Florence or Split?

This is Split's category by a long way. The Adriatic is a short walk from Diocletian's Palace. Bačvice is a shallow sandy bay where locals play picigin, and the pine-shaded coves of Kašjuni and Bene on the Marjan peninsula are quieter. Most of the shore is pebble or concrete platforms, though, so for long beaches people take the ferry to Brač, Šolta or Hvar.

Florence has no beach at all. The sandy Versilia coast around Viareggio is about an hour and a half away by train and lined with rented loungers, and that takes up a whole day. In summer most visitors cool off in a pool instead.

Florence offers the richer table. Thick, rare bistecca, ribollita, chicken-liver crostini and lampredotto from street carts make a distinctive local cuisine, the Mercato Centrale and Sant'Ambrogio show it off, and the Chianti vineyards begin at the city's edge. Its trattorie in the Oltrarno and the fine-dining tier give you more range for a week of eating.

Split's Dalmatian cooking is simpler and centred on the sea: grilled fish, black risotto, pašticada, and peka ordered ahead in konobas in Varoš, with Plavac Mali or Pošip to drink. It is good, but there is little beyond it, and the scene goes quiet in winter. In both cities the menus closest to the main sights are the ones to avoid.

Florence is in another league. The Uffizi, the Accademia, the Bargello, the Pitti Palace, the Duomo with its Baptistery doors, and smaller treasures like the Brancacci Chapel and the cells of San Marco make it one of the densest concentrations of art anywhere. A week there still leaves things unseen.

Split has one extraordinary sight rather than many. Diocletian's Palace is a Roman emperor's residence that people still live in, with the Peristyle, the cathedral built into his mausoleum and the vaulted substructures. Add the Meštrović Gallery and the Archaeological Museum, and two days covers most of it.

In summer, Split is the livelier of the two. Small bars fill the palace alleys and stairways until late, and the beach bars and clubs around Bačvice keep a younger crowd out into the early hours. The catch is that this is a seasonal scene, and from October to May it shrinks to a few bars.

Florence is steadier through the year but quieter. Evenings mean aperitivo, a wine bar and drinks on the steps around Piazza Santo Spirito, with a cluster of student pubs and a small club scene. It suits a long dinner and a late glass better than dancing.

Split has wilder and more varied country right on its doorstep. The pine forest of Marjan begins at the edge of the old town, Mosor and Kozjak offer proper ridge hikes, and Biokovo, the Cetina canyon at Omiš and the waterfalls of Krka are all within about an hour. The sea adds kayaking, sailing and island-hopping.

Florence's outdoors is gentler and more cultivated: olive terraces at Fiesole, the view from San Miniato, and the cypress lanes of Chianti for cycling and walking. The Casentino forests and the Apuan Alps are further away. Both cities are too hot for long walks in high summer.

Both make good bases, but Florence is close to unmatched. Siena, Pisa, Lucca, San Gimignano, Volterra and the Chianti villages are all within easy reach, Bologna is under forty minutes by fast train, and the Val d'Orcia towns lie further south. You could spend a week of day trips without repeating yourself.

Split's trips mix towns and islands. Trogir and Šibenik are both UNESCO-listed, and closer to the city are the ruins of Salona and the Klis Fortress, with ferries to Hvar, Brač and Vis. The range is narrower, and outside summer the sea crossings need more planning.

Split is a little easier with children, mostly because of the water. The shallow bay at Bačvice is good for paddling, Marjan gives them shade and room to run, and a ferry ride often becomes the highlight of the trip.

Florence takes more effort. Its treasures are made for adults, so the best ways in are hands-on: climbing the dome, the secret passages of Palazzo Vecchio, the Museo Galileo and the Boboli Gardens, with Collodi's Pinocchio park as an outing. Neither city has an aquarium or theme park worth the trip, and both are hot and crowded in July and August.

Both centres are best on foot, but Florence covers more ground well. The Duomo, the Uffizi, Ponte Vecchio, the Accademia and the Pitti Palace are all within about twenty minutes of each other, trams link the main station with the airport, and small buses climb to Fiesole and Piazzale Michelangelo. Santa Maria Novella, right in the centre, is the base for the main rail day trips to Pisa, Lucca and Bologna.

Split's core is smaller and car-free, and the ferry port, bus station and railway sit together at the harbour, so island crossings start a short walk from the palace. Beyond that the local bus network is basic, the coast road clogs in summer, and the palace's polished stone steps are hard work with a pushchair.

Florence is a real shopping city, built on craft. You can buy leather from workshops and San Lorenzo stalls, marbled paper, Ponte Vecchio gold, and work by the gilders and framers of the Oltrarno. Via de' Tornabuoni has the luxury houses, and Via Maggio has the antique dealers. Look closely at the leather, as quality varies.

Split offers far less. The palace shops are mostly souvenirs, lavender and ties, the chains are on Marmontova, and the best finds are edible: olive oil, wine, figs and brandy from the Pazar market.

Split goes easier on a budget, although high summer narrows the gap. In July and August its old-town rooms and fish sold by weight can feel like Western European prices, and ferries add up. In May, June, late September and winter, though, it is a modestly priced city with cheap bakeries and inexpensive sights.

Florence is expensive all through spring to autumn. Central rooms cost a lot and museum tickets add up over a few days. Street lampredotto, market lunches and house wine help, as does staying near the station or across the river.

Florence has the deeper programme, built around a full classical season rather than a summer festival. Opera was more or less born there around 1600, the Teatro del Maggio Musicale has its own orchestra and stages opera, concerts and ballet through the season, and the Maggio festival in spring is one of Europe's oldest. Many visitors only see the church and palace concerts put on for tourists, though, and jazz and other live music are thin.

Split's Croatian National Theatre also runs opera, ballet and drama through the season, but there is less around it, and the city comes into its own in summer, when the Split Summer Festival brings open-air opera and concerts to the Peristyle. The local sound is klapa, the unaccompanied harmony singing of Dalmatia, which you can often hear in the palace vestibule. Outside summer there is little else on.

Neither city has a bathing culture of its own, so in both, spa time means hotel spas. The difference is what lies nearby. From Florence, Montecatini Terme is under an hour by train, and the hot springs of Bagno Vignoni and Saturnia are a longer trip, along with farm stays in the hills.

Split's calm comes from the Dalmatian habit of fjaka: long coffees on the Riva, the pine woods of Marjan, or a quiet island when the old town gets loud at night.