La Spezia or Turin?

La Spezia has the sea close by but not in town, because its waterfront is a port. Swimming means a short bus, boat or train ride to the coves of San Terenzo and Lerici, the rocks of Portovenere and Palmaria or Monterosso's sand. Most beaches are pebbly and many are paid, but warm, clear water is never far away.

Turin is inland on the Po plain, and the Riviera near Savona makes for a long day out. In summer, swimming there means a lake such as Avigliana or a trip to Lago Maggiore.

La Spezia cooks in a plain coastal Ligurian way: farinata from wood ovens, mussels farmed in the gulf, pesto on trofie and testaroli, and crisp Cinque Terre whites. The food is honest and fairly priced, but there is little fine dining and not much variety.

Turin gives a food lover much more to work through. There is agnolotti del plin, vitello tonnato, bagna cauda, autumn white truffles from the Langhe and wine lists built on Barolo and Barbaresco. On top of that come the vermouth aperitivo, gianduiotti and bicerin in the old arcade cafés, and the huge Porta Palazzo market.

La Spezia is a nineteenth-century naval town of arcaded grid streets and has a day or two of sights. These are the Amedeo Lia collection of early Italian painting, the naval museum and the Lunigiana stele statues in Castello San Giorgio. The older history lies out along the coast.

Turin is on another level. The Museo Egizio alone justifies the trip. Around it stand the Royal Palace, Palazzo Madama, the cathedral of the Shroud, the Mole with its cinema museum and the Savoy residences as far as Venaria, plus the Fiat story at the Lingotto. That is enough for several full days.

Both cities build their evenings around the aperitivo. In La Spezia that means a spritz or a Vermentino on Via del Prione or the seafront, or on the waterfront at Lerici in summer, and then most people go to bed early before a day on the trails.

Turin carries on afterwards, with wine and cocktail bars in the lanes of the Quadrilatero Romano, students on the pavements of San Salvario and the Murazzi along the Po in summer. It is sociable rather than wild, but there is more choice and it goes on later.

Both have superb landscapes within reach, but they are opposites. La Spezia's is the coast: the terraced cliffs and footpaths of the Cinque Terre, the fort loop on Palmaria and the pines of Montemarcello, with kayaking and diving in the gulf. It is best in spring and autumn.

Turin's is the mountains. The Gran Paradiso with its ibex, the Susa valley and the ski slopes around Sestriere are an hour or so away, for skiing in winter and hut-to-hut hiking in summer. The city itself sits on a flat plain, and wilder country needs a train or a car.

La Spezia's outings are short hops along the coast, while Turin's run further and lean towards wine and grand sights. From La Spezia the Cinque Terre villages are minutes away by train, Portovenere is a short boat ride off, and walled Sarzana and the Roman ruins of Luni lie just inland. Pisa and Lucca are about an hour away.

From Turin the Langhe hills around Alba, Barolo and Bra are about an hour south, the Sacra di San Michele stands on its rock above the Susa valley, and Milan is an hour away by fast train. Aosta and Genoa make for longer days out.

La Spezia is calm, and its centre is flat. Boat trips round Portovenere and the shallow beaches of San Terenzo and Lerici make good family days. Beyond those, steep villages, crowded summer trains and long walks suit older children more than toddlers.

Turin has more to keep children busy in town. Its arcades shelter pushchairs, and the glass lift up the Mole, the car museum, the Egyptian mummies, the planetarium and the rack railway to Superga all add variety. With a car, there is also the zoo park at Cumiana.

La Spezia works as a rail and ferry hub, while Turin is a grid you walk. La Spezia's small, flat centre takes little effort, so transport is mostly for getting out of town: coastal trains through the Cinque Terre to Levanto and Genoa, buses to Portovenere and Lerici, and ferries across the gulf from spring to autumn. In summer the trains and village platforms get crowded, and a car only brings parking trouble.

In Turin you walk between the sights under the arcades, from Porta Nuova through Piazza San Carlo to Piazza Castello and the Po. One driverless metro line, with slower trams and buses, covers the rest. A car is only worth having for the wine hills and the mountains.

La Spezia's shopping is provincial: clothing chains and a few boutiques on Via del Prione and Corso Cavour, and edible souvenirs such as pesto, olive oil and Sciacchetrà.

Turin offers far more choice, with luxury labels under the arcades of Via Roma, boutiques around Via Lagrange, antique dealers on Via Maria Vittoria and the Balon flea market every Saturday. Its best buys are also edible, from gianduiotti to truffles and Barolo, though serious designer shoppers will still find the choice short.

Neither city is cheap, but Turin makes a budget go a little further. La Spezia's rooms cost less than those in the Cinque Terre villages, yet summer rates are normal for Western Europe, and trail passes, boat trips and paid beaches add up.

Turin's central hotels are fairly priced for most of the year, apart from big trade fairs, and a generous aperitivo can stand in for dinner. Museums, fine dining and the truffle season are where the costs rise.

La Spezia has a season of theatre and concerts at the Teatro Civico and a summer of jazz and open-air concerts around the gulf. There is little for most of the year, and opera means a trip to Genoa or Pisa.

Turin has a full programme all year: opera and ballet at the Teatro Regio, the RAI National Symphony Orchestra, concerts in the Lingotto auditorium and festivals of classical, jazz and electronic music. Plays at the Teatro Stabile are almost all in Italian.

Neither has a bathing tradition, so true thermal waters mean a journey. From La Spezia it is about an hour to Equi Terme, and from Turin close to two hours to Acqui Terme or the Aosta valley. La Spezia's calm comes from long lunches in Lerici or Tellaro and quiet days on Palmaria, but summer crowds in the Cinque Terre work against it.

Turin is the more restful city to stay in, with slow coffees in historic cafés, evening walks under the arcades and along the Po, and afternoons in Valentino park.