Ljubljana or Milan?

Neither city is a beach destination, and in both a swim means leaving town. Ljubljana's options are the Sava on its northern edge, Lake Bled about an hour away, and the pebble and concrete shore at Piran, around an hour and a half by road.

Milan has a city lido at the Idroscalo near Linate, with Lake Como and Lake Maggiore an hour away by train and their pebbly lidos. Lake swimming is about equal in the two, but Slovenia's Adriatic is the easier sea trip, since Liguria is a longer haul from Milan.

Milan is the stronger city for eating. It has its own rich northern cooking, from saffron risotto to ossobuco and cotoletta, a serious fine-dining scene, very good versions of other Italian regional food, and the aperitivo ritual that shapes the evening. Its historic pasticcerie and espresso bars add a lot to the day.

Ljubljana is homelier and narrower in range: štruklji, Carniolan sausage and jota in gostilna inns, and a fine Central Market. Its real strength is wine, especially the orange wines of the west poured by the glass along the river, but most visitors will have tried its range within a week.

Milan has the more important sights: the marble Duomo with its rooftop, Leonardo's Last Supper, the Brera paintings and Michelangelo's Rondanini Pietà in the Castello Sforzesco. They sit in clusters within a largely modern, businesslike city.

Ljubljana works the other way round. No one museum matches Milan's, but the whole centre is a single work, shaped by Plečnik's bridges, colonnades and library, with the castle hill above. It takes two or three days and is best enjoyed by wandering.

Milan offers far more after dark. Aperitivo leads into busy canal-side bars on the Navigli, smarter evenings in Brera, a relaxed mix and the gay scene around Porta Venezia, and clubs that run from dressy Corso Como venues to warehouse nights.

Ljubljana's evenings mostly happen on the terraces along the Ljubljanica, with Metelkova's scruffy clubs as the late-night option at weekends. It suits a drink by the water better than a long night out.

Ljubljana has the outdoors on its doorstep. Tivoli Park runs straight into wooded hills, Šmarna Gora is a quick climb, and the Julian Alps, the Soča's rafting water and the Postojna and Škocjan caves are all within easy reach.

Milan starts on a flat, often hazy plain with only a few parks and the canal towpaths. The lakes and the Grigne ridges are rewarding, but you have to take a train to reach them, and skiing is a full day out.

Both make good bases, but Milan's fast trains give it the wider choice. Verona, Turin, Bergamo and Lake Como are each about an hour away, and Bologna, Mantua, Parma, the Borromean Islands and Swiss Lugano are also within reach.

From Ljubljana the trips are to smaller places: Bled, painted Radovljica, Predjama Castle built into its cliff, the Lipizzaner stud at Lipica and Piran on the coast. Some of these are easier by car. Trieste and Zagreb are the cross-border options.

With children the two are about equal, and the difference is in what they offer. Ljubljana is calm and almost free of traffic, with the castle funicular, the dragons on the bridge and a puppet theatre that small children can follow without the language. Its attractions for children are modest, though, and run out in a few days.

Milan has the science and technology museum with its submarine for a rainy day, and theme parks such as Gardaland within reach for older children. Summer humidity can wear little ones out, however.

Both are easy to get around, in different ways. In Ljubljana nearly everything is within a 20-minute walk of the river, and you will rarely need the buses apart from the airport run.

Milan is bigger but has a simple five-line metro and dense trams, including the old orange cars, and direct trains to the lakes. Its drawbacks are the hot underground in summer and the long trip in from Malpensa.

In Milan, shopping can be the purpose of the trip. The Quadrilatero holds the flagships of Italian fashion houses, many of which were born in the city, and beyond it are the Galleria's old shops, Corso Buenos Aires, design showrooms and vintage shops in Porta Ticinese.

Ljubljana is a place for small souvenirs: pumpkin-seed oil, coastal salt, Idrija lace, gingerbread hearts and the Sunday flea market on the embankment. It has no luxury street to speak of.

Ljubljana is the gentler city on the wallet. Set lunches at the inns, reasonably priced local wine and almost no transport costs keep daily spending down, though summer rooms in the old town still cost as much as in Western Europe.

Milan is Italy's most expensive city, and its hotels are hard to book at a fair rate during the fairs and fashion weeks. Aperitivo snacks and office-worker lunch menus help, as does staying near a metro stop outside the centre.

Milan has La Scala, one of the world's great opera houses, whose season opens each December. Alongside it are the Piccolo Teatro, a fine symphony orchestra and big summer concerts at San Siro, so a performance can be the main reason for a visit.

Ljubljana's offering is solid for its size: an opera and ballet house, a Philharmonic with roots going back to 1701, and the summer festival in Plečnik's Križanke courtyard. Most of its theatre is in Slovene.

Neither city has a bathing culture of its own, and the real rest lies outside both. Milan does have a well-known thermal complex in town and the 1930s Bagni Misteriosi pools, while Ljubljana's options are a water park and a few hotel spas.

Where they differ is pace and setting. Ljubljana itself is quiet and green, with Slovenia's thermal spa towns about an hour away, while busy Milan sends people to the calm villas of the lakes to slow down.