Florence or Zadar?

This is Zadar's category. Swimming is part of every summer day there, from the stone platforms of the western promenade and Kolovare to the pine-shaded shore at Borik. Expect pebbles and concrete in town. For sand, go to Nin, or take the ferry to Sakarun on Dugi Otok.

Florence sits inland in the Arno valley, so cooling off means a hotel pool or a public pool on the city's edge. The sandy Versilia coast near Viareggio is about an hour and a half away by train, which turns a swim into a whole day out.

Florence eats far better. Bistecca alla fiorentina, ribollita, lampredotto from street carts and the produce halls of the Mercato Centrale and Sant'Ambrogio give a trip real culinary depth, and Chianti Classico starts at the city's edge. The best meals are found in the family trattorie around Santo Spirito rather than by the Duomo.

Zadar offers honest Dalmatian cooking: grilled fish, black risotto, lamb or octopus under the peka, and Pag cheese with pršut. It is good, but one konoba menu looks much like the next, so after a few evenings there is less to discover. The local Maraschino is the souvenir worth tasting.

Florence has one of the greatest concentrations of art anywhere: the Uffizi's Botticellis, David in the Accademia, the Bargello's sculpture, Fra Angelico's cells at San Marco and the Pitti Palace. Even a week does not exhaust it, and the big museums need booking.

Zadar's history is older in places but smaller in scale. There is a Roman forum open to the sky, the round church of St Donatus, Venetian walls and two good museums of glass and archaeology. The Sea Organ adds a modern touch on the waterfront, and two unhurried days covers the lot.

Neither is a party town, and both nights are built around a drink outdoors. Florence runs on aperitivo and wine bars, with crowds spilling across Piazza Santo Spirito, a more local scene at Sant'Ambrogio and student pubs near the centre. It keeps going year-round.

Zadar's evenings start with sunset at the Sea Organ and move to the café-bars of Kalelarga and terraces on the walls. It is lively only in summer, but in high season the clubs of Zrće on Pag are about an hour away, which Florence has no equivalent for.

Zadar is the stronger base for the outdoors. Paklenica's limestone gorges offer real hiking and climbing within an hour, boats run to the stark Kornati islands and Telašćica, and Krka and Plitvice are within day-trip range. Sea kayaking and island cycling add a watery side.

Florence's countryside is gentler and more cultivated: olive terraces at Fiesole, cypress lanes and vineyards in Chianti, and the beech forests of the Casentino further out. It is lovely for walking and cycling in spring and autumn, but it is farmland and hills rather than wild gorges and open sea.

Florence is about as well placed as a city can be. Siena, Pisa and Lucca are each about an hour away, and San Gimignano, Volterra and the Chianti villages are close. Bologna is under forty minutes by fast train, and you could go a week without repeating a trip.

Zadar has a good set too. You can visit Šibenik's cathedral, the tiny royal town of Nin, Trogir and Split's Diocletian's Palace, plus island villages by ferry. Split and Trogir make for long days, though, and most outings need a car or a tour.

Zadar is the easier choice with children. The flat, car-free peninsula suits pushchairs, the Sea Organ and the light-up Greeting to the Sun keep children entertained, and Nin's shallow sand is ideal for toddlers. Days at the sea fill the gap left by the lack of zoos or theme parks.

Florence can work with older children who will climb the dome or explore the secret passages of Palazzo Vecchio. The narrow pavements, summer crowds and adult-focused galleries make it harder going, and Collodi's Pinocchio park is the only real family outing.

Florence is easier to get around. The Duomo, Uffizi, Accademia and Pitti are all within about twenty minutes' walk of each other. Trams reach the airport, and Santa Maria Novella station sits in the centre for rail day trips. A car is only worth having for the hill towns.

Zadar's peninsula is even smaller and flatter, and the island ferries leave right from its edge. Beyond that, the buses are basic and regional connections are thin, so the national parks and coast really call for a hire car.

Florence is a proper shopping destination built on craft. There is leather from San Lorenzo stalls and small workshops, marbled paper, Ponte Vecchio jewellers and the gilders and restorers of the Oltrarno. Via de' Tornabuoni carries the great Italian fashion houses.

Zadar offers a stroll down Kalelarga and a browse at the market by the walls. What to take home is edible or handmade: Maraschino, Pag cheese, olive oil and Pag lace.

Zadar stretches a budget further. Private apartments are good value outside high summer, konoba meals and ferries are fairly priced, and June or September strike the best balance. Park entries and boat trips are what add up.

Florence is costly for its size. Central hotels are dear for most of the year and museum tickets mount quickly. Street food, market lunches and the fact that you walk everywhere help, and staying across the river or visiting in winter make the biggest difference.

Florence has the richer stage, as you would expect from the city where opera was born. The Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino runs a full season of opera, concerts and ballet, the spring festival is one of Europe's oldest, and the Pergola stages theatre in Italian. Church concerts for visitors fill the gaps.

Zadar's highlight is a single, memorable summer series of early music inside St Donatus, with klapa singing and church concerts around it in July and August. Outside summer there is little on.

Neither city has a spa tradition of its own, but Florence has more within reach. Montecatini Terme's grand thermal halls are under an hour by train, the open-air sulphur pools at Bagno Vignoni and Saturnia make a longer outing, and a few nights on a Tuscan farm stay are the classic way to slow down.

Zadar's version is simpler: hotel spas at Borik, mud baths in Nin's lagoon, and the daily ritual of watching sunset over the islands from the Sea Organ steps. As a place to simply unwind, its slow pace makes up for much of the gap.