Lecce or Rome?

Lecce has the better sea by some distance, though not on its doorstep. The beaches nearest the city are plain local sand, and the real draw is half an hour or so further: the pale coves and sea stacks of Torre dell'Orso on the Adriatic, or the long, clear, shallow beaches of Porto Cesareo and Punta Prosciutto on the Ionian. In summer the coast can become the main reason for the stay.

Rome's sea at Ostia and Fregene is quick to reach by suburban train, but the sand is dark, the lidos are packed in rows and the water is rarely clear. Pretty water means a long trip south to Sperlonga, so in Rome the beach is an escape from the heat rather than part of the plan.

Rome is the stronger food city, mainly for its depth and range. The four classic pastas, Jewish-style artichokes in the Ghetto, Testaccio's offal dishes and serious street food such as supplì and pizza al taglio give you a different meal every day, provided you eat in Trastevere, Monti or Testaccio rather than beside the big sights.

Lecce's cooking is more particular and very cheap: a warm pasticciotto with iced almond coffee for breakfast, ciceri e tria and fava purée with chicory at dinner. Its Negroamaro and Primitivo reds outclass Rome's modest Frascati, but beyond Apulian dishes there is little choice, and few restaurants aim high.

Rome stands in a different league, with three thousand years of history set out across one centre. The Forum, the Pantheon and the Baths of Caracalla sit alongside early Christian mosaics, Bernini's piazzas and some of the world's great museums, from the Sistine Chapel to Palazzo Massimo. Choosing what to leave out is the real task.

Lecce offers one thing done superbly: a complete Baroque townscape carved from soft local limestone, best seen at Santa Croce and in the enclosed Piazza del Duomo at dusk. Its half-buried amphitheatre and modest museums are minor next to Rome's, but the whole old town can be enjoyed slowly on foot in a day or two.

Neither city is built for dancing until dawn, but Rome gives you far more choice of evening. Trastevere's lanes stay full of wine bars and young crowds until late, Monti has small cocktail bars, San Lorenzo is cheap and student-led, and Pigneto draws an arty crowd. Testaccio and Ostiense hold what clubs there are.

Lecce's nights are smaller and more sociable: aperitivo on the piazzas, then wine bars in the old town's lanes, kept lively at weekends by students. In summer the late scene moves out to beach clubs around Gallipoli, which means someone has to drive.

The two are about level for the outdoors, but the settings are opposite. Lecce sits on a flat plain of olive groves, so its nature is the sea: the cliffs and sea caves from Roca Vecchia towards Santa Maria di Leuca, snorkelling and kayaking, and birdwatching in the Le Cesine and Alimini wetlands.

Rome offers green in the city and hills behind it. The Appian Way makes a superb bike ride among tombs and aqueducts, the Alban Hills hold crater lakes among chestnut woods, and the Apennines bring proper hiking and even winter skiing at Terminillo.

Rome is the better base, both for the quality of what lies around it and for how easily you get there. Ostia Antica and Tivoli's Villa d'Este and Hadrian's Villa are close in, the Etruscan tombs of Tarquinia, Orvieto and Civita di Bagnoregio lie to the north, and fast trains make Florence or Naples a day out.

Lecce has a rich circle of its own: Otranto's cathedral mosaic, Gallipoli on its island, the frescoes of Galatina, and further north white Ostuni and the trulli of Alberobello. Apart from the trains to Brindisi and Bari, though, almost all of it needs a car.

Both cities welcome children warmly without offering much that is built for them. The difference is in the shape of the days. In Lecce, the traffic-free old town, gelato on the piazzas and the shallow sandy beaches of Porto Cesareo make for a relaxed beach vacation, with no zoo or theme park to fall back on.

Rome has more to point at, from gladiators and catacombs to the Bioparco and rowing boats in Villa Borghese, but long queues, cobbles that defeat pushchairs and busy roads make sightseeing tiring for small legs.

Rome is the easier place to manage without a car. Its centre is walkable from the Colosseum to Trastevere, and although the metro barely enters the core and buses crawl in traffic, trains reach Ostia, the hill towns and the rest of Italy without any need to drive.

Lecce's flat, partly pedestrian old town is even simpler on foot, but that stops at the walls. Local railways across the Salento are slow and sparse and the beach buses run only in summer, so most visitors hire a car and park outside the old town.

Rome is a real shopping city. The big Italian fashion houses line Via Condotti and the streets around the Spanish Steps, Monti has independent designers and vintage, Via Margutta keeps artisan workshops, and the Sunday market at Porta Portese is vast. Leather and handmade shoes are the buys to aim for.

Lecce is for a few distinctive souvenirs: cartapesta saints and nativity figures from old-town workshops, small limestone carvings, Grottaglie ceramics, and olive oil and taralli to take home.

Lecce is clearly the cheaper stay. A bed and breakfast in an old palazzo is fairly priced for most of the year, and pastries, osterie and local wine cost little. August is the exception, when the Salento fills up and rooms, beach loungers and the hire car all add up.

Rome's main expense is the bed: central rooms are small, costly and scarce in spring and autumn, and the Vatican, Colosseum and Borghese charge substantial fees. Free water from the fountains, free churches full of art and standing espresso soften the daily spend.

Rome has a proper year-round classical scene. The Teatro dell'Opera runs through the winter and moves outdoors in summer to the Baths of Caracalla, Santa Cecilia plays at Renzo Piano's Auditorium, and church concerts and jazz clubs fill the gaps.

Lecce's two theatres carry only a modest season, but it has something Rome cannot offer: pizzica, the Salento's hypnotic tambourine dance, played at village festivals all summer and climaxing in August at the Notte della Taranta in Melpignano. Outside summer it is quiet.

Neither city has a living bathing culture, so the difference lies in the kind of calm. Lecce's slow afternoon close-down and piazza evenings are restful in themselves, the sulphur grottoes of Santa Cesarea Terme sit on the cliffs above the sea, and old masserie in the countryside have become quiet spa retreats.

Rome relies on hotel spas, the large Acque Albule pools at Bagni di Tivoli and the free hot springs around Viterbo. Its centre is loud with scooters and crowds, so the villa gardens and the Aventine are where you go to slow down.