Bergamo or Sorrento?

Bergamo has no coast at all. Swimming there means a trip to Lake Iseo or the Lecco arm of Lake Como, where the lidos sit on grass, pebble or concrete and the water reaches about 23°C in midsummer. It makes a pleasant escape from the heat but is not a reason to go.

Sorrento has the sea right below the town. Neither place has a sandy beach, but at Marina Piccola and Marina Grande you step off wooden piers into deep, clear water, and the rocky inlet of the Bagni della Regina Giovanna is a short walk away. The catch is space: in high summer the shore is crowded and mostly taken up by paid lidos.

Both cook Italian food from their own region, but from opposite landscapes. Bergamo eats like the Alps: casoncelli in butter and sage, polenta with braised meat and game, and Taleggio, Branzi and Strachitunt from the valleys, with Valcalepio and Franciacorta to drink.

Sorrento cooks from the sea and the lemon groves: gnocchi alla sorrentina, fish all'acqua pazza, fresh mozzarella and Neapolitan pizza. Its main squares lean towards tour-group menus, so the better meals are on the back lanes, at Marina Grande and in the hill villages. Neither offers much beyond Italian cooking.

This is where the two differ most. Bergamo's Città Alta is an almost intact walled town inside UNESCO-listed Venetian fortifications. Piazza Vecchia, Santa Maria Maggiore and the marble front of the Cappella Colleoni sit within a few steps of one another, and the Accademia Carrara below holds Raphael, Bellini and Mantegna.

Sorrento's own sights are pleasant rather than major: the Roman street grid, the cloister of San Francesco, the Museo Correale and the ruined mill in the Vallone dei Mulini. A gentle day covers them, and the region's great history lies outside the town.

Both towns are quiet after dark, and neither suits someone looking for clubs. Bergamo's evenings are an aperitivo and wine bars around Via XX Settembre and Borgo Santa Caterina, with students keeping a few places lively, and Milan is close for anything bigger.

Sorrento's evenings follow the passeggiata on Corso Italia, then a drink on a terrace over the bay or a piano bar with Neapolitan songs. Because the trains and ferries stop early, a big night in Naples or on Capri means staying over.

Sorrento has the edge for scenery you can walk straight into. Terraced paths lead out of town to Punta Campanella and the protected bay of Ieranto, the Path of the Gods and Vesuvius are within reach, and kayaks and small boats explore the coves and grottoes.

Bergamo's outdoors is mountain country. The Colli park climbs from the upper town, and Val Brembana and Val Seriana lead into the Orobie Alps, with rifugi, high lakes and small ski areas in winter, plus lake sailing and good cycling. For most of this a car helps, whereas Sorrento's best trails start on foot.

Both are excellent bases, but Sorrento has more famous names close by. Pompeii and Herculaneum are a short train ride away, Capri is less than an hour by ferry, and boats run to Positano and Amalfi, with Naples and its archaeological museum also near.

Bergamo's outings are more relaxed and mostly by rail: Milan and the Last Supper, the towns on Lake Como, Monte Isola on Lake Iseo, Crespi d'Adda, Brescia and Verona. Its trains are calmer than the crowded Circumvesuviana and the summer coast road.

Bergamo is the easier family choice. Children enjoy the funicular rides up to the Città Alta and San Vigilio, and the walls make a gentle walk. Leolandia and the Le Cornelle wildlife park are short drives away. The steep cobbles of the upper town are the one struggle with a buggy.

Sorrento's flat centre is actually easier with a pushchair, and boat trips and Pompeii go down well. However, little is designed for children, swimming means deep water off piers rather than shallow sand, and many hotels sit on steep lanes with no pavements.

Bergamo is simpler to get around. Two funiculars link its levels, buses run to the station and the airport, and direct trains reach Milan, Brescia and Lecco. You only need a car for the upper valleys and the lake shores.

Sorrento's centre is small and flat, with a lift down to the marinas, but leaving it takes more patience. The Circumvesuviana is old and crowded, coastal buses get stuck on the hairpins in summer, and ferries are often the most comfortable option. A car there is more burden than help.

Neither town is a shopping destination. Each sends serious shoppers elsewhere, Bergamo to Milan and Sorrento to Naples or Capri. The difference is in what you bring home.

Bergamo's lower-town arcades hold Italian chains and mid-range fashion, and the lane through the Città Alta is lined with cheese shops, salumi and wine. Sorrento sells lemon-themed goods by the shelf, but also real local crafts: intarsia boxes, sandals made to measure and cameo jewellery.

Bergamo is noticeably easier on the budget. Lower-town hotels and trattorias are fairly priced, and buses and the funicular cost little. Only rooms inside the Città Alta and summer weekends push the cost up.

Sorrento charges resort rates in summer for sea views, lido sunbeds, terrace dinners and private boats. Cheap trains and back-lane pizzerias help, and hotel rates fall considerably in spring and late autumn.

Bergamo has a real stage life for its size. Donizetti was born here, and the Teatro Donizetti runs an opera and concert season and an autumn festival of his works. The Teatro Sociale and the long-running Bergamo Jazz festival add more, and La Scala is an easy evening away.

Sorrento offers mainly tarantella and Neapolitan song shows staged for visitors, plus summer chamber music in the San Francesco cloister. For proper opera you travel to the San Carlo in Naples.

The two are about level, but the rest they offer is quite different. From Bergamo you can take the waters properly: the Belle Époque spa at San Pellegrino Terme is forty minutes away, and the sulphur springs at Trescore Balneario go back to Roman times.

Sorrento's calm comes from clifftop hotel spas, pools over the bay and the slow pace of the lemon gardens, with Ischia's thermal gardens a ferry ride away. Its centre gets noisy in July and August, while Bergamo's upper town stays quiet in the early mornings and evenings.