Ljubljana or Lucca?

Neither city is on the sea, but Lucca gets you onto real sand far more easily. Viareggio is about 25 minutes by train, and from there wide, gently shelving beaches with organised beach clubs run up to Forte dei Marmi, with wilder dunes at the Lecciona. A morning in town and an afternoon swim is easy.

From Ljubljana, swimming means the Sava, the lakes at Bled and Bohinj, or a trip of about an hour and a half to Piran and Izola, where you swim from concrete and pebbles. That is a day out rather than part of the daily rhythm.

The two eat about equally well, with plain regional cooking and a fairly narrow range in both. Ljubljana's strength is wine: Vipava, Brda and Styrian bottles by the glass along the river, orange wines in particular, plus the Central Market and gostilna classics such as štruklji and jota.

Lucca is more rooted in rustic Tuscan dishes, such as farro soup, tordelli, chestnut flour and cecina from the bakeries, eaten in family trattorias inside the walls with mild local olive oil. Ljubljana has a few more ambitious modern kitchens, while Lucca's menus are more uniform but very reliable.

Lucca has the richer sights. Its complete Renaissance walls, the carved Romanesque façades of San Michele and San Frediano, the cathedral with Ilaria del Carretto's tomb and the oval amphitheatre piazza give it more to stop and look at.

Ljubljana's appeal lies in its overall look. Plečnik's bridges, colonnades and library, the Secession streets and the castle on its hill form a handsome whole. Its museums are no stronger than Lucca's modest ones, and both cities take about two days.

Ljubljana is the livelier of the two, though neither is a party city. The bars along the Ljubljanica stay busy on warm nights, students fill them in term time, and Metelkova's scruffy clubs run late at weekends.

Lucca winds down after an aperitivo in Piazza San Michele and a long dinner, and the centre is quiet by midnight. Dancing means a late drive to the Versilia beach clubs in summer.

Ljubljana has more serious landscape close at hand. Within about an hour you reach the Julian Alps and Triglav National Park, the Vintgar gorge and Velika Planina's high pasture, with the Soča's rafting water and the Postojna and Škocjan caves a little further. Tivoli Park and Šmarna Gora give you green space without leaving town.

Lucca's outdoors starts gently, with the tree-lined walls, the Serchio cycle paths and olive-covered hills. The Apuan Alps' marble peaks and the Garfagnana's chestnut woods are worthwhile, but there is less variety and you need more time on the road.

Both are good bases, but Lucca's options are richer. Pisa is half an hour by train and Florence a little over an hour. Pistoia, Montecatini, the great villas at Marlia and Collodi, Pietrasanta and Carrara are all close, and with an early start you can reach the Cinque Terre and San Gimignano.

From Ljubljana you can see most of Slovenia instead: Bled, Škofja Loka, Predjama Castle, Lipica, Idrija and Piran, with Trieste and Zagreb about two hours away. These are lovely places, but they are mostly small towns and single sights, and none of them pulls in visitors the way Pisa or Florence does.

Both are calm, flat and largely car-free, and both are easy rather than thrilling for children. Ljubljana has the castle funicular, the Dragon Bridge, a small zoo, a science centre and a puppet theatre that needs no language.

Lucca has cycling the walls on a family quadricycle and climbing the tree-topped Torre Guinigi. Pinocchio Park at Collodi and the beaches are close by, which makes summer days with children easier to fill.

You will walk in both, since each centre is compact, flat and mostly closed to traffic. The difference is what comes next. Ljubljana relies on intercity buses and a slow rail network, so a car helps for the mountain valleys.

Lucca is a cycling town inside the walls, and its station just outside them has regular trains to Pisa, Florence and the coast. Buses to the villas and hill villages are sparse, though.

Lucca has a little more to browse. Via Fillungo has fashion and jewellery behind old Liberty shopfronts, there are delicatessens with olive oil and buccellato, and its monthly antiques market around the cathedral is one of Italy's oldest.

Ljubljana's shopping is smaller still: honey, pumpkin-seed oil, Piran salt and Idrija lace from the market, a Sunday flea market on the embankment and a few design boutiques. Neither has any luxury depth.

Ljubljana is the somewhat cheaper stay. Lunchtime set menus at the inns, fairly priced local wine and low entry fees keep daily costs down, although central summer rooms are expensive.

Lucca is cheaper than Florence but costs more overall. Rooms inside the walls are scarce and fill up in summer and during festivals, so staying outside the walls is the usual way to save.

Both offer a concert or an opera night rather than a reason to travel. Lucca's appeal is Puccini, with recitals of his arias most evenings, the Teatro del Giglio, and open-air opera by the lake at Torre del Lago in summer.

Ljubljana has broader institutions: a Philharmonic with roots in 1701, the National Opera and Ballet, Cankarjev dom, and the summer festival in Plečnik's Križanke courtyard. Most of its theatre is in Slovene, though.

Neither city has its own bathing tradition, but Lucca has better spa days within easy reach. Montecatini's belle époque baths are half an hour by train, Monsummano has its warm cave pools, and Bagni di Lucca has steam grottoes. Add the slow, shaded evenings on the walls and it makes a gentler stay.

Ljubljana offers a quiet, green centre and a large water park with saunas on the edge of town. Slovenia's thermal spa towns are about an hour's drive away.