Bologna or Graz?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Bologna at least has the sea within reach. Rimini and the Romagna Riviera are about an hour away by train, with warm, shallow Adriatic water lined with organised lidos, a workable escape on a hot summer day.

Graz has no coast at all. Its swimming means the former gravel pits south of town, such as the Schwarzlsee, with grassy banks and jetties, good for a cooling afternoon but nothing more.

Bologna is in another league here. This is the home of ragù, tortellini and lasagne verdi, with Parmigiano, Parma ham and balsamic vinegar made less than an hour away, and the Quadrilatero lanes and Mercato delle Erbe make browsing for food a sight in itself.

Graz eats well in a narrower, rustic register: pumpkin seed oil on almost everything, cold fried chicken salad and crisp Sauvignon Blanc from the southern hills, best enjoyed at a Buschenschank tavern. Both cities stick closely to their own region, but Bologna gives the food lover far more reason to travel.

Bologna has the bigger and more striking historic centre: a whole medieval city in red brick, with its UNESCO-listed porticoes, the Two Towers, San Petronio, the Santo Stefano churches and the anatomical theatre of Europe's oldest university.

Graz is more compact and quieter, with Renaissance courtyards, the Schlossberg clock tower and two real standouts in the Landeszeughaus armoury and Schloss Eggenberg. Its modern Kunsthaus and Murinsel add a contemporary edge that Bologna lacks, but for sheer depth of history, Bologna leads.

Both are university towns, but Bologna goes out harder. The crowds outside cheap bars around Piazza Verdi, the late taverns of Via del Pratello and the aperitivo-to-wine-bar evenings near the Quadrilatero give it a busier, longer night.

Graz offers a gentler version, with the Bermuda Triangle lanes in the old town and artier bars in Lend. Neither suits serious clubbing, and both go quiet in summer when the students leave, which in Bologna means August in particular.

Graz is the greener base. The Schöckl rises right above the city with trails and paragliding, wooded hills are a short bus ride out, and proper alpine hiking in the Gesäuse and Hochschwab lies within about two hours, with the South Styrian wine hills for gentle autumn walks.

Bologna offers easy hill walks to San Luca and through the Colli Bolognesi, the gypsum caves of the Parco dei Gessi and the start of the Via degli Dei to Florence. Beyond that the Apennines are further off and the plain to the north is flat and unscenic.

This is Bologna's strongest card. As northern Italy's main rail junction it puts Florence barely half an hour away, Ravenna's mosaics and Ferrara's walls about an hour, and Modena, Parma, Verona, Padua and Venice all within easy reach by train, no car needed.

Graz's outings are lovely but more rural: the South Styrian Wine Road, Riegersburg on its volcanic crag, the Lipizzaners at Piber, Admont Abbey's library and Maribor across the Slovenian border. Most of them are much easier with a hire car.

Graz is the friendlier city for children. The Schlossberg alone fills a day, with the glass lift, the underground slide and the little train through fairytale tunnels, and there are playgrounds in the Stadtpark and Augarten, a children's museum and toboggan runs on the Schöckl.

Bologna is pleasant and easy with children, flat and shaded under its arches, with gelato and pasta to keep meals simple, but little is made for them. Families usually head out to a large theme park near Ravenna or the Rimini beaches, and the city's summer heat is harder on small children.

Both centres are small, flat and largely closed to cars, so on foot there is little to choose between them. In Bologna the porticoes are the real help, letting you cross most of the old town in shade or out of the rain. Beyond walking it has no metro and relies on buses, with a shuttle from the airport, and the station sits right at the edge of the old town.

Graz adds trams that run through the heart of town to the station and Eggenberg on one simple ticket, plus a lift and funicular up the Schlossberg, which helps with tired legs or a buggy. The catch comes once you leave the city, where buses thin out and a car is the easier way to reach the hills and vineyards.

Bologna has the slight edge, mostly thanks to its food shops: the Quadrilatero delicatessens send visitors home with Parmigiano, mortadella and balsamic vinegar, and Via Farini and the Galleria Cavour hold a small cluster of luxury fashion. Weekend antiques in Piazza Santo Stefano add some browsing.

Graz is about historic streets such as the Herrengasse and Sporgasse, a grand old department store with a rooftop terrace, design shops in Lend, and loden and traditional costume. The edible souvenirs here are pumpkin seed oil, Schilcher rosé and apple brandy.

The two cost much the same overall, but the money goes in different places. In Bologna eating is the bargain, with honest trattorias and aperitivo that includes food, while old-town hotels are pricey and become scarce during trade fairs.

Graz is the reverse: rooms are reasonable for Austria, but sit-down dinners and wine cost the usual Austrian amounts, so student lunch menus and bakeries are where to save. In both, free squares and walkable centres keep the rest of the budget low.

The two are evenly matched, each with a historic opera house and a strong jazz tradition. Bologna's Teatro Comunale and its UNESCO City of Music standing go with basement jazz clubs, student gigs and free summer concerts and films in Piazza Maggiore.

Graz has Austria's second-largest opera house, the Musikverein's concerts and a jazz scene fed by its music university. Its two festivals, Styriarte for early and classical music in early summer and steirischer herbst for avant-garde work in autumn, give it more of a calendar to plan around. In both, spoken theatre is in the local language.

Graz is the better choice for a restful trip. Its unhurried coffee houses and the shady Schlossberg paths set a calm tone, and Styria's thermal villages, from Hundertwasser's Bad Blumau to Loipersdorf, are about an hour east with large pools and saunas for day visitors.

Bologna's relaxation is mostly a long lunch under the arches. Its noisy student quarter and heavy summer heat work against it, though the spring-fed pools at Castel San Pietro Terme and the green valley spa town of Porretta Terme make a pleasant half day.