Como or Monaco?

Neither is a beach destination in the full sense, but Monaco gives you real sea swimming. Larvotto is short and groomed, with clear, calm water. The rocky platforms and the coves at Cap d'Ail add more places to swim, and the long beaches of Menton and Nice are a train ride away.

Como offers lake dips instead: lidos with lawns and pontoons, the best known beside Villa Olmo, and pebble jetties up the lake at Moltrasio or the Tremezzina. The season is shorter, sand is rare, and the water at the city end is less appealing than it is further north.

Monaco eats at a higher level. It has an unusual concentration of starred and grand hotel dining rooms cooking Riviera and Ligurian food, and you can find local barbagiuan and socca at the Condamine market. The catch is that casual eating barely exists and dinner is a dressed-up affair.

Como's cooking is heartier Lombard fare: risotto with perch, missoltini and polenta with valley cheese, served in old-town trattorias and in family places in the hills. The range is narrower, but it is easier to eat simply and well here.

The two are close on sights, and you can see either in a day or two, but they differ in character. Como's strength is architecture: the marble cathedral, the Romanesque churches of San Fedele and Sant'Abbondio, and Terragni's Casa del Fascio, which architects travel to see. The Volta temple and the silk museum tell the town's own story.

Monaco is more of a spectacle. It has the Prince's Palace and its guard ceremony, Grace Kelly's grave in the cathedral, the Belle Époque Oceanographic Museum and the Casino square, where the setting impresses more than the depth.

Monaco has a night scene and Como mostly does not. Around the Casino square, the port and the Larvotto seafront there are hotel bars, lounges and dressy clubs. Summer and Grand Prix weekend turn the harbour into a party, though the style is glossy rather than casual.

In Como the evening is aperitivo, dinner, a glass in a wine bar near Piazza Duomo and a stroll on the lakefront. Little stays open late, and anyone after a big night takes the train to Milan.

Como has the stronger outdoors, with steep wooded mountains rising straight from the lake. The funicular to Brunate leads to ridge walks towards the Volta lighthouse, the Via dei Monti Lariani and the Greenway del Lago link the villages, and road cyclists climb to the Madonna del Ghisallo. Kayaking, sailing and paddling fill the water.

Monaco itself is built over, so its outdoors lies just beyond the border: the Tête de Chien viewpoint, the old mule path up to Èze and the footpaths around Cap Martin. Its advantage is the sea, clear enough for diving and snorkelling, which the lake cannot match.

Both are superb bases, and the difference is in the kind of outing. From Como the classic days are on the water: ferry or hydrofoil to Bellagio and Varenna and to the gardens of Villa Carlotta and Balbianello. Milan's Last Supper, Lugano and Bergamo's upper town are all reached by rail.

From Monaco the coastal train links Riviera towns, Villefranche, Nice and Menton, with Èze up the hill and Antibes, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Sanremo and Dolceacqua further out. Como's slow boats take time to reach the far villages, while Monaco's outings mostly move quickly along the coast.

Monaco has more to hold children's attention. The aquarium in the Oceanographic Museum has sharks and turtles, Larvotto has sheltered water, and there are the small animal garden and the palace guard. Lifts and escalators help on the climbs, though the formal restaurants and adult tone wear thin after a few days.

Como is just as calm and safe but has less made for children, with no aquarium or zoo to speak of. Its pleasures are the funicular, the ferry rides, paddling at a lido and the flat promenade, which suit a slow stay built around outdoor days.

Monaco is easier to get around, mostly because it is so small. It is about 3km end to end, free public lifts and escalators take you up the slopes, and the station puts the whole coast within reach.

Como's centre is flat and walkable, and its rail links to Milan and Lugano are good, but the lake slows everything else down. The slow ferries take a long time to reach the upper villages, and the shore roads jam in summer.

Monaco has the bigger shopping offer, though nearly all of it is luxury: the fashion houses, jewellers and watchmakers of the Carré d'Or, plus a mall with a few mainstream labels. Como's one real speciality is silk, with scarves and ties from old-town specialists and mill outlets, and only a short run of boutiques on Via Vittorio Emanuele II. In both places, ordinary variety means a trip out, to Milan from Como and to Nice from Monaco.

Como is expensive by Italian standards, but Monaco is in another league: it is among the costliest places in the world, with hotels priced for the very wealthy and almost no cheap food. In Como, a room back from the water, meals in old-town trattorias and the cheap trains and ferries keep a stay manageable, especially outside July and August. In Monaco the usual answer is to sleep in Nice, Menton or Beausoleil and come in for the day, using the free lifts and walks.

Monaco has the far more serious stage. The Monte-Carlo Opera in the gilded Salle Garnier, the Philharmonic and Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo all have international reputations. The Printemps des Arts and the autumn jazz festival round out a season centred on winter and spring.

Como has the Teatro Sociale, an attractive early nineteenth-century house with a mixed programme, summer shows in its open-air Arena, and chamber concerts in churches and villas. It is pleasant but quiet on many nights, and serious opera lovers go to La Scala.

Neither is a spa town, but Monaco has more to book: the large thalassotherapy centre beside the Casino, with its heated seawater pools, and big spas in the grand hotels. Como has only its villa hotel spas and a few day spas. What it offers instead is calm: gardens down to the water, slow ferries and villages that go quiet early, at their best in spring and autumn.