La Spezia or Verona?

La Spezia has more and better swimming within reach, though not in the port itself. Within a short ride there are sheltered sand and pebble strips at San Terenzo and Lerici, small coves under olive terraces at Fiascherino and Tellaro, and very clear water off the rocks of Portovenere and Palmaria. Monterosso's long sandy beach is a train ride up the coast.

Verona's swimming is fresh water on Lake Garda, about half an hour away. There you find calm lidos, lawns running down to the shore and the limestone shelves at Sirmione. The lake is pleasant but narrow-beached and crowded at weekends, and in both places a swim is an outing rather than the shape of the stay.

Verona eats and drinks better. Its cooking comes from the inland Veneto: risotto made with Amarone, bigoli with duck, and bollito with peppery pearà, served in wood-panelled osterie around Piazza delle Erbe and in Veronetta. The vineyards of Valpolicella, Amarone and Soave are a short drive away, so the wine is the real draw.

La Spezia's food is lighter and closer to the sea. Farinata from wood ovens, mussels from the gulf, pesto on testaroli and crisp Cinque Terre whites make good everyday eating at steady prices, but there is little beyond that. Neither city has much international range.

Here the gap is wide. Verona's centre within the loop of the Adige runs from the Arena and the Roman theatre through the Scaliger tombs to San Zeno's bronze doors, with Scarpa's Castelvecchio holding the art. It rewards two or three unhurried days.

La Spezia is a nineteenth-century naval town of arcaded avenues and Liberty facades. It has fine early Italian paintings at the Museo Amedeo Lia and the strange Lunigiana stele statues up at Castello San Giorgio, enough for a day or so. Most of its history lies out along the coast.

Neither is a place to go out late, but Verona keeps going a little longer. Both towns are built around the aperitivo. Across the Ponte Pietra, Veronetta's student wine bars and pubs stay busy in term time, and in summer the crowd leaving the Arena near midnight gives the centre a second wind.

In La Spezia the spritz hour on Via del Prione and around Piazza Verdi, or by the water at Lerici in summer, is the main event. After that most visitors head to bed ahead of an early start on the trails.

La Spezia has the more striking landscape, and it starts right outside town. Terraced cliffs drop into the sea along the Cinque Terre, with the Sentiero Azzurro and the quieter ridge paths above it. The Palmaria island loop, the pine woods of Montemarcello and kayaking and diving in the gulf are all close, and the marble peaks of the Apuan Alps are an hour inland.

Verona's countryside is gentler. It offers vineyard walks and cycling in Valpolicella, the long Adige cycle route and the Lessinia plateau. The steepest terrain is on Monte Baldo above Lake Garda, where the north of the lake adds sailing and windsurfing, but most of it takes a drive to reach.

Both are excellent bases, but the days out are of different kinds. From La Spezia the outings are short and coastal: the five Cinque Terre villages minutes away by train, Portovenere by boat, and walled Sarzana and Roman Luni inland, with Pisa and Lucca about an hour off.

From Verona the rail line leads to great art cities. Vicenza's Palladio, Padua's Giotto, Gonzaga Mantua and Venice are all comfortable in a day, with Garda harbours and wine cellars in between.

Verona has much more to offer children, though most of it is just outside the city. Gardaland, the water parks along Garda's southern shore and the drive-through safari at Parco Natura Viva are each about half an hour away. The Arena tends to win over even children who are tired of sightseeing.

La Spezia's family days are on the water, with boat trips round Portovenere and shallow, sheltered beaches at San Terenzo. There is no zoo or theme park, though, and the steep villages are hard going with a pushchair. Both centres are flat and easy on foot.

Both are easy on foot, and the difference is what happens outside town. La Spezia works entirely without a car: coastal trains, gulf buses and seasonal ferries reach everything worth seeing, and driving into the villages is more trouble than it is worth, though summer trains are packed.

Verona's car-free centre is a pleasure to stroll, and fast trains run to Venice and the lake. The Valpolicella villages and the Lessinia, however, are thinly served by bus and far easier to reach by car.

Verona is the better place to shop, though neither is a fashion destination. Via Mazzini, paved in marble, carries the Italian labels, and Corso Porta Borsari has jewellers and small boutiques. Amarone and the city's own pandoro make good things to take home.

La Spezia offers chain stores on Via del Prione and the Piazza Cavour market. Its best souvenirs come in jars and bottles: pesto, olive oil and Sciacchetrà.

The two cost much the same overall, but in different places. In La Spezia, rooms in town are cheaper than in the Cinque Terre villages, while trail passes, boat trips and bathing establishments add to the bill, and spring and autumn are noticeably cheaper.

In Verona, rooms in the historic centre are the main expense, especially on summer opera nights and during trade fairs, and tables facing the Arena charge for the view. Staying in Veronetta or near the station keeps costs down.

Verona is in a different league. From June to early September, grand productions of Verdi and Puccini fill the Arena's stone tiers by candlelight, and the Roman theatre hosts Shakespeare, dance and jazz in the open air. The Teatro Filarmonico carries a smaller season through the cooler months.

La Spezia has the Teatro Civico's touring programme and a long-running summer jazz festival in the piazzas and castle courtyards around the gulf. For opera, though, you have to go to Genoa or Pisa.

Verona has warm springs nearby, which La Spezia largely lacks. The thermal pools at Sirmione look out over Lake Garda, a spring-fed lake near Lazise sits in an old villa garden, and Caldiero's waters have been used since Roman times.

In La Spezia, wellness means a hotel spa or the small baths at Equi Terme, an hour up the Lunigiana. Its restful side is a quiet day on Palmaria or a long lunch in Tellaro, out of season.