Genoa or Salerno?

The two are about level for swimming, but the shores are very different. Near Genoa it is mostly pebble and rock: the little cove at Boccadasse, bathing decks along Corso Italia and platforms below the cliffs at Nervi, with Camogli and Sestri Levante a train ride along the Riviera.

Salerno's own grey-sand beaches are only good for a quick dip, but south towards Paestum there are kilometres of wide sand backed by pine woods, which suits a whole day on the beach. For clear water in rocky coves, head west to Cetara and the Amalfi Coast instead.

Genoa has the edge, mainly because its cooking is so specific to the place: pesto with trofie, pansoti in walnut sauce, and focaccia and farinata eaten by the slice in the caruggi. The Mercato Orientale shows the whole Ligurian larder in one covered market.

Salerno eats very well too, in a more southern style. You get wood-fired pizza, pasta with clams, buffalo mozzarella made the same morning on the Paestum plain and colatura from Cetara. Neither city goes in much for fine dining. Drink Vermentino in Genoa and Fiano or Aglianico in Salerno.

This is where the two differ most. Genoa's historic centre is one of Europe's largest medieval quarters, and above it run the Rolli palaces of the Strade Nuove, whose painted halls are an attraction in their own right. Add the Palazzo Ducale, the Lanterna and the marble sculpture of Staglieno, and you need several days.

Salerno's high points are its Norman cathedral with the crypt of Saint Matthew, the Giardino della Minerva and the Arechi Castle above the gulf, and a day or two covers them. The region's great ancient sites lie outside the town, not inside it.

Evenings are quiet and sociable in both cities, and neither is a place for clubbing. In Genoa you drink aperitivo in the lanes around Piazza delle Erbe and at waterfront bars at the Porto Antico. Salerno's equivalent is the crowd of young locals drinking outside wine bars around Largo Campo, plus a lively passeggiata along the seafront. For a bigger night, Salerno has Naples close by, while Genoa's summer action moves out to the beach clubs along the coast.

Both cities are about equally strong outdoors, with steep hills right behind the coast. From Genoa, a funicular takes you up to Righi and the ring of ridge forts, the Portofino promontory has cliff paths down to San Fruttuoso, and boats go out to look for whales in the Pelagos Sanctuary.

Salerno's landscape is the more dramatic of the two. You can walk the Path of the Gods and the Valle delle Ferriere in the Lattari mountains, or head south into the wooded hills and gorges of the Cilento. On both coasts, spring and autumn are the best seasons for walking.

Genoa's railway line along the coast is excellent, with Portofino, Sestri Levante and the Cinque Terre in easy reach and Milan or Turin for a museum day. Still, Salerno does better here, and day trips are the main reason to stay there.

From Salerno, Paestum and Pompeii are each about half an hour by train and Naples is a little further. Ferries cross to Amalfi and Positano, and Herculaneum, Caserta and Ravello are all easy days out. Few bases in Italy have so much world-famous antiquity this close.

Genoa is the easier city with children, thanks to the Porto Antico. The aquarium, a children's science centre, the biosphere and a submarine you can walk through all sit close together, and the old public lifts are fun for children in themselves.

Salerno has no aquarium, zoo or theme park. It makes up for some of that with its long car-free promenade, playgrounds and shallow sandy beaches for small swimmers. Both cities have steep, stepped old towns that are hard work with a pushchair.

Getting around is about equally easy in both, but the ground is very different. In Genoa you climb: funiculars, a rack railway and public lifts carry you up hillsides above a maze of lanes, and the slow buses are best avoided.

Salerno's centre is a flat strip from the station to the old town that you can walk end to end. In summer the ferries are the best way along the Amalfi Coast, since the coast road is slow and crowded. In both cities the regional trains are the most useful link and a car is rarely needed.

Neither city is worth a dedicated shopping trip, and the best things to buy are local in both. In Genoa that means silver filigree, coral, candied fruit and pesto from old shops in the old town, with smarter Italian labels on Via Roma. In Salerno it means Vietri's hand-painted majolica, lemon products from the coast and Cetara's colatura, while Corso Vittorio Emanuele has the chains.

Both are mid-priced cities by Italian standards, and Salerno is slightly cheaper day to day. Its rooms cost much less than in the Amalfi villages it serves, and meals are priced for locals. Genoa is still good value for the north, especially if you live on focaccia and farinata.

In both places, the costs climb in summer on the coast nearby. Around Genoa it is the Riviera resorts and paid loungers. Around Salerno it is ferry fares that add up over several days and the entry fees at the big archaeological sites.

Genoa offers more on stage. The Carlo Felice has a full season of opera, ballet and symphony concerts, the Teatro Nazionale is one of Italy's established drama companies, and there are Paganini concerts and small clubs that carry on the city's singer-songwriter tradition.

Salerno's gilded Teatro Verdi has a respectable opera season but little else around it. Its best musical evenings are often out of town, at the Ravello Festival's clifftop concerts or in Naples.

Neither city is somewhere to go for a retreat. Spas mean hotel spas in both, and the nearest thermal springs are about an hour away, at Acqui Terme for Genoa and Contursi Terme for Salerno. The calmest corners are different, though: Genoa has the villa gardens and promenade at Nervi, while in Salerno the long palm-lined seafront is the place for a slow walk at sunset.