Bologna or Portofino?

Neither place has a proper beach of its own, but Portofino comes much closer to a seaside stay. You can climb down ladders from the rocks into deep, clear water along the lighthouse path. Paraggi's small sandy bay is a short walk away and San Fruttuoso's pebble cove is reachable by boat. All of these spots are small and crowded in summer.

From Bologna, the sea means an hour's train ride to Rimini and the long Romagna shore of rented umbrellas and shallow, often greenish water. It is fine for one hot day out, but nobody chooses Bologna for swimming.

Eating is one of the main reasons to visit Bologna and one of the weaker points of Portofino. Bologna gives you fresh pasta rolled in shop windows, mortadella, the delicatessens and fishmongers of the Quadrilatero, and Parmigiano and Parma ham made less than an hour away. Its one limit is that almost everything is Emilian and rich.

Portofino has Ligurian pesto, focaccia di Recco and fritto misto, served on harbourside terraces. The view costs more than the cooking deserves. Keen eaters head to Camogli, Santa Margherita or the hill trattorie for better local food.

Bologna has far more to see. Its large brick centre has UNESCO-listed porticoes, Piazza Maggiore with San Petronio, the Two Towers, the seven churches of Santo Stefano and the anatomical theatre of Europe's oldest university. The Pinacoteca adds a serious collection of paintings, and you need two or three days to see it all.

In Portofino, the sight is the coloured horseshoe of houses itself. Beyond that there is Castello Brown, the church of San Giorgio and the abbey at San Fruttuoso, and no museums of any size. It is a place for atmosphere rather than sightseeing.

Bologna's student population keeps the city out late. Crowds gather outside cheap bars around Piazza Verdi, small taverns line Via del Pratello, and wine bars fill after aperitivo near Via San Vitale. The one gap is August, when the students leave and the city goes quiet.

Portofino's evening is a dressed-up drink facing the yachts, followed by dinner, and then very little. For anything later you have to go to Rapallo, Santa Margherita or Genoa.

Portofino is the outdoor destination of the two. The whole headland is a regional park and the sea around it is a marine reserve. Trails climb through holm oak and pine to the Semaforo Nuovo, with chained sections above the cliffs, and below the water there are red coral walls and the Christ of the Abyss statue.

Bologna's countryside is gentler. You can walk the arcaded climb to San Luca, explore the gypsum caves of the Parco dei Gessi or set off on the Via degli Dei towards Florence. The higher Apennines are about an hour and a half south, and the plain to the north is good for cycling but flat.

Both make good bases, but Bologna's rail junction gives it the edge. Florence is about half an hour away, while Ravenna's mosaics, Ferrara, Modena and Parma are short trips along the Via Emilia. Venice, Verona and Padua are close enough for a long day out.

Portofino's outings follow the coast. Camogli, Rapallo and Sestri Levante are nearby, Genoa is under an hour away, and summer ferries run to the Cinque Terre and Portovenere. These are pleasant trips by sea, but they need more planning once the ferry season ends.

Bologna is the easier of the two with children. Its flat, largely car-free centre and shaded porticoes work well with a pushchair, and climbing the Asinelli tower makes a small adventure. Mirabilandia and the Rimini beaches cover the rest, though the city itself has little aimed at children.

Portofino is calm and safe, and older children enjoy the boats and swimming off the rocks. However, the steep stepped paths, paid beach clubs and lack of playgrounds mean most families stay in Santa Margherita instead and visit the Genoa aquarium on a day trip.

Bologna is simple to get around. The centre is compact and flat, you can walk under cover for most of it, and the main station sits at the edge of the old town with fast trains in every direction. There is no metro, but buses cover what walking does not.

In Portofino, the village itself takes minutes to cross, though the paths up to the church and castle are steep. Getting there is the problem: there is only one narrow road from Santa Margherita, about 5km away, with crowded summer buses and scarce parking. The spring-to-autumn ferries are the most pleasant way to arrive.

Bologna offers more to browse, and much of what visitors take home is edible: aged Parmigiano, balsamic vinegar and tortellini from the Quadrilatero. Beyond food there are luxury fashion houses in the Galleria Cavour, the Montagnola market, a weekend antiques market in Piazza Santo Stefano and vintage shops in the university quarter.

Portofino packs big-name fashion and jewellery boutiques, resort wear and Ligurian lace into a few lanes behind the harbour. It makes an hour's stroll for window-shoppers, and for a longer browse locals go to Chiavari or Genoa.

Bologna is the far cheaper stay. Its trattoria meals, aperitivo with food included and free churches keep daily spending moderate. Hotels in the old town are the main cost, and they become scarce and expensive during the big trade fairs.

Portofino's few hotels are mostly luxury properties, and the piazzetta charges heavily for its view, as do Paraggi's loungers and boat hire. Walking and buses are about the only cheap things, which is why so many visitors sleep in Rapallo or Camogli.

Bologna has a real musical life. The Teatro Comunale is a historic opera house with seasons of opera and ballet, and the city is a UNESCO City of Music. Basement jazz clubs play most nights, students fill small rock and indie venues, and summer brings concerts and film screenings to Piazza Maggiore.

Portofino has no theatre and no regular venue, apart from the occasional summer concert in the piazzetta or at the castle. For an opera night from there, you have to go to the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa.

Neither place has a bathing tradition, and both offer a similar degree of rest, in different ways. From Bologna, thermal springs are a short trip away at Castel San Pietro Terme or in the green valley at Porretta Terme, while the city itself is noisy around the university and heavy in summer heat.

Portofino's calm comes from its setting. It has hillside hotel spas, quiet shaded paths and long lunches by the water, but this peace holds mainly in the early morning, in the evening and outside high summer, before the tour boats arrive.