Lucca or Rovinj?

Rovinj has the sea on its doorstep. Flat limestone ledges, pebble coves and bathing platforms run for kilometres through the Golden Cape, and the water is notably clear. The catch is that there is almost no sand, so water shoes are part of the kit.

Lucca has to borrow its coast. The Versilia shore from Viareggio to Forte dei Marmi is long, sandy and gently shelving, kinder to small children than Rovinj's rocks, but it is a train ride away and mostly laid out as beach clubs with rows of umbrellas.

Lucca has the stronger table, built on rustic provincial cooking: farro soup, tordelli in ragù, chestnut dishes in the colder months and cecina from the bakery counter, served in reliable trattorias at fair prices. Its weakness is a narrow range.

Rovinj's strengths are fish, shellfish and Istrian truffle pasta with Malvazija wine, but the harbour menus are written for passing visitors and the best meals often mean driving to a konoba inland.

Lucca's walled centre gives a full two days of sightseeing: the tiered arcades of San Michele in Foro, San Frediano's golden mosaic, the cathedral with Ilaria del Carretto's tomb, the oval amphitheatre piazza and towers to climb.

Rovinj is lovely to look at, a former island of pastel Venetian houses rising to St Euphemia, but beyond the bell tower, a small town museum and the Batana House, one slow afternoon covers it.

Neither town is for clubbing, and both are quiet by midnight. What differs is the setting: Lucca's evenings run from aperitivo in its piazzas to a stroll on the walls, with a few student pubs, while Rovinj's centre on drinks on the rocks at sunset and waterfront cocktail bars that fill only in summer. Dancing means the Versilia beach discos from Lucca, or the bigger party spots along the coast from Rovinj.

Lucca has more variety and more drama within reach. The Apuan Alps, with sharp marble peaks and serious hiking, are about an hour north, the Garfagnana adds chestnut and beech woods, and Lake Massaciuccoli is good for birdwatching, while the walls themselves make a 4km loop for runners and cyclists.

Rovinj's outdoors is gentler and more watery: easy paths through the Golden Cape, kayaking and diving around the islands, and boat trips into the Lim Fjord, but no mountains.

Few bases match Lucca. Pisa is half an hour by train, Florence a little over an hour, and Pistoia, the Montecatini spas, the Lucca villas and Pietrasanta are all close, with the Cinque Terre possible on a long day.

Rovinj's surroundings are rewarding too, with Pula's amphitheatre, the mosaics of the Euphrasian Basilica in Porec and the hill towns of Motovun and Groznjan, but most of it needs a car and the list is shorter.

Both are relaxed with children, in different ways. Lucca offers a flat, traffic-free centre, bike rides on the walls, Pinocchio Park at Collodi and gently shelving sandy beaches half an hour away, though its sights are mostly churches and palaces.

Rovinj answers with resort life: family campsites with pools, boat trips and shady park paths. Its rocky shore needs close watching with small children, though, and the steep cobbled lanes are hard going with a pushchair.

Lucca is easier both in town and beyond it. The walled centre is flat and car-free, bikes are the local way of moving, and the station just outside the walls links to Pisa, Florence and the coast. Only the villas and hill villages really call for a car.

Rovinj's town is walkable too, though steep and slippery underfoot. With no railway and only intercity buses, the rest of Istria is driving country.

Lucca offers more to browse: fashion and jewellery shops behind old Liberty-style fronts on Via Fillungo, good delicatessens and a monthly antiques market that is one of Italy's oldest. Rovinj's shopping is mainly regional produce such as truffles, oil and wine, plus the galleries and studios along Grisia, with no fashion streets at all.

Neither is cheap, but Lucca is gentler on spending, with fairly priced trattorias and regional trains and free walls and churches. Staying outside the walls saves most.

Rovinj in July and August costs what a sought-after Mediterranean resort costs, and harbour fish sold by weight adds up. Apartments, campsites and the months either side of summer bring it down.

Here the gap is wide. Lucca is Puccini's birthplace, with aria recitals in a church in the centre most of the year, opera and concerts at the Teatro del Giglio, big July concerts in Piazza Napoleone and open-air opera by the lake at Torre del Lago.

Rovinj has summer concerts in St Euphemia, music on the harbour and the occasional performance of bitinada singing, and very little out of season.

Neither town has baths of its own, but Lucca has better spa days within reach: the belle époque buildings of Montecatini by train, the cave pools of Monsummano and the steam grottoes of Bagni di Lucca. Its quiet, car-free streets help too.

In Rovinj, relaxing means the spas of the resort hotels along the Golden Cape and slow swims off the rocks in May, June and September. In high summer, finding calm means getting away from the busy old town.