La Spezia or Nice?

Nice has the beach on its doorstep: 7km of pebble shore below the Promenade des Anglais, with calmer bays at Villefranche and Beaulieu and the sand of Juan-les-Pins a short ride away. In La Spezia the waterfront is a naval port, so every swim means going somewhere else.

The places you go to are lovely, though: the clear water off the rocks at Palmaria and Portovenere, the coves of Fiascherino and Tellaro, and Monterosso's long sandy beach up the line. The sea warms to much the same in both, and both shores are mostly pebble and split between paid and free stretches. The real difference is whether the beach is a daily habit or a planned day out.

The two kitchens are cousins: La Spezia's farinata and Nice's socca are the same chickpea pancake baked in a wood oven. La Spezia adds mesciua, pesto on testaroli and the gulf's rope-grown mussels, with Cinque Terre whites and Sciacchetrà to drink. Prices are steady, but the choice is that of a provincial port.

Nice goes further, with pissaladière, stuffed vegetables, pan bagnat and daube, the Cours Saleya market and a handful of serious kitchens in the hills. Avoid the set-menu terraces on the promenade and eat in Vieux Nice or around the port.

Nice is the stronger choice for sightseeing. Vieux Nice has ochre lanes and baroque chapels under Castle Hill, the Belle Époque villas and the Russian cathedral recall its years as a winter resort, and the Matisse and Chagall museums alone are worth the trip up to Cimiez.

La Spezia was built as a naval base in the nineteenth century, so its grid of arcaded streets has no old quarter to wander. The Museo Amedeo Lia and the stele statues in Castello San Giorgio repay a visit, but most of the history worth seeing lies outside the city, at Portovenere, Sarzana and Luni.

Neither is a party town, but Nice has a real evening scene. Wine and cocktail bars fill the lanes of Vieux Nice, and in summer the beach clubs and the promenade stay busy until late. La Spezia does a pleasant aperitivo on Via del Prione and around Piazza Verdi, then goes quiet early, as most visitors rest up for the next morning's trails.

La Spezia's outdoors is the sea cliff. The terraced vines and olives of the Cinque Terre are linked by the coastal Sentiero Azzurro and by quieter ridge and sanctuary paths with wider views. Palmaria has a loop walk past old forts and sea caves, and the marble peaks of the Apuan Alps, an hour inland, are there for harder hiking.

Nice has the mountains behind it as well as the sea in front. Coastal paths run round Cap Ferrat, and the corniches are classic road-cycling routes. The larch forests and high lakes of the Mercantour are about two hours away, and in winter Isola 2000 and Auron add skiing that La Spezia cannot match. Kayaking and diving are easy to arrange from either.

Both are outstanding bases, and in both the train does most of the work. From La Spezia the trips are short and close together: the five Cinque Terre villages, Portovenere, Lerici and walled Sarzana, with Pisa and Lucca about an hour away.

From Nice the coast has more contrast, from Monaco and Menton to Antibes, Cannes and the Lérins islands, with Èze and Saint-Paul-de-Vence perched inland and Sanremo over the Italian border. Day trips from La Spezia are mostly villages and walking, while from Nice they take in art, glamour and gardens.

Nice is easier with children. The Promenade du Paillon has big playgrounds and water jets, Parc Phoenix has animals and greenhouses, and Monaco's Oceanographic Museum is close by, though the pebbles are hard on small feet.

La Spezia is calm and flat, and the shallow, sheltered beaches at San Terenzo and Lerici suit small swimmers. Little there is aimed at children, though, and the packed trains and steep villages suit older children better than toddlers.

You won't need a car in either city, and both centres are flat enough to cross on foot. La Spezia is small, with the station, the market and the seafront a short walk apart. It works as a hub: trains run through the Cinque Terre and inland towards Pisa, buses reach Portovenere and Lerici, and from spring to autumn ferries cross the gulf.

Nice is the larger city, so its trams do more of the work, linking the airport with the centre and the port, while buses climb to the museums in Cimiez and up to Mont Boron. In both, the coastal trains fill up in summer. From Nice, a car is only worth having for the mountains inland.

Nice has far more choice: a high street on Avenue Jean Médecin, luxury fashion houses around rue Paradis, Provençal soaps and fabrics in Vieux Nice and a Monday antiques market on the Cours Saleya. La Spezia has chain stores on Via del Prione and Corso Cavour, and the best things to take home from it are edible: pesto, olive oil and Sciacchetrà.

La Spezia is the cheaper of the two. Its rooms cost less than both Nice and the Cinque Terre villages, and farinata and simple trattorias keep meals modest, though trail passes, boat trips and bathing establishments add up over a stay.

Nice is expensive in summer, especially for rooms near the sea and loungers at the beach clubs. Cheap trams and trains, low-cost city museums and socca or market picnics help. In both, spring and autumn are easier on the budget.

Nice has a proper season: opera, ballet and the Nice Philharmonic at the Opéra de Nice, drama at the Théâtre National, the Nice Jazz Festival every July and the Carnival in February. La Spezia has the Teatro Civico, a summer jazz festival and open-air concerts around the gulf, and for opera you have to go to Genoa or Pisa.

Neither city has a bathing culture, and in both the most restful thing is the slow pace. Nice has more on hand, with hotel spas and thalassotherapy centres along the coast towards Monaco, and an evening walk on the promenade makes for an unhurried day.

The nearest thermal baths to La Spezia are the small ones at Equi Terme, an hour inland. Relaxing there means a long lunch in Tellaro or a quiet day on Palmaria, and both are best outside summer.