Como or Rome?

Neither city is built for a beach vacation, but Rome gets closer. Ostia is about half an hour away by suburban train, with long dark-sand beaches, rows of lidos and warm summer sea. Fregene is a calmer alternative, and the cleaner coves of Sperlonga make a longer day out.

Como offers lake swimming instead: lawns and pontoons at the Villa Olmo lido, and small pebble jetties up the lake at Moltrasio or the Tremezzina. The setting is lovely, but the season is short and there is hardly any sand.

Rome is a destination in its own right for eating. Its four classic pastas, Jewish-style artichokes from the Ghetto, Testaccio's offal dishes and proper street food give it an identity Como cannot match. The rule is to walk away from the big sights to find it.

Como's cooking is Lombard lake and mountain food, with perch risotto, missoltini and polenta, and the aperitivo around the cathedral is a pleasure. Choice is limited in a city this small, though, and the lakefront terraces mostly charge for the view, so the best meals tend to be in family-run places up the lake.

This is the widest gap between the two. Rome layers the Colosseum, the Pantheon and the Forum under early Christian mosaics, Bernini piazzas and Caravaggios in side chapels, and the Vatican and Borghese collections justify a trip on their own. A week here still means leaving things out.

Como's sights are few but good: the marble cathedral, the Romanesque churches of San Fedele and Sant'Abbondio, Terragni's Casa del Fascio for anyone interested in architecture, and the Volta and silk museums. It is a rewarding day of sightseeing rather than the purpose of the trip.

Rome stays out much later. Trastevere's lanes fill with drinkers until late, Monti has small cocktail bars, and San Lorenzo and Pigneto draw students and an arty crowd, although clubbing is a sideshow even here. In Como the night is an aperitivo, dinner and a walk along the lake, with a few bars near Piazza Duomo, and anyone after a big night takes the train to Milan.

Como is the better choice outdoors, with steep wooded mountains rising straight from the water. On the eastern side, the Brunate funicular puts you on the ridge within minutes, and a path runs along it to the Volta lighthouse. Above the western shore is a separate walking area, with the Via dei Monti Lariani crossing the slopes and wide views towards the Alps from Monte Bisbino. The lake is good for kayaking, sailing and paddleboarding, and cyclists ride up to the Madonna del Ghisallo.

Rome's green space is gentler: villa parks such as Borghese and Pamphili, and a fine bike ride along the Appian Way past tombs and aqueducts. The crater lakes of the Alban Hills and the Apennines are within reach, but only once you leave the city behind.

Both are excellent bases, and the difference is in the kind of trip. From Como you travel by boat between lake villages and villa gardens, Bellagio, Varenna and Villa del Balbianello among them, and by train to Milan's Last Supper, Lugano or Bergamo's upper town.

From Rome the trips run back through history: Ostia Antica, Hadrian's Villa and Villa d'Este at Tivoli, Etruscan tombs at Tarquinia, and hill towns such as Orvieto and Civita di Bagnoregio. Fast trains also bring Florence and Naples within easy reach.

Como makes a calm, slow family stay. Children get ferry rides, the funicular, paddling at a summer lido and a promenade that is easy with a pushchair, but little beyond that is made with them in mind.

Rome has more to catch young imaginations, with gladiators, catacombs, the Bioparco zoo and rowing boats in Villa Borghese. The cost is effort: summer heat, long queues at the big sights and cobbles under the pushchair make its days much more tiring.

Como is slightly easier day to day. Its old town and lakefront are flat and compact, and trains run straight to Milan and Lugano. The slow parts are lake ferries heading far north and the narrow shore roads that clog in summer.

Rome's centre is also best seen on foot, from the Colosseum past the Pantheon to Trastevere, but it is a far bigger area. The metro barely reaches the historic core, buses get stuck in traffic, and cobbles and heat make long walks tiring.

Rome is far stronger for shopping. The big fashion houses line Via Condotti and the streets below the Spanish Steps, Monti has vintage shops and young designers, Via Margutta keeps its artisans, and Porta Portese holds a huge Sunday flea market.

Como's speciality is silk. Scarves, ties and fabric come from old-town specialists and from mill outlets on the edge of the city. Beyond that there is a short run of boutiques, and keen shoppers head to Milan.

Both are expensive, and Como is the dearer of the two in summer, when the lake's luxury hotels and villa rentals set the price level. Staying back from the water, eating in the hills and visiting in spring or autumn all help.

In Rome the cost is mostly the room and the entry fees for the big sights. Day to day it is easier on the wallet: standing espresso, pizza al taglio, free water from the fountains and churches full of masterpieces that cost nothing to enter.

Rome has much more to offer in the evenings. The Teatro dell'Opera moves to the Baths of Caracalla in summer, the Santa Cecilia orchestra plays at Renzo Piano's Auditorium, and the city has a long-standing jazz club scene and plenty of church concerts.

Como's Teatro Sociale is a handsome early nineteenth-century house with a summer Arena, and chamber music in lakeside villas can be lovely. On many nights, though, the calendar is quiet.

In Como the setting does the relaxing. Still water, gardens running down to the shore, slow ferries and villages that go quiet early are restful in themselves, and the grand villa hotels have their own spas.

Rome is loud at its centre, but it has something Como lacks: real thermal water. The outdoor pools at Bagni di Tivoli and the free hot springs around Viterbo are within reach, while the Aventine and the villa gardens give you somewhere quiet to stop in town.