Como or Sorrento?

Neither town has a sandy beach, but Sorrento is the one where swimming earns a place in the plan. Its lidos stand on piers over clear, deep sea, the rocks at the Bagni della Regina Giovanna are a short walk away, and the water stays warm from June into October. A boat or bus also brings real pebble coves within reach.

Como's swimming is in the lake, which is cooler. You swim from lawns and pontoons such as the lido by Villa Olmo, or from small jetties further up the shore, and the season lasts barely three months. A dip there is pleasant, but you would not plan a trip around it.

Sorrento eats better, as long as you avoid the tourist menus around Piazza Tasso. Campanian ingredients are right at hand: lemons from the terraces, fresh dairy from the hills, fish from the bay and Neapolitan pizza. The hill villages of the peninsula also hold some of the south's finest restaurants.

Como's Lombard cooking is heartier and more limited: perch risotto, dried shad and polenta. Its best moment is the evening aperitivo on the squares by the cathedral. Lakefront terraces in both towns charge for the view, and in Como the good family places are mostly out of town.

Como has more worth seeing in its own streets. The cathedral, the Romanesque stonework of San Fedele and Sant'Abbondio and the Casa del Fascio, a key building of twentieth-century architecture, give its small walled centre real depth. The Volta and silk museums add the city's own history.

Sorrento's sights are pleasant but slight: the cloister of San Francesco, the Museo Correale and the ravine of the Vallone dei Mulini. Its cultural pull lies outside town, in Pompeii and Naples, and that belongs to day trips more than to Sorrento itself.

Both towns go to bed early, and Sorrento only stays up a little later. Its evenings bring a passeggiata on Corso Italia, terrace cocktails over the bay, piano bars with Neapolitan song and, in summer, a club or two open past midnight. Como's evenings end with a few wine bars around Piazza Duomo and a lakefront stroll. The difference in getting to a bigger night matters more: from Como, Milan is a quick train ride, while from Sorrento the last trains and ferries leave early, so Naples or Capri means staying over.

Como gives you an alpine lake, Sorrento a volcanic coast, and that difference matters more than which is finer. At Como a deep glacial lake lies between steep wooded mountains. The funicular climbs to Brunate for ridge walks, Monte Bisbino looks towards the Alps, and road cyclists come for the Ghisallo climbs.

Sorrento's lemon and olive terraces drop to sheer limestone cliffs above the sea. Trails lead to Punta Campanella and the protected bay of Ieranto, with the Path of the Gods and the crater of Vesuvius close by. Kayaks and boats explore sea grottoes rather than calm lake shores.

Como is a superb base, but Sorrento's list is the richer one. From Como, ferries and hydrofoils run up the lake to Bellagio, Varenna and the gardens of Villa Carlotta and Balbianello at Tremezzo. Trains put the Last Supper in Milan, Lugano's Swiss lakefront and Bergamo's upper town within easy reach, and the Borromean Islands on Lake Maggiore extend the choice. You get lake villages, art cities and a second country.

Sorrento reaches further back in time. The Circumvesuviana stops at Pompeii in about half an hour and at Herculaneum a little beyond, and a road from there up to the crater lets you add Vesuvius to the same day out. Capri is under an hour by ferry, summer boats run to Positano and Amalfi with Ravello's gardens above, and Naples and its archaeological museum are about an hour away. Como's best outings are villa gardens and Milan's art. Sorrento's include two Roman towns buried in AD 79 and the volcano that buried them.

With young children, calm water and level ground make Como the easier choice. Children can paddle at a lido, ride the funicular and take the ferries, and the flat promenade and Villa Olmo's gardens suit a pushchair. Neither town has much made specifically for children.

Sorrento has the bigger outings, a boat to Capri and Pompeii's ruins, but the swimming is into deep water off piers and rocks. Many hotels also sit on steep lanes without pavements, so a hotel pool matters more there.

Como is the more straightforward place to move around. The centre is flat, the funicular climbs the hill, and fast trains run to Milan and Lugano, though the lake ferries are slow and the shore roads clog in summer.

Sorrento's own centre is just as walkable. Leaving it is harder: the Circumvesuviana is crowded and unreliable, and the Amalfi buses crawl round the hairpins. Ferries are often the easiest way out, and hotels on the hillsides depend on shuttles or taxis.

Neither town is a shopping destination, but each has one craft to buy. In Como it is silk, from old-town specialists and mill outlets on the edge of the city, along with a short run of Italian boutiques. In Sorrento it is inlaid woodwork and sandals made to measure, amid a lot of lemon souvenirs. For fashion, Como has Milan close by, while Sorrento shoppers head for Naples or Capri.

Both are expensive in summer, and for much the same reason: a famous waterfront that draws a wealthy international crowd. Each also has the same ways to save. Stay back from the water, eat at trattorias off the main squares, use the cheap trains and ferries, and travel in spring or autumn. Sorrento has one extra advantage, which is that it costs less than staying on the Amalfi Coast or Capri while still putting both within reach.

Como has the real stage. The Teatro Sociale is a nineteenth-century opera house with a season of opera, ballet, concerts and theatre, and in summer performances move to its open-air arena. La Scala is a short train ride away.

Sorrento's evenings of music are mostly Neapolitan song and tarantella staged for visitors, plus summer chamber concerts in the cloister of San Francesco. For opera you have to make the hour's trip to the San Carlo in Naples.

Sorrento has one thing Como cannot match: Ischia's hot-spring gardens by the sea, a ferry ride away. Como has no springs to visit at all. Its calm comes from still water, villa gardens running down to the shore and slow ferries to villages that go quiet early.

Sorrento relaxes you with cliff-top pools and spa terraces over the bay and the shade of its lemon groves. In both towns the crowds of high summer make spring and autumn the better time for a restful stay.