Como or Florence?

Neither is a beach destination, but Como at least lets you swim without leaving town. From June to early September there are lidos with lawns and pontoons, like the one by Villa Olmo, and pebble strands and jetties up the lake at Moltrasio or the Tremezzina, reached by ferry.

Florence is inland in the Arno valley, so cooling off means a hotel pool or a public pool on the city's edge. Sand and sea mean a full day's outing to the Versilia coast, or better, a few separate nights there.

Florence eats a good deal better. Bistecca, ribollita and lampredotto from street carts, the Mercato Centrale and Sant'Ambrogio markets, serious gelato and Chianti poured by the glass give it depth at every level, from a kiosk lunch to fine dining. The Oltrarno and Santo Spirito trattorie reward a short walk away from the tourist menus.

Como's cooking is Lombard lake and mountain food, such as perch risotto, missoltini and polenta. It is pleasant at an aperitivo on the cathedral squares, but the choice is that of a small provincial city, with little street food. The most memorable meals tend to be in family places up the lake or in the hills.

This is where the two differ most. Florence holds the Renaissance in a compact centre: the Duomo and Baptistery, the Uffizi, Michelangelo's David, the Bargello, the Pitti Palace and smaller treasures such as the Brancacci Chapel. That is enough for a week, and the big museums need booking.

Como's old town is small but of real quality, with the marble cathedral, Romanesque Sant'Abbondio, Terragni's Casa del Fascio for architecture lovers and the Volta museum on the shore. You can cover it in a day, and the lake villas then become your sightseeing.

Both are towns of aperitivo and long dinners rather than clubs, but Florence keeps going later. The square at Santo Spirito fills on warm nights, Sant'Ambrogio draws locals, a large student population supports a cluster of pubs, and summer brings bars along the Arno.

In Como a few wine and cocktail bars around Piazza Duomo and a stroll on the lakefront are about it, and anyone after a big night takes the train to Milan.

Como has the more dramatic setting by a distance. Steep wooded mountains drop into a glacial lake, the old funicular lifts you to Brunate's ridge paths in minutes, and the Via dei Monti Lariani, Monte Bisbino and the Greenway del Lago give real hiking. On the water there is kayaking, sailing and paddleboarding, and cyclists have the climb to the Ghisallo chapel.

Florence's countryside is gentler and cultivated: olive terraces at Fiesole, the Chianti lanes for cycling, and the Casentino forests and Apuan Alps for those who travel further. Summer afternoons there are often too hot for long walks.

Both are exceptional bases, but Florence's reach is the deeper one. Siena, Pisa and walled Lucca are each about an hour away, San Gimignano, Volterra and the Chianti villages are close by car, and Bologna is under forty minutes by fast train. The Val d'Orcia towns stretch the list into a week.

Como's outings have a different shape: lake ferries to Bellagio, Varenna and Villa del Balbianello, plus Milan's Last Supper, Swiss Lugano and Bergamo's upper town by rail. Here a day out is mostly a boat ride, whereas from Florence it is usually a train to another historic town.

Neither city is built around children, and they come out about even. Como's appeal for families is outdoors and gentle: boat rides, the funicular, paddling at a lido and pushchair walks through the Villa Olmo gardens, in a calm town.

Florence wins children over with activities rather than settings, such as climbing the dome, the secret-passage tours of Palazzo Vecchio, the globes at the Museo Galileo and the Pinocchio park at Collodi. In return you face narrow pavements, summer crowds and July heat.

Florence is easier. Its main sights lie within about twenty minutes' walk of each other, Santa Maria Novella station sits in the centre for day trips, and trams and small buses cover the airport and the hills. Only the stone paving and summer crowds slow you down.

Como's centre is just as walkable and flat, with two stations for Milan. The catch is the lake itself: slow ferries take a long time to reach the far villages, and the narrow shore roads clog in summer.

Florence offers far more to buy. There is leather from the San Lorenzo stalls to small workshops, marbled paper, goldsmiths on the Ponte Vecchio, the artisan restorers and gilders of the Oltrarno, luxury houses on Via de' Tornabuoni and antiques on Via Maggio. Look closely at the leather, since quality varies.

Como is a one-subject shop: silk. Scarves and ties from old-town specialists and mill outlets are worth the trip, but the boutique streets are short, and serious fashion means Milan.

Neither is a cheap Italian stop, and over a week the two come out at much the same cost, but the money goes on different things. In Como the bed is the big expense: in July and August a room or villa on the water is priced for the international crowd the lake draws. Most of what you do there costs little, from train and ferry tickets to a day on the ridge paths above Brunate. Sleeping in the old town or up the slope, and eating in the hill trattorias rather than on the lakefront terraces, saves the most.

Florence costs you more through the day. Central rooms are dear for most of the year, and the Uffizi, the Accademia and the dome climb each charge admission, so a stay built around sightseeing keeps paying. It is the easier of the two to eat cheaply in, though, with lampredotto rolls and market counters at lunch, and the compact centre means you hardly need a ticket to get about. Como saves you money if you stay back from the water, and Florence if you stay out of the centre and come in the cooler months.

Florence has the more serious stage, as fits the city where opera was born. The Teatro del Maggio Musicale has its own orchestra and a full season of opera, concerts and ballet, and its spring festival is among Europe's oldest. The eighteenth-century Pergola stages theatre, mostly in Italian.

Como's Teatro Sociale is a handsome provincial opera house with a summer open-air Arena, and chamber concerts in villas and Romanesque churches make lovely evenings. Many nights are quiet, though, and La Scala is the reason to take the train to Milan.

Como's calm comes from the place itself: still water, gardens running down to the shore, slow ferry rides and villages that go quiet early. Its spas are mostly in the grand villa hotels, and spring and autumn suit a slow stay best.

Florence's centre is harder to unwind in, apart from early mornings in the Boboli and Bardini gardens. It does have what Como lacks, a real thermal tradition close by. The old spa town of Montecatini Terme is under an hour by train, and the sulphur pools at Bagno Vignoni or Saturnia are a good reason to spend a night or two in the Tuscan countryside.