Bologna or San Marino?

Neither is a beach destination, but San Marino is clearly closer to the sea. You can see the Adriatic from its walls, and the sand at Rimini and Riccione is about half an hour's drive down the mountain, which makes an afternoon swim easy.

From Bologna the same coast is an hour by train, so the beach takes a whole day. Either way it is the same organised Romagna shore of rented umbrellas and shallow water.

Food is where the two differ most, and Bologna is far ahead. It is one of the places Italy's richest cooking comes from, so a trip can be planned around meals: ragù and hand-rolled pasta in family trattorias and old osterie with paper tablecloths, food stalls in the Mercato delle Erbe, and Lambrusco or Pignoletto from the nearby hills. The producers of Parma and Modena are also within an hour. Its only weakness is range, because nearly everything is Emilian, and the cooking is heavy in summer.

San Marino has some good dishes, such as piadina, passatelli in broth and strozzapreti, but it cannot match Bologna for depth or care. Many terraces on the summit rely on day visitors and the view, so a good meal usually means going down to Borgo Maggiore or across the border into Romagna. The food there is pleasant and honest but not a reason to come, whereas in Bologna eating is often the reason for the trip.

In both places the town itself is the main sight, but they differ in scale. Bologna's red-brick centre runs for kilometres of UNESCO-listed porticoes, from San Petronio and the Two Towers to the seven churches of Santo Stefano, and it has the Archiginnasio's anatomical theatre and a serious gallery of Bolognese painting. It takes several days to see well.

San Marino offers drama instead of breadth: three towers on a limestone crest, a cliff path between Guaita and Cesta, and the Palazzo Pubblico of a very old republic. It is striking, but a morning covers most of it.

Bologna's students give it a proper night out. There are crowds outside the bars around Piazza Verdi, taverns along Via del Pratello open late, and aperitivo turns into wine bars around Via San Vitale. Only August, when the university empties, goes quiet.

San Marino has dinner and a glass of wine on a terrace with the coast lit up below, and little more. For anything later you drive down to the Riviera clubs at Rimini and Riccione.

Bologna has more to offer outdoors. You can walk straight from the city into the Colli Bolognesi or up to San Luca, explore the gypsum caves of the Parco dei Gessi, or set off from Piazza Maggiore on the Via degli Dei to Florence. The Apennines at Corno alle Scale add higher hiking and some winter skiing.

San Marino's Monte Titano is lower and smaller, but its cliffs and views to the sea make even a short walk feel dramatic. The Marecchia valley beyond is good for a quiet drive or bike ride rather than serious trekking.

Both make good bases, but Bologna is in another class because of the railway. Florence is about half an hour away by fast train, Ferrara, Modena, Parma and Ravenna are short regional rides, and Venice, Verona and Padua are all within a day without a car.

San Marino's nearby sights are more rural and just as appealing: the fortress of San Leo, Renaissance Urbino, the castle at Gradara and the hill towns of Verucchio and Santarcangelo. Most of them, though, really need a car.

These two are about even for children, in different ways. Bologna is flat and largely free of cars, with shade under the porticoes and the Asinelli tower to climb, but its summer heat is hard on small children. San Marino has battlements, cliff edges and a cable car ride, though its steep steps are tough with a pushchair.

San Marino is closer to the coast's attractions, with Fiabilandia, Italia in Miniatura and the Riccione waterparks a short drive below. From Bologna the big family day out is usually Mirabilandia near Ravenna.

Bologna is much easier to get around. Its centre is small, flat and walkable under cover, and the main station at the edge of the old town connects you with the whole of northern Italy. Buses cover the rest, even without a metro.

San Marino's core is also walkable, but nearly every street climbs, and the cable car to Borgo Maggiore helps only so much. The bus to and from Rimini is the only regular link, so beyond the summit you need a car.

In Bologna most people shop for food: aged Parmigiano, fresh tortellini and balsamic from the Quadrilatero. It also has a compact luxury quarter around Via Farini and the Galleria Cavour, the Montagnola market and bookshops in the university quarter.

San Marino's shops lean on its lower taxes, with perfume, watches and spirits, plus crossbow souvenirs and the stamps and coins that collectors look for. Apart from a large outlet centre in the valley, there is little depth.

Overall the two cost much the same, but the money goes in different places. In Bologna eating out is the bargain and most sights are free, while rooms in the old town are expensive and very hard to find during the big trade fairs.

In San Marino hotels are moderate outside August, but you pay extra for anything on the summit with a view. Lower taxes make fuel and spirits cheaper than across the border.

Bologna has a real musical life. The historic Teatro Comunale stages opera, ballet and symphony concerts, jazz plays most nights in basement clubs, and in summer there are concerts and film screenings in Piazza Maggiore.

San Marino has a small theatre, occasional concerts and its summer Medieval Days festival, with costumed musicians, crossbow contests and flag-throwers. For a concert season or an opera, its own visitors head to Bologna.

Neither has its own bathing tradition, but Bologna has thermal water within easy reach. Castel San Pietro Terme is about twenty minutes away and Porretta Terme an hour south by train, and a long lunch under the porticoes is a pleasure in itself.

San Marino has only a few hotel spas. What it offers is evening quiet: walks along the walls above the plain once the daytime crowds have gone, which is calmer than Bologna's noisy university quarter.