Florence or Verona?

Verona has the real swimming option here, even though it has no coast. Lake Garda's southern shore is about half an hour away, with lidos, lawns running down to the water and Sirmione's flat rocks to lie on, and the water is calm, clear and warm in high summer. It suits a few afternoons by the water, though the narrow shores fill up at weekends.

From Florence, the sea means a full day out to the sandy, lounger-lined beaches of the Versilia, about an hour and a half by train. Most visitors cool off in a pool instead, or add a few nights on the coast to the trip.

Florence has the edge, mostly because there is more variety. Next to the bistecca and the bread soups it has a proper street-food culture, with lampredotto from carts and the market counters of the Mercato Centrale and Sant'Ambrogio, and the family trattorie of the Oltrarno reward a little effort.

Verona's cooking is richer and more wintry: risotto made with Amarone, bigoli with duck, bollito with peppery pearà, served in wood-panelled osterie. Its great strength is wine, with Valpolicella, Amarone and Soave all made nearby, but there is little to eat on the street and less range beyond the local dishes.

These are two very different kinds of sightseeing, and Florence is in another league for depth. Its centre holds the masterpieces of the Renaissance: the Duomo and its dome, the Uffizi's Botticellis and Leonardos, David in the Accademia, the Pitti Palace and a long list of chapels and smaller museums. It easily fills a week.

Verona is mostly a city of layers rather than famous collections. It has a Roman amphitheatre still in use, the Romanesque San Zeno, the Scaliger tombs and Castelvecchio's art museum in Carlo Scarpa's celebrated setting. It is rewarding and very well preserved, but two or three days covers it comfortably.

Neither city is built for late nights, and in both the evening is about a drink rather than dancing. Florence's liveliest spot is Piazza Santo Spirito, where crowds stand outside with glasses in hand. It also has pubs full of foreign students and summer bars along the Arno.

Verona centres on spritz tables in Piazza delle Erbe and cheaper student bars in Veronetta. In summer it also gets a late burst when the opera crowd pours out of the Arena around midnight.

Verona has more dramatic country around it. Lake Garda sits under the steep slopes of Monte Baldo, with ridge walks, paragliding and reliable wind for sailing and windsurfing at the northern end. The Lessinia plateau adds beech woods and limestone gorges, and the Valpolicella vineyards begin just north of town.

Florence's landscape is softer and more farmed. You can walk the olive terraces at Fiesole, cycle the cypress-lined lanes of Chianti, or go further out to the Casentino forests in the Apennines. It is lovely walking country in spring and autumn, but it is gentle rather than wild.

Both are among the best bases in Italy, and Florence just edges ahead for how many top-class towns lie close by. Siena, Pisa, Lucca, San Gimignano, Volterra and the Chianti villages are all within easy reach, and Bologna is a short high-speed train ride. A car makes the hill towns and wineries much easier.

Verona's strength is variety. You get Venice, Padua, Vicenza and Mantua by train, the harbour towns of Lake Garda and the wine cellars of Valpolicella and Soave, so a week can mix art cities with days on the lake.

Verona is clearly better with children, because the things they enjoy most are just outside town. Gardaland and the water parks along Garda's southern shore, the drive-through safari at Parco Natura Viva and the shallow lake water are all about half an hour away. In town, the Arena captures young imaginations and the flat, pedestrian centre is easy with a pushchair.

Florence takes more effort. Climbing the dome, the secret passages of Palazzo Vecchio and the globes at the Museo Galileo all help, but narrow pavements, summer crowds and the heat wear children out. The Pinocchio park at Collodi is the main outing for the little ones.

Both are best seen on foot, and both keep cars out of their historic centres, but Florence is a little easier to manage. All its major sights lie within about twenty minutes' walk of each other, Santa Maria Novella station is right in the centre for day trips, and trams run to the airport.

Verona's centre in the river loop is small and flat, but the station is a walk or a bus ride south of Piazza Bra and there is no tram. The rail lines to Venice, Milan and the lake are excellent, while the Valpolicella villages and some Garda attractions really need a car.

Florence is the place for serious shopping, thanks to craft that goes back centuries. You will find leather from market stalls to proper workshops, marbled paper, goldsmiths on the Ponte Vecchio, gilders and restorers in the Oltrarno, and the great fashion houses along Via de' Tornabuoni. Look closely at the leather, though, as quality varies.

Verona's Via Mazzini and the streets off it are smart but provincial, with Italian labels rather than local crafts. The best things to take home are edible: a bottle of Amarone, Garda olive oil or a pandoro.

Neither is cheap, but Verona is somewhat kinder to the budget. Its student osterie in Veronetta and wine counters serving snacks with a glass keep meals reasonable, though central rooms get scarce and dear on summer opera nights and during trade fairs.

Florence costs more overall. Central hotels are expensive for much of the year, and the admission fees for the big museums and the dome climb add up over a few days. Street-food lunches, house wine and walking everywhere help, and so does staying across the river or coming in winter.

Verona has the bigger draw: grand opera in the Roman Arena on summer evenings, with thousands on the ancient stone tiers and candles lit as night falls. The Roman theatre adds Shakespeare, dance and jazz outdoors, though outside summer the Teatro Filarmonico's programme is modest.

Florence, where opera was born, has more steady classical depth. The Maggio Musicale orchestra stages opera, concerts and ballet through its season, and the spring festival is one of Europe's oldest. What most visitors actually see, though, is concerts in churches and palaces aimed at tourists.

Verona has a slight advantage, because its warm springs are closer. You can soak in Sirmione's thermal pools facing Lake Garda, visit the spring-fed park near Lazise or the old baths at Caldiero, all an easy outing, and the town itself is calm outside the crowds at the Arena.

Florence offers hotel spas and the quiet of the Boboli and Bardini gardens. For real bathing you go to the grand old spa town of Montecatini, or further to the open-air sulphur pools at Saturnia, and a farm stay in the hills is the usual way to slow down.