Florence or Nice?

These two are completely different on the beach. In Florence, cooling off means a hotel pool or a public outdoor pool. The nearest sea is the sandy, lounger-lined Versilia coast, about an hour and a half away by train, which takes a whole day.

In Nice the beach is right in town, below the promenade. The shore is pebbles rather than sand, so a rented lounger or water shoes help. If you want sand and calmer water, Villefranche, Paloma beach on Cap Ferrat and Juan-les-Pins are all easy to reach.

Florence has the edge, with a cuisine that is deeper and more confident. Thick bistecca, ribollita, lampredotto from the carts and two serious food markets are backed by Chianti vineyards on the city's doorstep. The best meals are in family trattorie in the Oltrarno and around Sant'Ambrogio.

Nice cooks closer to Liguria than to Paris. Its food is good and simple: socca hot from the wood oven, pissaladière and stuffed vegetables, bought around the Cours Saleya market. Both cities have tourist menus to avoid near their famous spots, but Nice has less range once you get past its local dishes.

Florence is one of the world's great art cities. The Uffizi, the Accademia, the Bargello, the Pitti Palace and the Duomo with its dome sit within a short walk of each other, and the smaller chapels and frescoes alone could fill extra days. Book ahead and expect queues.

Nice has a lighter, more modern offering. Its strength is twentieth-century art, at the Matisse Museum in Cimiez, the Chagall Museum and MAMAC. Around these are the baroque old town, Belle Époque villas and the Russian cathedral. It is a rewarding two or three days, but nothing in it matches the scale of the Uffizi.

Neither city is built for clubbing, and in both the typical night is dinner followed by drinks. Florence leans towards aperitivo and wine bars, with the liveliest crowds spilling out around Piazza Santo Spirito and summer bars set up along the Arno.

Nice puts its evenings in the narrow lanes of Vieux Nice, with pubs and cocktail bars, and summer adds the beach clubs and the promenade. Anyone wanting a glossier late night goes along the coast to Monaco or Cannes.

Florence's countryside is pretty and cultivated. There are walks on the olive terraces at Fiesole and lanes lined with cypresses through Chianti, and the Casentino forests and the marble Apuan Alps are within reach for a longer outing.

Nice has far more variety, because mountains and sea meet here. There are coastal paths on Cap Ferrat and Cap d'Ail, gorges and perched villages behind the city, the high lakes and ibex of the Mercantour, and ski slopes about an hour and a half away in winter. On the water you can sail, dive and paddleboard.

Both are excellent bases, but Florence has the stronger list. Siena, Pisa, Lucca, San Gimignano and the Chianti villages are close by, Bologna is a short high-speed train ride away, and the Val d'Orcia lies further south. Trains reach the main towns, but a car helps for the hill villages and wineries.

Nice's trips are shorter and simpler: Monaco, Èze, Menton, Antibes, Cannes, Saint-Paul-de-Vence and even Sanremo in Italy, nearly all within an hour on the coastal train or a bus. You never need a car. The towns are charming, but they don't match the weight of Siena or Pisa.

Nice is the easier city with children. It has the flat promenade for pushchairs and bikes, playgrounds and water jets along the Promenade du Paillon, and the animals and greenhouses of Parc Phoenix, with the sea always close. The pebbles and the steps in the old town are the main nuisances.

Florence's main sights are made for adults. Children enjoy climbing the dome, the secret passages of Palazzo Vecchio and running about in the Boboli Gardens, but narrow pavements, summer crowds and the heat make it harder going. The Pinocchio park at Collodi is the classic family outing.

Both cities are easy without a car. The difference is how you get about. Florence is almost entirely walkable, with the big sights about twenty minutes apart on stone paving, and there is no metro. Its trams and small buses mainly serve the airport, the suburbs and the climb to Fiesole.

Nice is more spread out along the sea. Here the tram crossing the city and the buses up to Cimiez are actually useful, and the coastal trains handle most excursions.

Florence gives shoppers more to look for. It has leather from market stalls and small workshops, marbled paper, goldsmiths on the Ponte Vecchio and restorers and gilders working in the Oltrarno. Via de' Tornabuoni holds the Italian fashion houses that come from the city.

Nice is pleasant for browsing rather than a reason to go. It has chain stores on Avenue Jean Médecin, luxury labels around rue Paradis, and olive oil, soaps and Provençal fabrics in the old town. Serious luxury shoppers usually head to Monaco or Cannes.

Both are costly. In each, the big expense is a central room in high season, and the savings come from eating simply. Florence's costs pile up in museum and Duomo tickets, but you can walk everywhere and lampredotto or market lunches are cheap.

In Nice the extra costs are beach loungers and seafront terraces. On the other hand, the trams and coastal trains keep day trips cheap, and many of the city's museums cost little.

Florence has the deeper classical tradition. Opera was more or less born here, the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino has its own orchestra, and the spring Maggio Musicale festival is one of Europe's oldest. Beyond the many church concerts put on for tourists, though, there is little live music.

Nice's calendar is more regional, with the Opéra de Nice and its philharmonic. It also has two big annual events Florence can't match: the Nice Jazz Festival in July and the Carnival in February.

Neither city has a bathing tradition of its own, and in both the spa within town means a hotel's treatment rooms. The real difference is how far you go to find calm. In Florence you leave the city for it. Montecatini Terme is an easy rail outing, the hot open-air springs of Saturnia and Bagno Vignoni in southern Tuscany justify a night away, and a few slow days among the vineyards do the rest.

In Nice the calm is on your doorstep. With the sea a short walk from the centre, a morning swim and an evening stroll by the bay need no planning, and seaside thalassotherapy takes care of treatments. In July and August, though, both cities are crowded and hot, so spring and autumn make for a far quieter stay in either.