Bologna or Siena?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Bologna makes a seaside day much easier. The train to Rimini and the Romagna Riviera takes about an hour. You get shallow, warm water and rows of rented sunbeds, which is useful when the plain is hot.

From Siena, the Maremma beaches near Castiglione della Pescaia are a drive of well over an hour, so a swim there takes a full day. In practice, swimming in Siena means the pool at your hotel or agriturismo.

Bologna is the stronger eating city, and food alone justifies a trip there. Tagliatelle al ragù, tortellini in brodo and mortadella are made with care. The Quadrilatero's market lanes stay busy, and Parma and Modena, with their ham, cheese and vinegar, are short train rides away.

Siena cooks well but in a narrower register: pici, ribollita and cinta senese pork, plus a fine baking tradition of panforte and ricciarelli. Wine is where it holds its own. Chianti Classico, Brunello and Vino Nobile are all grown close by, while Bologna pours lighter Lambrusco and Pignoletto.

These two are evenly matched, and both need two or three days. The difference is in the kind of sights. Bologna's appeal is its whole brick cityscape: kilometres of arcaded porticoes, the Two Towers, Santo Stefano's cluster of churches and the anatomical theatre of Europe's oldest university.

Siena concentrates more great art in a smaller space. Lorenzetti's Good and Bad Government frescoes, Duccio's Maestà and the marble Duomo with its inlaid floor are among the finest things in medieval Italy. The seventeen contrade give the town a living civic identity of its own.

Bologna goes out properly. Students crowd the bars around Piazza Verdi, Via del Pratello stays lively until late and aperitivo runs on into wine bars, though clubbing means a taxi out of town and August is very quiet.

Siena's evenings are a long dinner, a glass of wine on the Campo and a stroll home before midnight. Only the Palio nights fill the streets late.

Siena has the better surroundings. The bare clay hills of the Crete Senesi and the UNESCO-listed Val d'Orcia are classic Tuscan scenery, and the gravel strade bianche make it a favourite with cyclists.

Bologna offers easy walking up to San Luca and through the Colli Bolognesi, the gypsum caves of the Parco dei Gessi and the long Via degli Dei trail to Florence. North of the city, though, the land is flat and plain.

Both are superb bases, and the real difference is how you travel. From Bologna it is all by rail: Florence in about half an hour, then Ravenna's mosaics, Ferrara, Modena, Parma and even Venice and Verona as easy day trips.

Siena's best outings are small places: San Gimignano, Montalcino, Pienza, the Chianti villages and abbeys such as Sant'Antimo and San Galgano. They are wonderful, but most are far easier with a hire car than by bus.

Neither city has much built for children, but Bologna is the easier of the two. Its centre is flat and largely car-free, and the porticoes give shade and cover from the rain. Mirabilandia's theme park and the beach at Rimini are within reach for a change of pace.

Siena's steep, stepped lanes are hard going with a pushchair. Families usually do better in a countryside farmhouse with a pool, coming into town for half days. Older children will still love climbing the Torre del Mangia.

Bologna is simpler to get around. The compact old town is flat and walkable under the arches, and the main station sits right at its edge with fast trains in every direction, so a car is never needed.

Siena is walkable too, but its three ridges mean climbs and steps. The station lies in the valley below, linked by escalators, and regional trains are slow, so most visitors end up hiring a car for the countryside.

Bologna gives you more to browse. Its luxury fashion houses cluster on Via Farini and in the Galleria Cavour, the high-street chains line Via dell'Indipendenza, and the university quarter has bookshops and vintage stores. Even so, most visitors go home with Quadrilatero mortadella and Parmigiano.

Siena is more modest: majolica ceramics, contrada scarves, panforte and wine along Banchi di Sopra, a weekly market by the Fortezza, and plenty of souvenir shops off the Campo.

Neither is cheap, but Bologna works out slightly kinder to the budget. Its sights are mostly free churches and squares, aperitivo often comes with food, and staying near the station keeps room costs down, except during the big trade fairs.

In Siena, rooms inside the walls are scarce and expensive in summer and around the Palio, and the cathedral complex and civic museums charge entry. An agriturismo outside town is the usual way to save.

Bologna has the fuller stage. The Teatro Comunale is a historic opera house with a season of opera, ballet and concerts, there is long-established jazz in basement clubs, and students keep a steady run of indie gigs.

Siena's music is serious but small: summer concerts from the Accademia Chigiana in palaces and churches, plus Siena Jazz school performances. For opera or a major orchestra, you have to go to Florence.

Siena is the better pick for unwinding. Rapolano's travertine pools are half an hour away, and further south are Bagno Vignoni's steaming medieval bath, the free limestone pools of Bagni San Filippo and Petriolo's hot sulphur river. All of them pair well with a rural spa hotel.

Bologna's thermal options are Castel San Pietro Terme and the Apennine spa town of Porretta Terme. They make a pleasant half day, but its own idea of relaxing is mostly a long lunch under the arches.