Como or Pisa?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Pisa has a real coast and Como does not. In Como, swimming means a lido with lawns and pontoons, the nearest beside Villa Olmo, or a small pebble strand up the lake at Moltrasio or the Tremezzina. The season is short.

Pisa's shore begins about 12km away. Tirrenia and Calambrone have long sandy beaches backed by pine woods, with shallow water for paddling, and Versilia is a short train ride north. The water near the Arno mouth is not crystal clear, but for an afternoon of sand and sea Pisa is the obvious choice.

Both cities cook plainly and regionally, and Pisa offers the better everyday eating. The streets around Piazza delle Vettovaglie, with their morning market, student-priced trattorias and hot cecina from wood ovens, give more choice and fairer prices.

Como's cooking is lake and mountain food: perch risotto, missoltini and polenta, with a pleasant aperitivo around the cathedral. The lakefront terraces charge for the view, though, and the best meals tend to be up the lake or in the hills.

Pisa has the bigger set piece. The cathedral, baptistery, Leaning Tower and Camposanto stand together on one lawn in the Piazza dei Miracoli. Beyond it are Piazza dei Cavalieri, the tiny Santa Maria della Spina and medieval painting at San Matteo, which is enough for two unhurried days.

Como offers a day of quality rather than quantity: the marble cathedral, the Romanesque churches of San Fedele and Sant'Abbondio, and the Volta and silk museums. Its distinctive draw is Terragni's Casa del Fascio, a pilgrimage for anyone interested in modern architecture.

Pisa has more going on after dinner, thanks to its university. During term, students fill the small squares around the old market until past midnight. In summer, the evening moves out to the beach bars on the coast. Neither city has much of a club scene.

In Como, an evening means an aperitivo, a long dinner, a few wine bars near Piazza Duomo and a stroll along the lake, and then the town goes quiet. Young locals take the train to Milan for a big night.

This is where Como clearly leads. The glacial lake is hemmed in by steep wooded mountains, and the walking starts in town. The funicular, running since 1894, climbs to Brunate for the ridge path to the Volta lighthouse, and the Via dei Monti Lariani and the Greenway del Lago follow the slopes and old paths. Add kayaking and sailing on the lake, and the cycling climb to Madonna del Ghisallo.

Pisa's outdoors are gentler and flatter. The San Rossore park of pine forest, wetland and dunes is ideal for easy cycling and spotting deer, and the Monte Pisano has olive-terrace paths. Serious mountain walking, though, means travelling out to the Apuan Alps or the Cinque Terre.

Both cities are outstanding bases, and the difference lies in the kind of outing. From Como, most days are spent on the water, with ferries and hydrofoils to Bellagio, Varenna and the gardens of Villa Carlotta and Balbianello. Milan's Last Supper and Lugano's Swiss lakefront are each under an hour away by train.

From Pisa, the trips are to art cities and the coast. Florence is about an hour away, Lucca under half an hour and the Cinque Terre a little over an hour by rail. With a car you can reach Volterra, San Gimignano and Siena. Como is the base for lakes and villas, Pisa for the towns of Tuscany.

Como keeps children happy with ways of getting about: a ferry ride on the lake, the funicular hauling them up to Brunate in a few minutes, and a paddle at a lido in summer. The Villa Olmo gardens and the long lakeside promenade are easy going with a pushchair, but the villas and churches are visits for adults, and there is no zoo or theme park nearby.

Pisa's draws are a famous landmark and the sea. Every child wants the photo propping up the tower, older ones can climb it, though small children cannot, and the lawn around it is a good place to run about. The shallow sand at Tirrenia and Calambrone and bike rides in San Rossore fill the other days. In midsummer, plan around the heat and the crowds at the cathedral square.

Both centres are flat and walkable, but Pisa is easier overall. Its airport is linked to the station by a shuttle train, the walk from the station to the tower takes about half an hour, and the station is a rail hub for western Tuscany, so day trips need no car.

Como's old town is just as pleasant on foot, and trains run to Milan and Lugano. Getting around the lake itself is slow, though. Ferries take a long time to go far up the shore, and the narrow shore roads clog in summer.

Neither city is a shopping destination, and for serious fashion people go to Milan from Como and to Florence from Pisa. What differs is the speciality. Como has silk, with scarves and ties from old-town shops and from mill outlets on the edge of the city, and these are well worth carrying home.

Pisa offers ordinary Italian shopping instead: chains on Corso Italia, smarter clothes and old pastry shops under the arcades of Borgo Stretto, and a monthly antiques market by the river.

Pisa is the cheaper stay by a good margin. Central rooms are mid-range, the student trattorias keep meals fair and walking costs nothing. The main extras are the tower climb and summer beach loungers.

Como draws an international luxury crowd to its lakefront hotels and villas, and summer prices reflect it. Staying back from the water, eating in old-town trattorias and travelling in spring or autumn all help, and the trains and ferries are cheap.

Both cities have a nineteenth-century opera house and a modest provincial programme. Como's Teatro Sociale moves outdoors to its Arena in summer, and chamber concerts in churches and lakeside villas make the warm months its best time.

Pisa's horseshoe-shaped Teatro Verdi runs its season from autumn to spring, with university chamber music alongside. For bigger productions, Como has La Scala a short train ride away, and Pisa has Florence.

Both cities are restful rather than spa towns, but the rest comes from different things. In Como it is the lake: still water, gardens, slow ferries and villages that go quiet early, with spas found in the grand villa hotels.

Pisa has something Como lacks, real thermal water. There is the 18th-century bath palace at San Giuliano Terme just outside the city, and a public thermal pool at Casciana Terme further inland. In town, the calm comes from long lunches and evenings by the river.