Genoa or Venice?

Genoa makes swimming easier to fit into a city trip. Boccadasse, Corso Italia's bathing platforms and the rocks below Nervi are all in town, the water is clear, and Camogli, Sestri Levante and Varazze are short train rides away. Most of the shore is pebble or coarse sand, though.

Venice has the softer beach. The Lido's long stretch of fine sand and shallow, gentle water suits small children who like to wade, but the sea is greenish rather than clear. Most visitors go there for one hot afternoon, not every day.

Genoa eats better and more simply. Pesto with trofie, pansoti in walnut sauce and focaccia dipped in cappuccino are the daily food, and the old-town friggitorie and the Mercato Orientale make good local eating easy to find without much searching.

Venice has one great habit, cicchetti and a spritz at the bacari around the Rialto, and the lagoon gives it black cuttlefish risotto and soft-shell crab. Around San Marco, though, too many restaurants rely on picture menus, so a good sit-down meal takes more effort to find than in Genoa.

Genoa surprises people who arrive knowing little about it. Its historic centre is one of the largest medieval quarters in Europe, a maze of tall, shaded caruggi, and above it the painted Rolli palaces on Via Garibaldi hold Van Dyck and Rubens. San Lorenzo, the old harbour's Lanterna and the marble sculpture of Staglieno fill two or three rewarding days.

Venice is still the bigger draw, because the whole city is the monument. The Basilica of San Marco, the Doge's Palace and the Gothic palazzi along the Grand Canal come before you even reach the galleries, and small parish churches all over town hold masterpieces of their own. A week is not enough to see it all.

Neither city is made for a big night out, but Genoa stays up later. Students fill the bars around Piazza delle Erbe at weekends, and in summer the evening moves to waterfront bars and beach clubs along Corso Italia.

In Venice the best of the evening is the aperitivo on the Fondamenta della Misericordia, followed by a few late bars in Campo Santa Margherita. The canals go quiet around midnight, which makes for a fine late walk but not much else.

Genoa sits between steep hills and the sea, so you can walk from the centre into real hiking. A funicular climbs to the fortress trails above the port, and the cliff path to San Fruttuoso on the Portofino promontory and the Cinque Terre terraces are close by. There are also whale and dolphin trips into the Pelagos Sanctuary.

Venice's outdoors is the lagoon: herons and flamingos around Torcello, kayaking and rowing standing up in the Venetian style. The ground is flat everywhere, and the nearest real mountains are the Dolomites, more than two hours away.

Both are excellent bases, but the trips are different in kind. From Genoa, the coastal railway runs to Portofino, Camogli and the Cinque Terre, so the days out are about the sea, cliff villages and swimming, with Milan and Turin as inland options.

From Venice the trips are about art and history in other towns: Giotto in Padua, Verona's arena, Palladio in Vicenza and on the Brenta. Murano, Burano and Torcello make an easy day on the lagoon without boarding a train.

Genoa is easier with children, largely because of the Porto Antico. The aquarium, one of Europe's largest, sits beside the science centre, the biosphere and the Galata museum's walk-through submarine, and the funiculars are an outing in themselves. The steep old-town lanes are hard going with a pushchair.

Venice thrills children with its boats and car-free alleys, and the Lido's shallow sand is ideal for small ones. Day to day, though, hundreds of stepped bridges, summer crowds and few parks or playgrounds wear families down, so it suits older children on a short stay.

Both centres are best on foot, but the effort is different. Genoa climbs, so funiculars, a rack railway and public lifts take the strain, and the coastal train is the best link to Nervi and the Riviera. Buses are slow in its narrow streets.

Venice is flat but crossed by bridges with steps, so wheeled luggage is hard work, and vaporetti take the place of buses. Everything in the centre is within walking distance, though the twisting alleys will get you lost.

Venice offers more to buy. Murano glass, Burano lace, papier-mâché masks, marbled paper and furlane slippers are made in workshops in Dorsoduro and Castello, and the big fashion labels line Calle Larga XXII Marzo. Watch for cheap imported copies on the main routes.

Genoa's best buys are for eating: candied fruit, olive oil and pesto from old shops in the caruggi, and produce from the Mercato Orientale. There is silver filigree and coral too, but fashion along Via XX Settembre is mainstream.

This is where the two differ most. Genoa is fair-priced for northern Italy, with very cheap street food, moderate central hotels and cheap funiculars. Costs rise only in the smart Riviera resorts and on lounger-filled beach days.

Venice is among the dearest stays in the country. Hotel rooms, vaporetti and church entry fees all cost visitor prices. Staying in Mestre, eating at the bar counter and coming in late autumn or winter help, but it remains much the costlier trip.

Venice has the stronger evening programme. La Fenice, where Verdi and Rossini had premieres, is one of Italy's great opera houses, the Biennale adds contemporary music and dance, and Vivaldi concerts in churches run on most nights, of mixed quality.

Genoa's Carlo Felice gives a solid opera and concert season, and the city honours Paganini with concerts. The small clubs keep the singer-songwriter tradition going, enough for an evening or two.

Neither city has a bathing culture of its own, and in both the spas are in hotels. The thermal waters are out of town: Acqui Terme in the Piedmont hills for Genoa, and Abano and Montegrotto near Padua for Venice.

The calm takes different forms. In Genoa it means escaping to Nervi's gardens and seafront promenade, away from the noise of the port. Venice has no traffic, so you can find quiet within the city itself, on early-morning walks through Castello, Cannaregio or Giudecca.