Florence or Pula?

This is Pula's clearest advantage. It sits on a rocky, indented coast where you swim off platforms and pebble coves at Verudela, Stoja and Medulin, and at Cape Kamenjak the coves are wild and very clear. You can go for a swim before lunch and be back in town for dinner.

Florence lies inland in the Arno valley. The sandy Versilia beaches near Viareggio take about an hour and a half each way, so the sea means giving up a whole day. Most summer visitors settle for a pool instead.

Florence eats better, and it offers more choice. Bistecca, ribollita, lampredotto from street carts and the Mercato Centrale give you a full food culture right in the centre. Family trattorie in the Oltrarno and Chianti wine by the glass make dinner a reason to come in themselves.

Istrian cooking is just as distinctive, with truffle pasta, scampi buzara, pršut, Malvazija and Teran. The choice inside Pula is narrow, though, and the best meals usually mean driving out to a konoba in the hinterland or on a harbour along the coast.

Both cities have great monuments, but Florence has far more of them. It holds the core of the Renaissance: the Uffizi, David in the Accademia, the Bargello, the San Marco frescoes and the Brancacci Chapel. That is a week of looking, and the big museums need booking ahead.

Pula's Arena is one of the finest Roman amphitheatres anywhere. With the Temple of Augustus, the Arch of the Sergii and the Venetian fortress, it makes a rewarding day or two, not the main reason for a trip.

Neither city is a place for a big night out, and in both the evening centres on a glass of wine. In Florence that means aperitivo and then the crowds around Piazza Santo Spirito, all year round, with student pubs near the centre.

Pula's evenings are almost entirely a summer thing: terraces by the Forum, then beach and cocktail bars on Verudela and in Medulin, some of them open late at weekends. Out of season it goes quiet in a way Florence does not.

Pula has a slight edge, mainly because its outdoors includes the sea. Kamenjak's car-free headland is good for walking, cycling and kayaking around the islets, and there is windsurfing at Premantura and diving on naval-era wrecks.

Florence offers walking in farmed countryside instead: olive terraces at Fiesole, cypress lanes and vineyards in Chianti, and the Casentino forests further out. Both are best in spring and autumn.

Both make good bases, but Florence is hard to beat. Siena, Pisa, Lucca, San Gimignano and the Chianti villages are all close, Bologna is under forty minutes by fast train, and the main towns are easy to reach by rail.

Pula covers Istria well. Rovinj, the mosaics at Poreč, the hill towns of Motovun and Grožnjan, and the Brijuni islands are all within reach. Buses are thin, though, so most of these trips need a car.

Pula is the easier choice with children because the days revolve around the water. The shallow bays at Medulin and Premantura suit toddlers, and there is an aquarium in an old fort. Children can scramble through the Arena's underground passages, and a dinosaur park and a water park are close by.

Florence asks more of children. Climbing the dome, the secret passages of Palazzo Vecchio and the Boboli Gardens help, but the main sights are paintings and churches, and the summer crowds and heat are hard on small legs.

In both cities the historic sights are a short walk apart. Florence keeps that ease beyond its centre: trams run to the airport, small buses climb to Fiesole, and Santa Maria Novella station puts half of Tuscany within a train ride.

Pula falls behind once you leave the old town. The inland railway is slow, regional buses are infrequent, and Kamenjak, the hill towns and the wider coast really need a car or a scooter.

Florence is a real shopping destination. Its leather workshops, marbled paper, goldsmiths on the Ponte Vecchio, Oltrarno gilders and framers, and the fashion houses of Via de' Tornabuoni grew out of centuries of craft.

In Pula you shop for food more than for things. The best buys are olive oil, truffle products, wine and rakija from the market hall and from farms, and the old-town street has little beyond chain stores and souvenirs.

Pula is the gentler on your budget. Private apartments and simple konobas keep a stay reasonable, especially in spring and autumn, but July and August bring prices close to those of the Western European coasts, and car hire adds up.

Florence costs more for a city of its size. Central hotels are expensive and museum tickets mount up over several days. Street food, market lunches and the fact that you can walk everywhere help to balance it.

Florence has a classical season to plan evenings around. Opera, orchestral concerts and ballet run at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, and the spring Maggio festival is one of the oldest in Europe. Smaller church concerts are on offer most nights.

Pula's one great stage is the Arena in summer. Pop and rock concerts, classical galas and the film festival under Roman arches are memorable. Outside that season there is little beyond theatre in Croatian.

Neither city has a spa culture of its own, but Florence has better options close by. Montecatini Terme's old thermal halls are under an hour by train, the sulphur pools of Bagno Vignoni and Saturnia make a longer outing, and a farm stay in the Tuscan hills is a classic way to slow down.

Pula's wellness means the hotel spas on Verudela and in Medulin. The slow pace outside midsummer and the pine-shaded paths along the shore still make it an easy place to unwind.